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PHALLUS DEI

Amon Düül II

Krautrock


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Amon Düül II Phallus Dei album cover
4.01 | 487 ratings | 35 reviews | 33% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
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Studio Album, released in 1969

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Kanaan (3:56)
2. Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren (6:00)
3. Luzifers Ghilom (8:02)
4. Henriette Krötenschwanz (1:59)
5. Phallus Dei (20:45)

Total Time: 40:42

Bonus tracks on 2000 remaster:
6. Freak Out Requiem I (7:53)
7. Freak Out Requiem II (0:44)
8. Freak Out Requiem III (7:49)
9. Cymbals In The End (0:34)

Bonus tracks on 2006 remaster:
6. TouchMaPhal (10:17)
7. I Want The Sun To Shine (10:32)

Line-up / Musicians

- Renate Knaup / vocals, tambourine
- Christian "Shrat" Thiele / bongos, violin, vocals
- Chris Karrer / violin, guitar, 12-string guitar, soprano sax, vocals
- Falk Rogner / organ
- John Weinzierl / bass, guitar, 12-string guitar
- Dave Anderson / bass (3)
- Dieter Serfas / drums, electric cymbals
- Peter Leopold / drums

With:
- Holger Trülzsch / Turkish drums
- Christian Burchard / vibraphone

Releases information

Artwork: Amon Duul II and Gerd Stein (photo)

LP Liberty ‎- LBS 83 279 I (1969, Germany)

CD Mantra ‎- MANTRA 012 (1989, France)
CD Gammarock ‎- GRR 83 807 (2000, Germany) Remastered w/ 4 bonus tracks, previously unreleased
CD Repertoire Rec. ‎- REP 4872 (2001, Europe) Remastered by Eroc with same bonus tracks as above
CD Revisited Rec. ‎- REV 050 (2006, Germany) Remixed & remastered by Jan Kahlert with 2 bonus tracks, previously unreleased

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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AMON DÜÜL II Phallus Dei ratings distribution


4.01
(487 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(33%)
33%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(41%)
41%
Good, but non-essential (20%)
20%
Collectors/fans only (5%)
5%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

AMON DÜÜL II Phallus Dei reviews


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

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk
4 stars 4.5 stars really!!!

Out of the future ashes of the Munich-based hippy commune of Amon Düül, came this unit that seemed more serious about making music, other than as a social and political statement, Amon Duul II rose like a phoenix and built around Karrer (guitar), Rogner (bass) and Serfas (drums) and reputation growing, signed a deal with Liberty records and recrding their debut album in early 69, with two more members: drummer Leopold (from the other AD group) and bassist Anderson (pushing Rogner onto the keyboard stool). With two star guests, Burchard (Embryo, crosstown rivals) Trutzsch (Popol Vuh, also from the city), produced by Passport's Kübler, and graced with an astonishing psyched-out tree-and-sky artwork (courtesy of KB man Rogner), Phallus Dei is a landmark in Krautrock, also sung in a sort of medieval Upper German

Their sound is somewhat the full-on revolutionary psych of the sister group AD and much more accomplished psych groups like Floyd and the jammy Jefferson Airplane, yet having that typical early Krautrock raw sound of Can's Monster Movie. Opening the album on an Indian sitar and Burchard's vibes, the short Kanaan is an invitation to glide some 10 miles into the stratosphere on grass smoked-filled clouds for a 4-minutes short flight. The much slower strating Dem Guten Schonen Wahren turns quickly into a Floyd-like freak out (Saucerful-era) with its repetitive riff (but not too much, either) with some silly Zappa-like vocals and other artefacts like a semblance of Gregorian choirs and tons of others. Luzifers Gholom is the centrepiece of this first side, an ever-changing piece filled with an Eastern-sounding horn disappearing to let drum and bongo duet rhythming the track to chitter-chatter-like scat vocals and wild stop/go riffs, decadent ambiance and grass fumes floating about. The Henriette piece is a martial beat with semi-operatic vocals from Renate, but simply to short (2 mins) to make an impact on the album.

Of course, the album's tour de force is the title track, filling the flipside with plenty of freaky spacey sounds filling the first few minutes, much reminiscent of early TD, PV, Cluster or Kraftwerk, but past this lengthy improvised intro, Leopold (drums) and Karrer (fuzz guitar) pull the track out in open field under Andersson's pulsing and hypnotic bass (you can hear early Hawkwind in there). Later on, a weird sort of space whisper from Renate (not unlike Gilly Smyth's whims) over a Floyd-like organ, a lengthy percussion duet filled with weird sounds, including the eastern-sounding kazoo/oboe, still later Karrer's un-tuned violin, an hypnotic slow guitar until a slow ending, are the successive features of this monster track. Definitely one of ADII's crowning achievement.

With PD (the first of the Liberty Records era trilogy) is a much more accomplished album than their sister group AD could ever dream of. Later that year, the group would have one of their gig filmed while touring for this album and the film gave Amon Duul II plays Phallus Dei (now on DVD as well), but it is a still camera shooting part of the group and is best forgotten. Also that year, they would compose the soundtrack of a film San Domingo, for which they would receive a national award prize. So, while still a very inexperienced group (some members were still learning their instruments), PD remains one of those historically essential albums in rock's history.

Review by Certif1ed
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Konnoisseur Kraut

Listened to this for the first time today, so have had no time to get a real "feel" for the album - but my first impressions are that here we have a prog album for the connoisseur.

