BODY LOVE - VOL. 2

What can I say about this album that has not ever been communicated on any Tangerine Dream offering already. Oviously highly similar and also very pleasant on the ear. I guess KS steers away from the more obscure sounds on Body Love. The main track ' Nowhere- Now Here' builds slowly to a hypnotically pulsating rythm and is a fine piece of music ( 29 minutes on one side of vinyl isn't bad either). ' Stardancer' and 'Moogetique' which make up side two do not quite deliver the same emphatic theme and kind of just ' hang' there on the ears. Overall a good album though and recommended for any Klaus Schulze follower.

It seems Klaus Schulze becomes better with the enhancement of the keyboards technology. Of the records I own from him, this is my favorite one: he really sounds SPACEY & FUTURISTIC ELECTRONIC here.

The first minutes of side 1 evoke a minimalist version of the floating bits on Pink Floyd's Wish you were here. The track takes more than 6 minutes to really start. After this first not really impressive part, the music becomes a real mix of early Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream circa Force Majeure and Encore: just notice the excellent permanent mellotron in the background.

The side 2 is very good too: the first track, "Stardancer 2", still contains mellotron in the background, and it definitely sounds a bit like the excellent Edgar Froese's Stuntman album. The second track, "Moogetique", is a beat-free ambient, haunting, futuristic and enigmatic composition that could fit very well in the Blade Runner movie soundtrack.

If making music is all about transfering the listener to an other world, this album deserves a serious listening. This amazing release contains three strong aesthetic electronic pieces for analogue synths and drum. The ingredients and choice of synthezised sounds are relatively similar to "Moondawn" but more exciting and propulsive. Personaly that's my favourite album from the classic Schulze period (with the deeply celestial and moody "Mirage"). This release is better than the first volume. No mediocrity and boring synth strings as in "Blanche". The shimmering, strange haunting "Stardancer II" culminates the album with its 10 first minutes: powerful synth choirs are perfectly accompanied by "vibrant" and traumatic drum / cymbals. After the long and "druggy" dreamness from the introduction we unfortunately fall into a common rhytmical electronic trip with floating, endless synth (almost boring) melodies. "Nowhere - Now Here" focuses on deep melancholic / epic synth textures with frozen choirs and drum sections, a consistent tune with a "holy" / "spectral" dimension. "Moogetique" is the experimental synth essay of the album with a selection of weird effects and some "elegiac" themes, really mysterious and dark vibrations. Sometimes near to perfection. Schulze at his best after his two first efforts.

A few weeks ago a friend wanted to get rid off his LP's because he had decided to move into the house of his girldfriend. One of the albums I got was Moogetique (Ariola label - 1977) by Klaus Schulze ('Additions To The Soundtrack Of Body Love'). Today I wanted to add it to Prog Archives but then discovered that it's also known as Body Love Vol. 2 with the same cover but another title (Moogetique). The sound on this album is more lush and varied than his previous efforts. The album starts with Nowhere - Now Here (almost half an hour): frequent choir-Mellotron-like waves, a wonderful strings-sound, slow synthesizer flights, catchy sequencing and lots of nature sounds and beeps and bleeps. The build-up is very strong, from soaring keyboards to a bombastic final part featuring great drumming by Harold Grosskopf. In my opinion one of Klaus Schulze his best works and how remarkable, the music often sounds similar to JM Jarre his debut LP is from 1976. The other two tracks are Stardancer (exciting sequencers and distorted synthesizer runs) and Moogetique (more atmospheric with a bit ominous climate). A strong album that will please many fans of progressive electronic music.

What can I say about this wonderful release?

That it is just marvelous? Indeed?

That while prog was declining, such a genius as Klaus could hold the flag high? Probably!

The epic "Nowhere - Now Here" is just a fantastic electronic musical moment. I should say musical moment: period. It offers all of the grandeur of whom you might know and frankly, dear friend Klaus often equalled the great TD. They are both gorgeous to tell the truth. These seventies works were just awesome for both of them.

Who was better than the other one? I don't care. Both are just INCREDIBLE. Period.

