Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
City - City CD (album) cover

CITY

City

Prog Related


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Bookmark and Share
Easy Livin
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
3 stars A window in the wall

Originating from what was at the time East Germany, City are virtually unknown to this day outside their native country. The band are rightly listed on this site as Prog related, that relationship being largely down to their one prog epic and best known song "Am Fenster". That song appears on this the band's first album released in 1978, supported by a further 5 songs. "Am fenster" (at the window) was originally released as a highly successful single, the album version being an expended version in 3 parts.

The five songs which make up the first side of the original LP are well crafted but rather undistinguished blues/guitar rock. The lyrics are all in German although the sound is rather British; those looking for Krautrock need to look elsewhere. There are hints of bands such as Wishbone Ash (especially in "Nachts um halb eins") and Golden Earring ("Traudl" is more than a little like "Radar Love").

"Meister aller Klassen" (Master of all classes) is a slower guitar driven power ballad which tells the tale of an over ambitious motorcyclist. The appearance of Flock (the band) like violin played by Georgi Gogow on "Der King vom Prenzlauer Berg" offers a pleasing additional dimension to the song.

It is though to "Am Fenster" that we look for the band's piece de resistance. This 17+ minute suite is made up in three contiguous parts, opening with the acoustic "Traum". Here, violin and acoustic guitar combine in a slightly folk influenced melody, the violin gradually swelling the sound in a manner similar to the middle section of Curved Air's "Vivaldi". The section ends abruptly as ticking clocks and chimes introduce the brief "Tagtraum". This simply acts as link to the main part of the suite, which is also titled "Am fenster". Here we find the first vocals of the track, but violin continues to dominate instrumentally. The track now finds a rhythm and a hook, the relentless violin acting as the catalyst for the development of the song into a hypnotic daydream (Tagtraum). While the song did find significant success in East and West Germany, and indeed in some other parts of Europe, it failed to find an audience in the lucrative markets of the English speaking countries. Such an injustice has befallen many bands who record in their native language, examples such as this merely emphasising how fine music is ignored simply because of the language used.

In all, this is something of a "Tarkus" with one superb side long number, and a collection of good but unremarkable supporting songs. Highly recommended simply for "Am fenster" though.

Report this review (#189188)
Posted Friday, November 14, 2008 | Review Permalink
Seyo
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars CITY's debut LP record is an important work largely due to the inclusion of their best known song "Am Fenster", which is here present in its lengthy side-long version. The song, also issued in a single format, was a huge hit in both parts of then divided Germany, as well as - believe it or not - a minor hit among musical "hipster" and art-rock oriented circles in Sarajevo, Bosnia, then SFR Yugoslavia, in early 1980s!

Here it is stretched to over 17 minutes, including several sections or parts, a format typical for progressive rock of the 1970s. No doubt, electric violin solo sections played by Georgi Gogow are what distinguishes this composition from many other similar improvisational attempts. The main theme starting around 6:30' is quite remarkable, although it simply continues in almost unaltered form until the very end, which may sound a little too long. A "mid-version" truncated to about 7 minutes can be found on the compilation "Best of City", preserving the core of the song but deleting less interesting, introductory acoustic parts.

Another good track is a bluesy rock ballad "Meister aller Klassen", which ends the side one of the vinyl. Unfortunately the first four tracks are nowhere near the quality of Side B. Unremarkable, lame and mediocre hard rock, although decently performed, cannot justify its inclusion beside the prog epic of the flip side. In this way the whole album suffers from the lack of concept or ideas about what the band had actually meant by releasing this record. Side A ** / Side B ****

PERSONAL RATING: 3,5/5

P.A. RATING: 3/5

Report this review (#258461)
Posted Wednesday, December 30, 2009 | Review Permalink

CITY City ratings only


chronological order | showing rating only

Post a review of CITY City


You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.