If Jilly Goulden was reviewing this album, she'd probably say "I'm getting Hawkwind, Floyd, Jefferson Airplane and Focus - I'm getting Sandalwood, Patchouli... holy $^&* I'm getting freaked out!"

Wonderfully improvisational feel, with immediate appeal to lovers of the aforementioned bands, simply because Amon Duul II take their influences without directly plagiarising - and how could they? In 1969, Hawkwind were not the same band that recorded "Space Ritual", Floyd still had Barrett (just about!), Focus had yet to record "Moving Waves", and Jefferson Airplane were one of the most influential psychedelic bands ever.

So, first impressions - Superb psychedelia, but don't expect Genesis or Spock's Beard! Would appeal immediately to fans of post-Barrett Floyd, Lemmy era Hawkwind and Focus, principally because they show flavours of these bands. It's important to note that they are not simply derivative or plagiaristic (except, perhaps, of Airplane/Dead to some extent), and as such you should get a (very nice) surprise!

Review by Proghead
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Incredible debut by these Krautrock pioneers. This was one of only two albums to feature British-born bassist Dave Anderson (who would leave this band in order to join HAWKWIND for a short time - and in the 1980s running the Demi Monde label, the label that gave OZRIC TENTACLES their first real record deal). This album was the result of the AMON DÜÜL commune breaking up. The first half was more in the politics and community, but they did record a series of albums all under one jam (excludin 1970's Para Dieswierts Düül which was a separate recording session). Those AMON DÜÜL albums are said to suck (except possibly Para Dieswierts Düül). Then the other half of the AMON DÜÜL was of course, far more musically inclined, and of course that was AMON DÜÜL II.

"Phallus Dei" was the beginning, a wonderful psychedelic offering. Certainly the vocals aren't the best, but most of the time, they chose to sing in German on this album. The sound quality, I hate to say it, is rather trash-can quality, but I guess I expect that with a then-unknown band and the budget they had, and it was 1969. The album has four cuts on side one and a side-length cut on side two. It's with the side-length cuts that show you what the band would be up to on following albums. It stars off in a rather experimental style, not unlike what's on "Tanz der Lemminge", then they go in to a lengthy guitar jam. There's extended use of bongos, before they get in to music.

It's also pretty safe to say that "Phallus Dei" is to AMON DÜÜL II what "Monster Movie" is to CAN: both being their most '60s sounding albums. "Phallus Dei" is a wonderful debut and I particularly recommended this album to those who like the more psychedelic end of Krautrock.

Review by philippe
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars In 1969, AMON DÜÜL II released a curious but incredibely furious album, just before the massive "Yeti" and "Dance of the lemmings". Musically, the band delivers a kind of psychedelic rock, largely made on perpetual jammings with a certain sense of humour, a lot of raw guitar parts and some delicate folk violin parts (the title track). There's also a constant use of percussions, incantatory, haunted voices harmonised by the lovely girl singer Rentate Knaup. The opening track represents Amon Duul typical sound at their beginning: an intense and primitive heavy rock with a great dose of space effects. The additional and unreleased tracks offered on the last edition of this album are also not bad at all (a lot of instrumental improvisations). In its totality, "Phallus Dei" is mesmerizing and remains a fine approach to AMON DÜÜL II musical creativity.
Review by Eetu Pellonpaa
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars This is a classic example of an artistic, moody and sincere psychedelic recording. Its front cover with two transparent images placed upon each other form a surrealistic and dreamlike atmosphere, which is strongly present on the music of the album. The highlights for me in this album are the nightmarish trip "Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren", innovative "Luzifers Ghilom" and the shamanist title track "Phallus Dei", which is also captured on awesome film performance revealing the stoned conjurations of the solstice dawn. I recommend this classic record sincerely, but still with a small precaution. I think it is kind of a "hard-core" record, and example some of my friends liking Hawkwind found this a bit too disturbing music. That collective's Dave Anderson is plays also bass guitar on this enigmatic album.
Review by Progbear
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars A striking debut. This was the musicianly faction of Münich's notorious Amon Düül commune (A cursory listen to PSYCHEDELIC UNDERGROUND, DISASTER, COLLAPSING or EXPERIMENTE should be more than enough to convince you that the "other" Amon Düül are NOT musicians!), and their provocatively-titled debut, while not perfect, was truly stunning.

Guitarist/violinist/singer Chris Karrer stands out on this album. He sings lead on nearly all the songs and his violin playing gives this an eerie feel. "Kanaan" immediately establishes a mood with haunting sitar-like guitar and operatic, wordless backing vocals from Renate. "Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren" borders on the absurd, with unearthly falsetto vocals from Chris, but definitely sends chills up and down your spine with some memorable violin work. "Luzifers Ghilom" presages Damo Suzuki's singing style in Can with an expressionistic, gibberish-speak section in the middle. The twin guitar attack arrives with this track. The A-side of the original LP closes with "Henriette Krötenschwanz", a morbid musical description of a fatal car-accident with demi-operatic vocals from Renate.

It's the 20 minute title piece that sends this album into the stratosphere, though. A new and exciting model for structured improvisation, it moves from outer space to an intense, tribal middle section with layers of percussion over which the band members scream and wail expressionistically. The closing section, where Chris' singing voice and sawing electric violin enter, is truly striking. It leads you to realize what a TIGHT band this was, that they could make such unforgettable music more or less spontaneously shows that they were a true force to be reckoned with.

