REFLECTIONS ON THE FUTURE

Believe it or not, this is the best all-time rock album by a German group (o.k., the singer is English)! It includes everything you like: Organ-based hardrock (At my home), great prog- tunes with many shifts in rhythm an melody (Autumn and the titletrack) and the most extraordinary track (Butterking) which is a kind of prog-psychedelic-(russian)folk tune. Outstanding are the keyboard battles overall since we have two keyboard-players that drive each other foreward. The vocals fit in perfectly, though they're a bit harsher/rougher than vocals are usually on prog-records. The only weak spot on this album is the closing track because due to vinyl limitations it's only the short version of 'The way I feel today' which is over 11 minutes long and can be listened to on the cd-version ('Reflections'!).

If you own just one German rock album from the seventies it should be this one!!!

super album from this super band, it evoke some of the hard rock with keybord bands of that time, but it have some flute pasagges super great, highly recommend, 7+ minutes all song and all songs greats, my favorite tune is the 16 minutes with Reflections On the Future. A musthave.

Disclaimer: First of all- If you haven't already, then you NEED TO HEAR THIS ALBUM ON VINYL. It is the best way to hear this type of music. CD's (and YouTube, especially) do not do it proper justice. Music-Lovers: There is no excuse, not even the moderately higher price, to justify not listening to this music the way it sounds best. An inexpensive turntable and reissue will blow you away. Trust me.

Moving forward...Why doesn't this album have more reviews? More importantly; why is this album so "underground", when radio BS gets incessantly crammed down every hole in our body? Are most people really that shallow and fickle? Anyway, on to the album review....

Out of the hundreds of albums that I own, and regularly listen to, this is the first album I chose to review here. Maybe that says something, in itself..I own an original, mint-UA pressing (autographed by Konstatin Bommarius), and several vinyl reissues of this great album.

This album is a technical masterpiece of music. All of the songs are fast-paced and pretty heavy. Normally that's not what I'm all into, but I cannot deny the excellence of the music on this album. There really is no point to describing each song, individually, as they all sound very similar. That is, perfect. Without any harsh, or dull moments. Please know that when it comes to music, I am a very patient, and fastidious individual, who will not "hype" or overate the music I love. From one music critic, to another, do not pass this one up.

Geff Harrison has a wonderful (slightly raspy) voice, that fits this album, in every way. His voice, along with the rhythm, ebbs and flows in an almost haunting way. Next, it pains me to say this name in the same review with this album, but-Eddie Van Halen, would be put to shame by the guitar work of Gagey Mrozeck. And...did someone say Neil Peart can play drums? Hah! Mere child's play compared to Konstatin Bommarius' flawless drumming. The bass of Dieter Bauer is also exemplary. If all that's not enough for you, Steve Robinson and Veit Marvos are equally as proficient on the ivory. The whole damn album is practically a keyboard/guitar dualing solo, and once you think the heaviness of the vocals, drums, organ, bass, and guitar is about to be overwhelming, and about to make you explode with adrenaline-you get a soft, psych, break, before the finale.

Cutting to the chase: This is a dark, deep, heavy, progressive, and psychedelic album, all in one. Don't let that scare you. I haven't any doubts, that anyone who cares about music, in general; will have one of the following reactions; Really like/Probably love, and/or certainly appreciate this album. Without a shred of hesitation-this is one of the best albums ever made. This cannot be overstated. 2066 & Then-Reflections on the Future is flawless, and timeless music. 5 Stars!!

There is a rare occasion where upon first listen of an album I just burst out laughing. Not because I find the album humourous or plain silly, but because I realize that I have just found an album that is so amazing that I can't contain myself. This is one of those occasions.

At My Home is the first track of this Heavy Prog Powerhouse. This song really gets you in the mood as it's a nice "heavy rocker". It immediately drew me in and gave me a great idea of what the rest of this album would be.

Autum shows more complexity but is still a very satisfying heavy rock tune. This track features excellent all-around musicianship and will appeal to just about everyone.

Butterking is an exciting peice with excellent vocals by Geff Harrison (In some parts I can hear traces of Robert Wyatt). This track is mainly vocal with less emphasis on the musicianship but still manages to be incredibly captivating.

Reflections On The Future is the great work of this Masterpiece of an album. There's not much to say about this one it features dazzling musicianship, and a nice hopping chorus, this song is perfect!

How Would You Feel is easily the weakest track on this record, but It's hard not to be when compared to the first four tracks. The band takes a softer approach to this song and it's not bad, It serves as a nice break from the madness of the rest of this album.

This record is absolutely essential! I easily rate this album with 5 stars, and it deserves every last one of them. Everyone must hear this album, It is a must have for an Progressive Music fan.

Here's a little heavy psych oddity from Germany which has languished in obscurity (though alternate performances of the tracks can be found on the Reflections On the Past collection), and I can't say it's an obscurity which is really surprising because to be honest this isn't anything very special when it comes to early 1970s hard psych. Lacking the eccentricity of a Brainticket, not as heavy as early Hawkwind or High Tide, and not as original or groundbreaking as countrymen like Tangerine Dream or Amon Duul II, Twenty Sixty Six and Then turn in a competent performance but don't do much that's memorable or which would convince me to revisit this album on a regular basis.