This album holds such brilliant moments, fantastic and moving music! It is only a pity that so little reviews describe such a wonderful album. As if there were no other big deal than Floyd, Genesis, Tull or Yes (whom I all embraced as well of course).

This is prog electronic at his best. A phantasmagorical travel into space, and time. A huge and magical piece of great music that's for sure. Because there is much more than the mighty epic available in here.

As soon as you have listened to the first chord of "Stardancer II", you understand that this one has little to do with the average track from the first "Body Love" version. This one also holds some more vigorous lines, but splendid and passionate vibrations do make this one far more interesting than its predecessor. It is another highlight actually. Another jewel.

The super ambient " Moogetique" might sound weaker after such grandiose music, but it is still very enjoyable, mysterious and so genuine great electronic art.

This album is truly a jewel. I can't think of anything below five stars to describe it.

Sometimes it's hard to say why you like one Schulze album and not the other. They all consist of 30-something minute songs that, for pretty much their entire course, either go "dim-dum-dum blip dim-dim-dum-dum" or "dum-dim-dim dum-dim-dim blip dum-dududum-dim-dim" or something similar. I'm sure there's higher intelligence involved to explain why some of it seems dull and at other times it works out so amazingly.

While Moondawn couldn't entirely convince me, here on Body Love, Schulze gets all his dums and dims and blips exactly where they should be to create magic.

Body Love comes in two volumes: "Body Love" and "Body Love Vol 2". Both excellent but with a personal preference for Body Love 2. Mainly because of the superior take on the one track that both releases share: Stardancer

Nowhere Now Where is a half hour long crescendo that evolves from quiet, silent and slightly hesitating melodies into an orgiastic sound fest of churning sequences and twittering moog solos.

The track is a good example of the difference in method between KS and his friends from Tangerine Dream. TD is very much composed and arranged, with one sequence progressing into the other. With Schulze, the change of the themes is more blurry, the music more like one organic flow that sounds spontaneous and improvised, as if the piece evolves all by itself with just a few turns on the knobs by the master. (I don't want to imply I like one approach more then the other. I just thought I'd point out what I perceive as the main difference between both artists.)

Stardancer II is a reprise from the Body Love album and superior to its original. For people that are only familiar with TD, this might be the track to start. Or you could start with Moogetique, an amazing experimental piece reminiscent of Schulze's earlier albums. Very cosmic and minimalist. With sparse orchestration, Schulze creates an enchanting and slightly disconcerting mood. Pure genius.

Klaus had some music left over after issuing the first Body Love soundtrack, so he took the remainders, recorded some new material to fill out the running time, and issued another great album in more or less the same style. Nowhere/Now Here might repeat his usual trick of starting out placid and tranquil and building to a busy and energetic climax, but it's a pretty good example of that trick, whilst the two shorter tracks prove that Schulze had at this point become more capable of writing satisfying pieces which last less than 20 minutes. If you enjoyed the first Body Love album, there's really no point not getting this one too.

The leftovers from the Body Love soundtrack compiled together in this album which is slightly more compelling than its predecessor.

Body Love Vol. 2 is one of my favorite Klaus Schulze albums for its supremely progressive composition, beautiful cover art, and exceptionally dark atmosphere. As always, Schulze displays his mastery of electronic grandiosity and epic soundscapes.

"Nowhere - Now Here" is a great way to start off the album, featuring slow moody moog melodies and sifting waves before eventually settling into a rather downtempo groove backed by choral washes that border on medieval sounding. Things speed up significantly about half-way through, moving at an anxious pace to the end of the track which features an almost Mid-Eastern synth noodling section that maintains this track's dark and mysterious atmosphere. Of course much progression in packed into this track, which is very important to keep the listener's interest considering that it is nearly 30 minutes long.

"Stardancer II" is an apparent sequel to "Stardancer" that was on the previous album, and follows in the same darkened vein as the previous track on this Body Love Vol. 2. Very active and sincere sounding moog melodies take the forefront for the majority of this track while simple but light hi-hat and snare percussion propel throughout its duration, giving the impression of a building urgency that may result in eruption at any moment.