Review by Seyo
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars Wonderful first album of AMON DUUL II is, along with CAN's "Monster Movie", a cornerstone of German psychedelic kraut-rock. There is a weird collage of jamming guitar solos, loads of hypnotic percussions, strong bass hooks, wall of mellotrons with some Indian influences in the sitar and violin sounds and freaky unintelligible vocals. It is hard to single out any tracks (maybe "Lucifers Ghilliom" with an early take on Hindu scat vocals - a style to be heard subsequently on Sheila Chandra records - and some eerie violin chords) because the album is equally interesting throughout its length. Title track is a side-long psychedelic jam improvisation with several different sections, unlike the monotonous "You Doo Right" of the CAN's debut in the similar long form. Acid rock of the freaked out hippies at its best, although probably a challenging listen for the uninitiated.
Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars The first record from AMON DUUL II is significant in that it is one of the first offerings from the genre of Krautrock.The percussion on this disc is pretty amazing at times as this recording features a drummer, a percussionist, a bongo player and guest musician Holger Trutzsch playing Turkish drums. Holger would go on to be the drummer for POPUL VUH's first two albums. One thing that did surprise me about this record was how much structure there was in a lot of the songs. Having delved in some Krautrock that is very free form I thought this would be more along those lines.

"Kanaan" has an Eastern feel to it and the drums are prominant. German vocals a minute in and some good guitar melodies 3 minutes in. "Dem Guten, Schonen, Wahren" is a great tune. Crazy vocals, synths and drums early in the song.The sound is amazing 2 minutes in. The bass from Dave Anderson (from the UK) is really good. Aggressive guitar 5 minutes in as drums pound away. "Luzifers Ghilom" has some cool percussion and a catchy beat. Vocals follow and the drumming is fabulous. "Henriette Krotenschwarz" features marching-like drums throughout and female (Renate) vocals.

"Phallus Dei" the title track is over 20 minutes of brilliance. The first section is experimental with various disturbing noises.Then we are treated to some incredible tribal like percussion as the guitar melodies join in. Female vocal melodies 8 minutes in as the sound softens. Things pick up again as the guitar is emphasized, more craziness and percussion. Male vocals come in as the sound totally changes then we hear ripping violins that sound like they are straight from hell. Absolutely scorching violin melodies ! I have heard nothing like this before ! What a way to end the show! My particular cd has some bonus tracks that were previously unreleased from around the same time period. And as bonus tracks go these are amazing songs. A four part suite called "Freak Out Requiem" is incredible !

This is a 5 star record that needs to be heard.

Review by Cesar Inca
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars "Phallus Dei" is, most of all, a relevant seminal album for the krautrock genre, and as such, it set the pace for a special way of doing prog rock: a way based on the dynamic tension originated by the mixture of Floyd-inspired psychedelia, spacey ambiences, ethnic textures and avant-garde free-form experimentation. Since Amon Duul II was the most proficient section of the Amon Duul musical entity, it is no wonder, after all, that the musical achievement delivered in the "Phallus Dei" album turned out to be so magnificent and groundbreaking in its time. The use of archaic German in the sung parts surely helped to increase the aura of weird mysticism spread all over the album's repertoire. The first half of the album is a set of 4 numbers that range between 2 and 8 minute spans. The instrumental excursions, which are all both fascinating and fashionably unpolished, are properly set on their own architectonics without getting too square, and definitely, Amon Duul's music couldn't go for that - the sonic richness is so tense that the sense of ordainment has to serve as a complementation to its various nuances, not really as a conventional musical frame. Meanwhile, the vocal deliveries are odd enough in their half-bewitching, half-operatic craziness to evoke images of exorcisms, nightmarish daydreaming and mystic revelations. The first two tracks are genuinely revealing of the band's ideology, but my personal favourites from this first half are 'Luzifers Gholom' and 'Henriette Krotenschwanz'. The former bears an amazingly dense sense of mystery that evolves across its different passages in a very csustained manner, while the latter is set on a captivating martial pace that adds fule to its almost satyrical spirit. All in all, the album's definite gem is the namesake suite that occupies its second half. The 20+ minute 'Phallus Dei' is a real marriage of Kosmos and Chaos, fused together in a unique, unnamable musical source that seems to direct the performers' creative forces all the way through the various excursions that are being installed and disrupted successively. In the beginning we have a hypnotic prelude that seems somehow creepy but mostly is dark and inscrutable, a prelude in which disjointed chords on guitar, violin and sax float in communion with soaring synthesizer layers. Then we have an exciting jam whose harmonic bases and atmospheres are properly led by the guitar solos, accompanied by exorcising occasional chantings. When we get to minute 12, a percussive section appears in the shape of an exotic rhythmic "Kamasutra" expanded on a massive tribal environment. The last four minutes are filled with a more articulated section, in fact, the most articulated musical passage in the entire album. Defined melodies and recognizable guitar riffs conform the nucleus for a music that has stopped being tense and has begun being dynamic in a less unconventional fashion. This factor seems prepared to convey some sort of joyful air, an idea that makes itself clearer with the appearance of a wickedly playful violin solo. Now, going for the album as a whole, a large parte of its particular beauty and artistic relevance lies in the successful amalgam of two fires: the flame of European deconstruction (incarnated in the guitar and keyboard sounds) and the bonfire of ethnic colors (mostly represented by the rhythm section). Regarding the latter factor, Dave Anderson's bass input must receive a special accolade, since it combines rhythm and melodic interaction in a very distinctive manner, although Karrer's guitar and sax duties remain always central in the band's sonic load. There is so much more that I feel I need to say about this album, but I think I'll just stop it here... not before proclaiming Amon Duul II as real supreme masters of krautrock, an this should make their debut album a masterpiece in itself.
Review by FruMp
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars A groundbreaking, gritty, psychedelic record ahead of it's time.

