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SPACE GUERILLA

Missus Beastly

Jazz Rock/Fusion


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Missus Beastly Space Guerilla album cover
3.71 | 27 ratings | 4 reviews | 15% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
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Studio Album, released in 1978

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Space Guerilla (10:48)
2. Guitar For Sale (7:57)
3. Rahsaan Roland Kirk (2:50)
4. Fuzzy, Don't Go To The Disco (3:21)
5. Hoffmannstropfen (6:04)
6. Cose Dola (5:17)
7. For Flü (6:57)
8. King Garlic (6:40)

Total Time: 49:54

Line-up / Musicians

- Friedemann Josch / wind
- Locko Richter / bass, violin
- Burkard Schmidl / keyboards, percussion, vocals
- Jan Zelinka / drums

Releases information

LP Schneeball Records 00011 (1978 Germany)

Thanks to Sean Trane for the addition
and to Rivertree for the last updates
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MISSUS BEASTLY Space Guerilla ratings distribution


3.71
(27 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music (15%)
15%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection (41%)
41%
Good, but non-essential (44%)
44%
Collectors/fans only (0%)
0%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

MISSUS BEASTLY Space Guerilla reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Rivertree
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / Band Submissions
3 stars The band has changed beyond recognition a little bit - it's jazz rock respectively fusion by all means but somewhat more in a classic straightforward way - not that weird and with krautrock leanings as shown by the earlier band incarnations. Keyboarder Burghard Schmidl and Friedemann Josch are left from the former line-up. Locko Richter plays a solid part but cannot really manage to be an equal alternative to Norbert Dömling.

The excellent fusion track Space Guerilla as the highlight is performed with much dynamic dominated by Burkhard Schmidl who substitutes the (missing?) rhythm guitar with his keyboard. And therefore not missing a guitarist they are able to offer the Guitar for Sale starting in the wellknown MISSUS BEASTLY or EMBRYO style but drifting into 'shallow waters' in the second half with a decent piano solo. Rahsaan Roland Kirk is a solo flute performance by Josch and then the album developes into a weaker average direction more and more. For Flü appears as a noticable exception with some breaks and changing moods. Cose Dola is not more than a nice pun. 'Dose Cola' in german means a Coke tin. The closing King Garlic is proper most certainly but not really recognizable as a common MISSUS BEASTLY output though.

So as for a conclusion 'Space Guerilla' contains nice jazz rock songs with flute contributions - but I'm missing this special MISSUS BEASTLY flair.

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars After two incredible Jazz/Kraut albums MISSUS BEASTLY are back. As Uwe mentions in his review the Krautrock part of the equation has been greatly reduced here. Only two of the five members from the first two albums are back leaving Mr. Schmidl to do almost all of the composing besides playing keyboards and guitar. Despite the lack of Krautrock this album has impressed me big time. It's just really well done which is no surprise and after this record Schmidl would join EMBRYO while Richter the bass and violin player would re-join AERA. Josch by the way is so good playing flute and sax here. A really enjoyable Jazz/Rock album and this was released in 1978.

"Space Guerrilla" is the almost 11 minute opener where we do get some of that Krautrock spirit. Piano only to start as drums and more start to come and go until we get a steady sound with sax over top. I like the sound 1 1/2 minutes in as bass and a beat with flute take over. Sax is back but it's the flute showing off in a major way. Love when it calms right down to an experimental Kraut routine. A change 7 minutes in as the tempo picks up with lots of intricate sounds. Pretty much piano driven to the end.

"Guitar For Sale" has a Jazz/Fusion vibe all the way with electric piano and drums. Check out the guitar after a minute and the bass 2 minutes in. It then lightens and then another calm before 4 minutes with piano and flute. "Rahstan Rolans Kirk" is flute and percussion and not much of the latter. "Fuzzy, Don't Go To The Disco" are wise words indeed for 1978. This one has some funk to it with the bass. Sax before a minute and it will come and go. Then the violin leads the way after 2 minutes soling away.

"Hoffmannstropfen" opens with bass and a beat as sax comes and goes along with e-pinao. The flute replaces the sax after 1 1/2 minutes then the sax returns after 3 minutes. Is that clavinet 3 1/2 minutes in? Bass leads before 5 minutes. "Cose Dola" contrasts the sax with the electric piano as drums support. Violin after a minute. Bass and drums only before 2 1/2 minutes then the piano returns. "For Flu" is uptempo with piano, flute and drums leading the way. A World music vibe here with that ethnic sound arriving a minute in. Themes continue to be repeated and check out a moving section before 3 1/2 minutes with piano and flute.