"Moogetique" is my favorite track here, and it's an absolute monster. This track is defined by deep, cosmic groans and muddy ambient drones that drift and consume for its whole duration - definitely the darkest epic on this album. Many listeners may think of this track as being too boring, but if it's given the time it deserves then the gloomy beauty will definitely shine through.

Body Love Vol. 2, when compared to its predecessor, is definitely the darker and more interesting of the two, but I do believe that they also do work very well together as a whole. A lot of the gloominess and disparate sounds of this album remind me of two famously dark Schulze albums Cyborg and Irrlicht, but here the profound dark mysteriousness is melded perfectly with his more classic-era sound.

The sequel to Klaus Schulze's popular 1997 film score actually has no relation to the earlier LP, despite the obvious similarities. The album wasn't, as stated on its back cover, "additions to the original soundtrack"; nor was it a collection of leftover tracks from the same recording session. In fact it might never have been recorded if Schulze wasn't persuaded, with a polite twist of the arm by his new Island Records boss Chris Blackwell, to "make another record for us like Moondawn or Body Love" (quoting Schulze's recollections). It was a suggestion he apparently couldn't refuse at the time.

The new artwork further reinforced a phony connection to the prurient attractions of the earlier record, famously commissioned for a Dutch porno movie. But all that artfully posed flesh on the front cover wasn't completely gratuitous. There was an undeniable eroticism to Schulze's keyboard technique at the time, disproving the stubborn misconception that synthesizers were cold and sterile ("for me, electronic music is totally sensual", he said in a 2004 interview).

The album opener "Nowhere, Now Here", one of his longest intergalactic jams to date, was a quintessential slice of Berlin School hypnotism, slowly building steam over 29-epic minutes. The album's other new track, "Moogetique" (which gave its name to the album in some markets), is a brooding yet beautiful example of Schulze's music at its formless best. In between is the punchy "Stardancer II", not a new recording but a slightly longer remix of its namesake from Volume One.

In style and content the second album is entirely equal to its predecessor. And yet it was still a cash-grab re-boot in a way, and the sequencing of tracks (in the linear, not the electronic sense of the word) lacks the natural flow of the original Body Love. Later re-issues include a generous but meandering postscript, rescued from the vaults and given the numbskull title "Buddy Laugh (A Rock 'n' Roll Bolero)". Unlike other Klaus Schulze bonus tracks, this one really does resemble an outtake, despite the awesome rhythmic drone that surfaces deep into its 23+ minute running time.

It helps to hear Volume Two as a direct continuation of the first Body Love album, rather than what it really is: an unrelated companion (it's a pity the two weren't packaged together as a twin-LP...imagine the gatefold sleeve art!). But even a good sequel will have trouble measuring up to its forefather, and 'Body Love 2' will always be the next best thing to the original version. Post coitum omne animalium triste est, so forth.

It's even better the second time

Despite the title and the sensual cover art, "Body Love 2" is not the soundtrack to a sequel to Lasse Braun's erotic movie. The three compositions were initially candidates to the "Body Love" score, but were finally not retained. However, as Island Records asked Schulze an accessible electronic record, in the vein of "Moondawn" and "Body Love", the German artist choose to release these tracks as an official studio album. By the way, when did Klaus sleep? This ninth opus was already its third one of 1977!

Completely different from the icy depressive soundscapes of his previous effort, "Mirage", the style is - as you expect - pretty much similar to the "Body Love" soundtrack. Supported by Harald Grosskopf's percussions, the music is more melodic, spacey and futuristic.

Longest track of the disc, "Nowhere / Now Here" starts with an ambient and cosmic overture. Slowly evolving with progressively appearing drums, this first half is just mesmerizing, possessing a little floydian feel. The pace suddenly accelerates for the second half, mystical whirlwinding keyboards weave a mysterious web over a quite robotic sequence. The strange ending section is simply stellar! Space-time is distorted, get ready to travel through a sonic wormhole. From nowhere to now here, that's what it is. All makes sense. A brilliant tour de force!

"Stardancer II" is just a (very slightly) rearranged version of the original "Stardancer" from the first opus, maybe a bit more futuristic. The record concludes with "Moogetique", which surprisingly takes us back to Schulze's early years. Contrasting with the other compositions, this track resembles Klaus' drone experiments from "Cyborg" or even "Irrlicht", with added eerie sound effects. A hazy introduction deploys a claustrophobic and gloomy atmosphere. You're wandering into a cold world of sadness and darkness. Enjoyable, but probably my least favorite.