'Phallus Dei' (literally god's penis) is one of the records that got me into kraut, it's quite a varied album with despairing moments of psychosis, powerful jamming and righteous riffing there is a lot to like here. The album opens with the worldy 'kanaan' conveying images of Indian slums and sheesha smoke hazes with a rich flowing sound, there are a lot of elements of late 60's psychedelia here too but taken to something of an extreme. The intensity gets dialed up on the next and my personal favourite song 'Dem Guten Schonen Wahren' with an opening riff straight out of a bad acid trip and fevered vocals speaking in tongues things look up a little with some psychedelic jamming before the next acid tab kicks in.

The album lightens up a bit with the upbeat 'Luzifers Ghilom' with some slightly more accessible material, there are some great riffs and moments here and some great jamming. Then after the filler track 'Henriette Krotenschwanz' we move onto the next side with the leviathan 20 minute title track (pretty well unheard of in those days) and we are subjected to a lot of avant-garde freakout noise for a few minutes before the bass kicks in and the song builds into a full blown jam lasting many minutes before a percussion respite followed by you guessed it - more jamming!, a pretty satisfying epic song in the end.

The musicianship on this album is fantastic, jamming and jamming well is hard, really hard and the key component to successful psychedelic jams is the drummer and as you'd expect from krautrock even very early krautrock the drumming is magnificent, very flowing and commanding, the percussion too as you'd expect from any decent kraut recording is amazing particularly in kanaan and Luzifers Ghilom. The guitar work is really good too, some great jam soloing and riffage to be had, I particularly like the clean diminished arpeggios in 'Dem Guten Schonen Wahren'. The bass is like all the other instruments is exemplary, it slots in nicely with the drums and guitar and is also nice and high in the mix which I always like. There is some great 'righteous triforce jamming' (as it has been so named by my band mates) between guitar, drums and bass where they all get into a groove yet are doing their own thing respectively - it just works. another thing I particularly like about this album is the organ and synth sounds, they add some great textures. The vocals would be my only major gripe when it comes to instrumentation, they can be a tad annoying at times with high pitched wailings and the like but for the most part the focus is on the instruments so it doesn't factor in an awful lot. Another thing I really enjoy the gritty 60's production of this album, it suits the music perfectly and enhances certain emotions and experiences.

Overall it's a great album worth 4 stars probably about 4.5, it just lacks a little direction in places and there are a lot of great things that aren't really repeated, well worth while for any fan of kraut or late 60's psychedelia.

Review by obiter
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars Oh baby!!! Groove me out in pyschodelic German trippiness.

The title track is weird and wonderful. This track always reminds me of some crazy spaced out Halloween party.

It opens with spooky weirdness and wails that you're granny does to try and scare the kids at Halloween except far far more musical. Come to think of ti, the kids woudl be a lot more scared of this album than gran trying to do ghost impersonations.

The mood moves on to up tempo jazzy riffing jazzy riffs with, at times, a guitar sound that reminds me of Toni Iommi. In fact, if you know early Black Sabbath then if you can imagine some of their jazzy interludes, you're not to far aware from one of the major passages in Pallus Dei. Since, Sabbath is good in my book, this saves the album from the liquidizer. Still working as a beer mat though.

Once the twiddling is over we enter the dark and mysterious world of echonig howling and screams (all of course still done in a musical way). Obviously gran has been Ushered out of the House, and Weird Uncle Al has come in the back door, a bit worse for wear, intent on rehashing his werewolf routine. Luckily for the listener he passes out and a new phase begins. the music lurches along with a passable rhythm and vaguely folky instrumentation, unfortunately cousin BinLid has escaped form the local asylum and starts giving his best Yip Yip Blurble Blurble over the increasingly manic drums (hmm is Uncle Al trying to get to the WC??). there's a sound of crashing galss, that must have been gran hurling herself out the window in an effort to preserve her own sanity.

Some sort of order is restored. Uncle Al pipes up "Oh I'm getting sick!". better out than in I say. That is until we listen to the fiddle. I'm sure in krautrock land this passes for excellence but for an ear brought up on traditional irish folk it has the same effect as scraping a fork across a greasy plate.

Everytime I listen to Kaanan I want to shout "Yee-Haw!": maybe it's just me but there is definitely some sort of country undertone here. But since this is waaay out there, such banalities are reined in and squished as true krautrock progness is asserted.

The vocals in Dem Guten make me burst out laughing. I just don't get it. it reminds me too much of people extracting the michael. I know it's meant to be serious and tremendous, but I just can't help myself.

Here we face on the the great dilemnas of reviweing a genre that just doesn't float your boat.OK I really can't stand this music. So for me it's a trash it & use the CD as a beer mat, however, each to their own. s.

This is album not for me (but I've already got it). I prefer Wolf City and Dance of the Lemmings, but being honest that's like saying I'd prefer my front teeth pulled out rather than have my tongue hammered flat by a meat tenderizer and spending a day with Blackadder and his codling grinder.