"King Garlic" ends it in a Jazz/Rock style. Very classy really with piano and bass leading along with drums before the flute arrives late. An excellent album for those into the Jazz/Rock style of music. These guys are players and I think it stands up well with their previous two studio albums even if it's a notch down from those.

Review by BrufordFreak
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars The boys of silliness are back--at least two of them (wind player Friedemann Josch and keyboard maestro Burkard Schmidl). Also, the band's number is down to a quartet as they have obviously gotten more comfortable with multi- tracking.

1. "Space Guerilla" (10:48) a three-part suite in which the second movement is full of experimental keyboard work, while only the final super-fast, super-fun section is really high quality Jazz-Rock Fusion. (18/20)

2. "Guitar For Sale" (7:57) a murky, funky vehicle for some superb Al Di Meola/Jan Hammer-like guitar synth and/or synth play from keyboardist Burkard Schmidl (who is also providing the rich electric piano chords in the rhythm section beneath). My big question is: Is that really a guitar doing the soloing over the first three minutes or a synth mimicking a guitar? Great sound and mix with the bass and drums sticking right out there with Burky's axe-like keyboard. At 3:50 everybody dials down their volumes for a delicate passage over which flute, piano (Possibly a very nice electric piano-- which would be unusual for 1978 but, knowing German ingenuity, could be possible), and tuned percussion solo (mostly piano), carrying forward the same descending chord progression from the first half. Great "guitar" soloing in the first half, solid Jarrett-like piano solo in the second half. Odd, though to have it expressed like this in a two-part song. (13.5/15)

3. "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (2:50) obviously a tribute to recently-deceased Indiana-born American sax and flute player of the same name. Multiple tracks of layers of flutes imbedded with multiple tracks of percussive voicings. Interesting. (4.5/5)

4. "Fuzzy, Don't Go To The Disco" (3:21) like an étude in funk. Can a Jean-Luc Ponty violin play funk? Can Burkard adapt to the clavinet. Can flute and sax accents supplant a brass section? etc. (8.75/10)

5. "Hoffmannstropfen" (6:04) another very mathematical and stringently-constrained construct that sounds like a study/practice session in funk mastery. Though I'll give them props for going further than Thijs Van Lier's FOCUS ever went. (8.75/10)

6. "Cose Dola" (5:17) a song whose music shows the band approaching, almost encroaching upon the new style taking over Jazz-Rock Fusion: commercially-driven Smooth Jazz. Competent but rather dull. (8.666667/10)

7. "For Flü" (6:57) piano and flute playing some frantic melodies at first together, then harmonically, at break-neck speeds. Then synth (synth guitar?) takes the rhythm section along a more Eastern European direction before flute rejoins to mirror Burkard's breathtaking melody lines. A quiet section in the third minute is filled with only solo piano and sonorous kazoo-like vocalese before flute rejoins. The two speed up, insidiously, until 4:35 when the rest of the band (the rhythm section) rejoins to support the crazy-fast drive through the Carpathian Mountains. Burkard rejoins a synth in place of his piano to duke it out with Friedemann's flute. Very impressive performances from the two remaining holdovers from the band's two previous albums. (13.5/15)

8. "King Garlic" (6:40) piano, electric bass, and simple yet-solid drumming present a powerful presence despite still retaining a bit of the lounge musicians' sound. I'm very much reminded of ANNETTE PEACOCK's "Real and Defined Androgens" from her X Dreams albums from this same year: the sound and structure and chords and drumming are so similar! Did one borrow from the other? I'd like to know since Annette's song is definitely one of my favorite songs of hers (and Bill Bruford's). (9/10)

Total Time: 49:54

The engineering of the sound on this album definitely shows a new era and new attitudes toward high-end and compression. (I don't like it.) The drums and bass feel muted and dull while the keyboards are so bright. Also, I hear much more effort going into the musicians attempts to "master" American funk.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of very solid Jazz-Rock Fusion. Highly recommended.

Latest members reviews

4 stars Wow. I am really the first one which writes a review of this record. Besides, was Missus Beastly one of the big German krautjazz bands, at one level with Embryo or Doldinger. The band and this LP has still almost fallen into oblivion what is a pity because on it excellent music is to be found. In ... (read more)

Report this review (#114711) | Posted by golowin | Friday, March 9, 2007 | Review Permanlink

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