Let's go straight to the point: if you liked "Body Love", you'll enjoy Volume 2. Furthermore, I find this album is more consistent and less monotonous than the movie score. Again, this is neither sensual nor romantic music, but rather a soundtrack to fly between the stars at any speed you want aboard your spaceship.

Although one of Klaus Schulze's lesser-known release, "Body Love 2" is one of his best offerings from the seventies. Don't miss it!

Body Love 2, we are told, is not a continuation of Body Love. Body Love, released on Brain/Metronome in February 1977, was recorded as the soundtrack to a porn movie of the same name. Body Love 2, released by Island in December of that same year, had no connection to the movie, although it included either a remix or re-recording of one track from Body Love. For what it's worth, Schulze released his near-masterpiece Mirage between the two Body Love albums.

All of that said, Body Love 2 isn't very different from Body Love. They were mostly recorded in the same studios, performed by Schulze and drummer Harald Großkopf. The structure of the two albums is similar: two tracks in the twelve- to fourteen-minute range and a third approaching a half-hour - - plus a 22-minute (or so) bonus track. The first side of Body Love 2 is occupied by the tour-de-force "Nowhere - Now Here," while the flip side is comprised by "Stardancer II" and "Moogetique." "Buddy Laugh (A Rock'n'Roll Bolero)," included in recent CD releases as a bonus track, was recorded at the same time as the other pieces.

"Moogetique" might be the brooding brother of "Blanche" from the first Body Love. But whereas "Blanche" had some hopeful chords, over which Schulze played his typical synth noodling, the similarly rhythmless "Moogetique" gains its motion from more frequent chord changes; the whole piece is background, so to speak, without a lead part. And whereas it'd be reasonable to expect "Buddy Laugh" to resemble Body Love's bonus track "Lasse Braun," there are relatively few similarities. Both are rhythmic tracks, but Großkopf provides the rhythm for "Buddy Laugh," while "Lasse Braun" derives its rhythm from a sequencer. "Buddy Laugh" is also played at a noticeably higher tempo.

"Nowhere - Now Here" is the main attraction here. It's among Schulze's finest pieces, ranking just below "Totem" (Picture Music, 1973), "Ludwig von Bayern" (X, 1979), and the Cyborg bonus track "But Beautiful," which was recorded during the same period as Body Love 2. "Nowhere" builds from an atmospheric backing over which Schulze plays a slow lead. By the five-minute mark, a sequencer rhythm asserts itself, and at six minutes Großkopf enters with a very basic beat. A second lead accompanies the first and by 8:00 the form of the piece is established, the main variation being occasional chord changes. A few spacey sound effects are thrown in here and there. Then, right before 14:00, the instrumentation and tempo change. The sound effects become more prevalent - - or at least louder. Over the next few minutes, the instrumentation returns to its former state, although the new rhythm persists. At about 17:40, a new sequence is added: one that should be familiar to Schulze listeners as similar to one on "Bayreuth Return" (Timewind, 1975) and on "Crystal Lake" from Mirage. This morphs, becoming softer and fading away as Großkopf becomes more demonstrative. There's a part around 22:30 that sounds like the eventual end of the song, but over the next minute, Großkopf comes to the fore with a double-bass-drum pattern; by this time, he has completely replaced the sequencers as the source of the rhythm. Soon Schulze returns with one of his trademark leads as Großkopf increases the tension with a series of snare rolls over the insistent bass-drum pattern. This gives way to louder synth pads. The lead part continues unabated as sequencer patterns re-assert themselves over the final two minutes. The sound effects also return, as does the snare, as the tension continues - - and with a slight increase in volume, the track ends abruptly.

With Mirage and X, Body Love 2 is part of Schulze's best three-album sequence. I'd recommend it to any fan of ambient or electronic-progressive music, and to anyone new to Schulze. Given the expansiveness of his catalog, and the diversity of his styles over the past fifty years, Body Love 2 is as good as any place to start investigating his music.