Review by febus
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam
4 stars THE BIRTH OF GERMAN ''KRAUTROCK''

AMON DUUL 2!! AMON DUUL 2!! What a mysterious name! How more ''prog'' can you sound than ''AMON DUUL 2?? Tell me! I remember growing up in the beginning of the 70s with DEEP PURPLE,KC, YES and when i visited my favorite record store, there were those AMON DUUL LPs with their strange, psychedelic, stoned i should say, artcovers that told you you would not be getting any straight rock n roll from them. Instead you had a feeling those sublime covers were just a warning telling us: welcome to our world, enjoy your trip but only at your own risk!

My first AD2 purchase was the monumental YETI , their second album , a double LP full of psychedelic freak-out mayhem that remains one of the most essential recording of the prog scene. Only later did i buy PHALLUS DEI (!!!)-no need to translate, i hope.

PHALLUS DEI was AMON DUUL 2 first album, coming out in the musically burgeonning year of 1969 and remains a landmark not only in the AD2 catalog, not only in the Krautworld but is simply a must have to any decent prog collection. Beside its musical brillance, it was also an album that opened the doors to a new genre, inspiring plenty of new bands to produce psychedelic''kraut'' music in Germany and outside of Germany.

Sure, the Munich-based band were not the only ones at that time to introduce us to the German sound. TANGERINE DREAM with Edgar Froese and Klaus Schulze released ELECTRONIC MEDITATION , CAN came out with MONSTER MOVIE that same year, but PHALLUS DEI musically definitely stands above these other LPs.

As for the music, it goes from unstructured jams (you think, but it's not)l, bands like JEFFERSON AIRPLANE and the GRATEFUL DEAD made popular at the same time in the USA to weird singing parts, trippy ''world'' music with some African or Middle Eastern influences, haunting spacey backing vocals, a few good guitar riffs , a lot of violin soloing adding a lot of mystery to the music.

The main piece of meat is the 20mns title track that starts slow with tablas, bongos sounds, evolve in one of those jams before some structure appears with the keys and the great backing vocals from RENATE KNAUP, their female lead singer. Then follows some nice freaky violin parts and ''Phallus Dei''becomes a more structured song with vocals from Chris Karrer, their violin, second guitar and sax player.....A wonderful trippy entrance to the mysterious world of AMON DUUL 2!

The second side (I am talking about the good old LP here) is no letdown , believe me.If someone not aware of prog music would ask me for a good example to hear, KANAAN or DEM GUTEN SCHONEN WAHREN would be my choice....Spacey instrumentation, weird but great vocals, ethnic influences, numerous musical breaks.......everything a ''progger'' asks from this music!

The only downside of this album is the same problem plaguing a lot of German bands: the quality of the vocals or lack of it , i shoud say!! RENATE KNAUP even if she is not the best singer in the world does a great job and her voice fits very well with the music. However, the same cannot be said about CHRIS KARRER: a great composer, a great multi instrumentist but definitely a poor vocalist and the problem seems he doesn't even try like on LUZIFERS GHILOM. Thanks god , RENATE is superb when she comes back to close the album with the wonderful HENRIETTE KROTENSCHWANZ.

My new PHALLUS DEI CD includes 2 great bonus tracks ,the 10mns TOUCH MAPHAI and 10 more mns with I WANT THE SUN TO SHINE which fit very well with the original music....Just be ready for a very stoned hallucinating trip . You have heard nothing yet if you don't know this album!!

Close to a masterpiece, but not quite due of some poor vocals as LUZIFERS GROHM is the only track that fails to mesmerize me like the rest of PHALLUS DEI does.

An indispensable addition to ANY prog music collection,

4.5 STARS!!

Review by friso
PROG REVIEWER
2 stars This album is hard to rate. You won't find any other psychedelic proto-gothic albums dating from '69, but the recording sound leaves much to be desired - which is no wonder for two days of recording time. The songs on side one alle nice psyched-out tunes. The originality is apparent and the band seems motivated to shake things up. The 'epic' on the second side for me is ruined by many pitch anomalies and moments where the music just becomes indistinct. Amon Duul II would remain original and slightly amateurish throughout their career, but with this record I just can't get myself to listen past its flaws. To me, 'Wolf City' is by far their best sounding record.
Review by Bonnek
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Phallus Dei is one of the earliest and most defining releases of kraut rock. The music is loud, noisy and anarchistic rock of a very improvisational nature, sharing its musical ethic with that of free jazz. It is preferably consumed together with a good stash of psychedelic mushrooms!

Kanaan is a briljant opener. In just 4 minutes it brings the best kraut rock has on offer. Entrancing grooves, spacey effects, semi-dissonant spooky sounds and weird non-melodic vocals, almost spoken word in this case. Esoteric melodies and rhythms complete it. Dem Guten is even better, certainly the use of the violins stands out here. The vocals are even stranger, very theatrical, almost operatic at times. Well, nothing is really normal in this music, also the guitars are very unconventional and somehow bring Captain Beefheart to mind.

One of the main attraction of kraut rock is the abundant use of wild and percussion-heavy rhythms. Phallus Dei has plenty of those. All songs have a dominating repetitive pace, sometimes funky, sometimes jazzy, sometimes rocking hard, sometimes Eastern, but always very stirring and entrancing. The centrepiece is the 21 minute title track, a loose jam with lots of inspired and original musicianship.

Phallus Dei is an essential album in the kraut scene and highly recommended to prog enthusiasts in general. Even if it might not be an album you will enjoy right away, it will certainly give your harmonic senses a good shake. And maybe your booty as well.

Review by The Sleepwalker
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars Phallus Dei is the seminal debut of Amon Duul II, pioneers of Krautrock among others. Born out of sheer improvisation, the album is full of avant-garde compositions, often having a brooding mood, as the album cover suggests. The band wanted to make their debut sound significant, and therefore they had been carefully practicing and preparing it before the actual recording. This can absolutely be heard in the music, which sounds dynamic and exciting from beginning to end.

Part of the unique and innovative sound of Amon Duul II are the eclectic influences. Arabic percussion, menacing violin and unusual vocals, varying from loose and silly to chant-like and operatic, are recurring theme's in their catalogue. Therefore, it's no surprise that Phallus Dei has a diverse but consistent sound with many unexpected elements. The album is an enthralling journey from beginning to end, taking the listener through some the most manical dissonance I have ever heard. The epic title track in particular is full of this frightening dissonance, coming in the form of creepy violin playing, reverberated shouts of angst, and intense improvisation. Just as astounding are the other songs, such as the mesmerizing "Kanaan" with its relentless groove; the theatrical "Dem Guten, Schonen, Waren"; and "Luzifers Ghilom", which is more in the vein of what's to come on an album such as Yeti. These songs often come with folky tendencies, enthralling riffs, and sound quite heavy, looking at the year it was released.

Yes, Phallus Dei is a mind-blowing debut album, being dynamic, innovative, unique, but perhaps a tad immature, looking at future releases by the band. Nevertheless, I consider Phallus Dei to be a masterpiece and an absolutely essential album in Amon Duul II's catalogue. The album will surely be enjoyed by those who enjoy psychedelica, dissonance and menacing atmospheres.

Review by octopus-4
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams
4 stars The split of the Amon Duul community had a relevant effect: the end of the improvised, poorly recorded and poorly played live sessions of which the awful Amon Duul albums were made.

From the ashes of Amon Duul we see the birth of a psychedelic band, and probably of Krautrock itself. There's still a lot of improvisation, but what we can hear on this album is music. Psychedelic, sometimes weird, as the album title is. In Latin it means "God's Penis".

"Kanaan" is an instrumental that's enough to understand what the album is about: non- spacey psychedelia reminescent of Syd Barrett and more acoustic than electronic, in the sense that the organ is not invasive and the guitar is the more "acid" instrument in the ensemble.

"Den Guten, Schönen, Wahren" (The Good Nice Wares) is a real song. Nothing to do with the old Amon Duul. Here the guitar sounds very acid as well as the vocals, some high- pitched. It's a very good track.

"Luzifers Ghilom" (The Chiloum of Lucifer) is opened by bongos which give it a "hippy" mood. This track sounds a bit indian, but just a bit. It's an acid track with a nice bass interlude and upbeat tempo. Psychedelic rock in 1969.

" Henriette Krötenschwanz" is a short song that closes the A side. Some "Renate" sings in German with a soprano pitch. Are we sure that they didn't influence Christian Vander and Magma in some way?

The B side is occupied by the side long title track. Very Floydian, in the sense of the most psychedelic and chaotic parts of Ummagumma plus some sounds reminiscents of Syd Barrett. Four minutes of this stuff and the bass guitar introduces a part very similar to the central section of Interstellar Overdrive. The long unstructured (and awful) improvisations of the old Amon Duul are here transformed into real psychedelic music. The musicians play their instrument that are correctly tuned and the suite has a sort of structure and don't appear to be so improvising. It takes 12 minutes to find a sort of melody (same chords of Deep Purple's Child in Time, just as curiosity). Then violins play a short folky part with a little classical flavour just to be replaced by strong and fast percussions and background voices. A few of this stuff and the acid rock is back. The two violins seem to be driving the game, even when the track is not instrumental only. This until the end.

This is quite a double-face album: The A side has interesting moments and is averagely good, but the B side is a very good long psychedelic suite. 3.5 stars really, but it's seminal and probably the first album ever that can be called Krautrock so I roud it up to 4

Review by zravkapt
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars This group was formed by the splitting of the Amon Duul commune in late 1960s Germany. These guys being the more musical of the two. Although Amon Duul released an album first, it was Phallus Dei("God's Penis") as well as Can's debut Monster Movie, that really got what came to be known as 'krautrock' started. Originally Krautrock was influenced by both US and UK psychedelia, along with avant-garde, world music and sometimes jazz. There are two guest percussionists here: Embryo's Christian Burchard and Popol Vuh's Holger Trutzsch. The connections to other groups don't end there, as you can see by reading other reviews on PA.

You could describe the music here as late '60s psych, but that wouldn't be a fair description. The music is more experimental and "progressive" than that. The main instruments are the typical guitar, bass, drums and organ, but violin and percussion play an important part. There are both male and female vocals, singing mostly in German I believe. The vocals are kind of strange and even the English ones are hard to understand. You sometimes hear two drummers at the same time. In general, ADII is more melodic and composition-centred than a lot of their contemporaries.

Things begin with "Kanaan", which is almost raga-rock at first. It then switches to psych rock with vocals. Later returns to the raga-rock part. A psych jam with guitar solo afterwards. "Dem Guten, Schonen, Wahren" opens with psych guitars and cymbals. Then vocals and some steady drumming. A very '60s sounding song but very good. I love the 'chorus' here which is obviously sung in German. Some of the vocals here are real oddball, which is a good thing of course. A psych guitar solo near the end. Then the band plays the music to the 'chorus' part while someone talks on a megaphone.

"Luzifers Ghilom" has some nice sounds to open it; I don't know what instruments I'm listening to. After a funky drumbeat and bongos appear. Guitars and violin come in playing a riff/melody. The music stops and you can hear gibberish "chicka-chicka-down-down" vocals. The band then proceeds to play a different section of music. More vocals and some organ now. Later some kind of chanting. Nice guitar is joined by two drumkits and more gibberish vocals. The guitar and organ parts here are great. More chanting. Over halfway changes to a new section with violin and wordless vocals. A cool riff to end it.

"Henriette Krotenschwanz" starts with a marching beat. Bass and guitar is joined by vocals. First Renate and then male vocals. I never really liked her vocals, especially this early in their career. The music is like a weirder version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". And now we get to the heart of the album. The title track is a great journey through German progressive rock circa 1969. It begins with random sounds on different instruments for a few minutes. Very spacey and avant, gets more noisy. About 3 1/2 minutes in a repetative bassline starts and other instruments join in with the tempo increasing. Goes into a jam/improv.

The music after awhile calms down, and then some organ and wordless vocals. Things get more intense and a violin appears. The music proceeds to do a start/stop thing. Then a brief melodic section with guitar, violin and drum rolls. Violin solos briefly with some percussion. Then percussion and voclas dominate along with random sounds and a weird altered voice. Music gets very intense and tribal sounding. Full band comes back in sounding like symphonic country music. Later guitar and violin duel with each other before the rhythm section returns and there is now singing. The lyrics are in English, but I'm not sure what is being sung. Later on some melodic bass and vibraphones. Ends with a great riff and a good drumbeat. More wordless vocals.

ADII would make both more accessible and less accessible albums after this. This is the debut album from an experimetal German rock group from the 1960s; so don't expect the greatest sound quality. The thing about ADII, compared to other Krautrock groups, is that I don't think these guys really influenced too many other artists. Not in the same way Can, Faust or Neu! did. Anyway, this is a great early prog album and one of the very first Krautrock albums. A must hear for anyone curious about early non-UK/US prog. 4 stars.

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars 1969 was ground zero for the German progressive scene, with Amon Duul II, Tangerine Dream and Can all releasing their debut albums. Phallus Dei is a hard psych-prog classic that incorporates the violin attack of Chris Karrer and Shrat into the standard psych freakout instrumentation, with excellent results. In terms of their influences, Amon Duul II show a certain appreciation for Pink Floyd's releases at the time, taking the sort of extended instrumental structures seen on A Saucerful of Secrets and injecting them with the improvisational energy and high-volume high-speed playing seen on The Piper At the Gates of Dawn, though the incorporation of violins and demented vocals into the picture, as well as the generally faster pace makes the Amon Duul II sound substantially different from their influences. An impressive debut, though the song structures could do with a bit of work to prevent them from seeming repetitive or lazily strung together; later Duul albums would show a greater degree of structure and composition, and would be improved by that.
Review by ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars There are several ways or angles to consider this album.

The first one is to take it for what it is. The second one is to take it as a revolutionary album from the late sixties. You can also consider it as a disjointed psychedelic adventure (even if the great albums from the genre were released in 67/68). One can also be totally closed to this sort of music.

I would say that it is way better than most of their "Can" German counterpart (but this is a strict and personal opinion). At least some music is achieved (that's really how I feel) and the psychedelic mood (which I like quite a bunch) is quite decent, even if the comparison with the greatest bands of the genre doesn't speak in favour of AD II.

Some tracks from the first vinyl side are quite under par ("Luzifers Glhom", "Henriette Krotenschwanz"), but I won't be too much of a critic about this since one has to consider the album as a breakthrough in space rock really. At least I feel so while I listen to the highlight from this work which is the side long title track.

It is full of mystery, weirdness at times, disjointed moments for sure, wild beat at times, "organized" improvisation, crazy drumming and exploding guitar breaks. I was way too young to have discovered this album while it was released (I was only ten) but I would have endorsed it for sure with a few added years.

Anyway, I would say that this work can be rated with one or five stars; depending how you sit with my introduction. As far as I am concerned, three stars is the judgment. Side one is too weak overall.

Review by AtomicCrimsonRush
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Amon Duul II's "Phallus Dei" is definitive Krautrock with raw guitar, improvisations and psychedelic effects. Kanaan begins with Leopold's frenetic drumming and crashes of guitar and some unsettling vocals from Renate. The psychedelic underground is an influence and Sitar guitar fleshes out the Eastern drug induced influences. The freak out instrumental sections are sensational touches, and it all culminates in a finale with some flashy time sig changes. The bassline is particularly forceful and improvisational.

Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren continues the trend with spacey effects and ethereal vocalisations. The chilling atmospheres are akin to the type generated by Magma or Can who were all into this type of macabre music. It all sounds like a Gothic Rammstein these days but this Krautorck was essential to the movement as was Can, Neu! and Popol Vuh.

Luzifers Ghilom has a driving rhythm and some fantasy language that sounds perfect to the music. The time sig changes are terrific on this track and it focuses on bassline embellishments and manic vocal intonations.

Moving onto the side long 20 minute epic Phallus Dei the album becomes an improvisational delight. The track goes forever but with enough variation to maintain interest. It has some dark atmospheres and begins with soaring guitars and caterwauling vocals. The ethereal soundscape builds into ominous nightmarish textures. The violins are especially unsettling like a horror movie soundtrack with someone being stalked by a killer. The sound breaks finally after a free form passage, into pulsating bass and percussive shapes. The quick tempo is full of urgency and the echoed vocals are heard as a fuzzed guitar solo takes off. The tension is created with frenetic percussion and duel soloing improvised to the max. Eventually it settles into ghostly echoed cries and some spine chilling organ. The tribal rhythms break into a fractured time sig and twin violins. There is a more peaceful sound and it even lunges into a psychedelic jig. The duel tom tom soloing section is full of primitive sounds, like some bizarre ancient ritual. It is quite unsettling to hear the expressionist wails and cries but this was an innovation rarely heard on vinyl in this era. Finally the guitars lock in again and drive the track along with vibrant melodies. After about 15 minutes the song turns into a whimsical sound like a spooky Irish jig merging with ruptured violin solos.

This album is a terrific debut full of daring and experimentation and one of Krautrock's shining jewels.

Review by Neu!mann
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars The debut album by one of Krautrock's earliest ensembles may sound more than a little crude when heard today. But next to the truly unorganized racket of the first Amon Düül this effort shows remarkable discipline and polish.

It's still very much a late '60s head-trip. Expect to hear a lot of psychedelic jamming and silly voices (note the whacked-out konnakol scat in "Luzifer's Ghilom"), all of it top heavy in studio reverb and colored with an unmistakable shade of anti-establishment rage, hardly surprising in Germany so soon after the horrors of World War II. You can hear it in the first angry downbeat of the album opener "Kanaan", and in the lysergic military march of "Henriette Krötenschwanz". This is music that could not possibly have come from any other country or era.

Some of the more free-form passages take their cues (like a lot of supposedly but not really Anglo-free Krautrock) from PINK FLOYD's "A Saucerful of Secrets", released one year previously. More surprising are the elements of what might be called electrified Bavarian folk music, hidden between the chords of "Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren" (which also includes one of those quintessentially cross-eyed guitar solos that were a hallmark of the German underground in 1969), and during the epic twenty-plus minute title track: one of the best of Krautrock's many side-long jams.

The latter example is likely a credible facsimile of a typical ADII concert from the time, minus the liquid lights and copious pot smoking (the lack of which only improves the experience, at least to this particular square pair of ears). Even at its most improvisational the music has some form, marking a huge leap forward from the otherwise totally unstructured noise of the other Amon Düül.

But the band never did shake itself entirely free from its hippie roots, and the insecure line- up throughout their long, confusing history might have been a legacy of the group's early communal lifestyle. As was the admirable democracy of their sound: among the eight credited musicians here (with two additional guests) no one is allowed to hog the spotlight, although the wordless (and often tuneless) vocals of Renate Knaup merit special attention.

For newcomers to the collective soundworld of Amon Düül (as I was only recently) it might be easier to start later in the band's discography, and only afterward work your way gradually back toward this beast of an album. Consider it an invaluable time-capsule snapshot of the German counterculture at Stunde Null, Hour Zero, when an entire generation turned its back on an ugly past and tried to write its own rules, musically and otherwise.

Review by siLLy puPPy
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
5 stars Straight out of the commune and into the studios. AMON DUUL II's first offering is a very creative heavy-psych of the late 60s. I definitely hear PINK FLOYD influences from the Syd Barrett years as well as some JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. But this is a highly original melding of their psychedelia with many different ethnic sounds as well as a creepy slightly out of tune violin and some highly freaky and unconventional vocals as well!

I have to say that this caught my off guard since my only reference to this band upon hearing this was their second album YETI. I actually like this one a lot better and this has to go down in my book as one of the wackiest and most fun albums of the whole 60s psychedelic scene. Unlike many, I actually really like the spooky ghost haunting sounds of the title track. Once again it reminds me of the title track on SAUCER FULL OF SECRETS. Really cool avant-garde psych freakout complete with that signature bass sound. 4.5 rounded up

Review by Modrigue
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Weirdus Dei

3.5 stars

After the split of the German collective AMON DÜÜL, the musician ex-members reunited to form one of the craziest and most creative krautrock band ever, AMON DÜÜL II. Gorged with multiple western and eastern influences, "Phallus Dei" is their first opus, and also one of their most experimental, inventive and psychedelic records. Exotic and mystical sonorities are partly due to the presence of their fellow countrymen EMBRYO's Christian Burchard and POPOL VUH's Holger Trülzsch as guests, but the identity of the band is already strong. Since the first notes of "Kanaan", you know you're in for something special. The music sounds like an incantation ritual for a mythological god in an ancient temple. It also contains a slight Indian feel. Simply unreal! The freaky "Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren" is quite haunting with its weird voices. "Luzifers Ghilom" displays an esoteric ambiance similar to "Kanaan", however rock-ier and more tribal. This nice piece incorporates Indian vocals and possesses an unique depressive finale. "Henriette Krötenschwanz" is the shortest track and not a very necessary passage too.

However, the longest and maybe also the weirdest composition of AMON DÜÜL II is the title track. Beginning with a nightmarish atmosphere and creepy voices, it continues on a long psychedelic journey into unknown lands. The violin and tribal bongos take you all around the world, you don't know where you are anymore. The finale is just mesmerizing. This 21 minutes mastodon can be a bit harsh to enter, the overall is not very accessible and lacks coherency. