TAKE A BREAK TODAY / THE CAPITOL OF POWER

Interesting single from this great symphonic rock band from Germany. It was recorded around the time of the Spartacus album. As it was common in these cases, Triumvirat was never a singles band. Take A Break Today is totally different from their style on that album and has nothing to do with its concept: sounds like a throwaway tune, too popish (lyrics included). The live version of The Capitol of Power however is a good one, proving they were quite convincing on stage (is there a live album on the vaults? I Hope so).

My remastered version of Spartacus has both tracks included as bonus, which makes this single even more irrelevant today. I can only recommended it for completionists, collectors and hardcore fans.

I have mixed feelings about this Triumvirat single. An interesting thing about Triumvirat was that though they had some popularity way back when, and were played on the radio, they were never a "singles oriented" band. They relied mainly on the exciting, gutsy and brilliant progressive rock on their full albums to turn heads, without a slick, commercial single.

With "Take A Break Today", the band (then with singer Barry Palmer) take a stab at a radio friendly hit song, This did not end up being much of a hit for the band, though Palmer's singing is pretty well done, and the song is quite catchy.

It is somewhat of a different story with the track on the other side, though. The live "The Capitol Of Power" on side two is from the US Spartacus tour in 1975, with the famous and best lineup of the band in Jurgen Fritz, Helmut Koellen and Hans Bathelt, and is a real winner. Live songs from this band are a hard thing to come by, and this one has great sound quality and performance, and is complimentary as a document of the band in concert. And it has an introduction before the music-"Ladies and Gentlemen-Triumvirat!" Makes me wish i could have been there.

I end up giving this single 4 stars, as it is a great addition to any prog collection.