It's not outright incompetent and if you like the heavy psych style you probably won't be bored. Let's just say, though, that I wouldn't recommend spending a large amount of money in acquiring a copy.

Twenty Sixty Six and Then - Reflection on the Future

One of Germany's heavy psych classics, an album in the Vanilla Vudge, Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster, Birth Control, ELP & Uriah Heep tradion with heavy keyboard, guitars and a blazing rhythmical section - perhaps even the wildest among this group of bands. Released in 1972, the album arrives two years to late to get a honest chance; by now experimental seventies rock had progressied in new directions and sixties sounds were complety dated. However, the thirty minutes of music of the first two tracks and the epic on the second side could easily be seen as top notch five star progressive rock.

Now the overall sound is very heavy and enthusiastic vocals of Englishman Geff Harrison (no silly German accents here) are truly exciting! The instrumental opening section of 'At my Home' sets the room on fire with ELP like keyboard and heavy guitar, and the vocalist his dominance over the rest of the band comes as a total suprise. The next track 'Autumn' runs over nine minutes and shows how the band is more progressive then most of the bands mentioned in the review. 'Butterking' has ugly mellotrons, silly vocals and like everything that can go wrong in progressive rock. I recommend skipping it, though I must admit it has some above average moments. On side two the epic title track 'Reflection on the Future' bring seventeen minutes more of what made the first two tracks so great. In the opening section the main theme sounds suprisingly much like the couplet theme of Alphataurus' 'La mente vola' which was released in 1973 (a year later). The closing track is a nice song, but it suffers from the unsteady recording.

Conclusion. Thirty minutes of some of the most brutal and enthusiastic symphonic heavy prog I have in my collection. Shortcomings can be overcome, especially with the digital format (I myself own the vinyl). Four stars, recommended to fans of beforementioned bands and hidden gem seekers in general.

So you kind of dig those early hard-rocking so-called "proto-prog" bands but don't think they musically explore enough, or you love the early works of the classic Symphonic Prog bands but wish they had a bit more hair on their chest and weren't afraid to make a bit more noise? Then German band Twenty Sixty-Six and Then and their English language debut album `Reflections on the Future' from 1972 might be just what you're after, a Mellotron and Hammond-dominated rocker that incorporates traces of early Genesis and Van der Graaf Generator to their crossover of late Sixties/early Seventies rock sounds, plus a touch of Beggars' Opera and Nektar with traces of psychedelic and space rock explorations also worked into their punchy fuzzy tunes.

`At my Home' is a fairly typical `proto-prog' up-tempo and relentless rocker, all Gagey Mrozeck's wild snarling electric guitar, Veit Marvos and Steve Robinson's Hammond organ (both are credited to keyboards throughout) , Dieter Bauer's mud-thick bass, Konstatin Bommarius's thrashing drums and a confident, raucous vocal from Geff Harrison (who is actually English, and would later be involved with other German prog-related groups such as Tritonus and King Ping Meh). It's a reliable and addictive opener that Atomic Rooster and Deep Purple fans are sure to love, but the best is yet to come!

`Autumn' holds a dreamy introduction of electric piano tiptoes and Mellotron wisps that rise into grand symphonic veils over humming Hammond organ. It kicks to life with chugging guitars full of bite and reveals a heavy symphonic piece full of frantic little bursts, and listen to the way Harrison emulates Peter Gabriel's raspy croon in the final minutes! Retaining a trace of flighty hippie-rock to its fantastical lyric, `Butterking' constantly bombards the listener with booming Mellotron blasts, instantly reminding of the heavier moments of Van der Graaf Generator, and there's plenty of lengthy passages of runaway piano soloing, sillier vocal spots that again invoke Peter Gabriel and frantic organ pomp and whimsy backed by boisterous rumbles of drums to remind of `Trespass' era Genesis.

The flip-side's almost seventeen minute title track `Reflections on the Future' is mostly a free- wheeling Beggars Opera-like fancy and prancing vocal/organ tune that gets attacked with a throat shredding lead vocal and long bouts of histrionic guitar wailing, but it eventually drifts into ambling deep-space freeform sonic explorations ala early Pink Floyd or Nektar's `Journey to the Center of the Eye' debut. Finally, drenched in scratchy Mellotron and glorious piano, short closer `How do you Feel' both vocally and musically reminds of the stately Van der Graaf Generator and Genesis moments with its murky regal dignity, instantly calling to mind both Peter Hammill's overwrought drama and Peter Gabriel's wounded melancholic wail, and the chorus could have easily fit on the first few Genesis albums.

Despite additional recordings to what ended up on the LP (some of the bonus tracks here hint at a strong E.L.P/The Nice/Triumvirat-like bombastic dexterity), the band would sadly split up mere months after its release, leaving behind only this first-rate work that's in desperate need of some belated extra attention! If the above described mix of Sixties/Seventies sounds and proto/symphonic styles sounds enticing, then there's no higher recommendation than `Reflections on the Future', something of a lost classic from the vintage prog period.

Five stars.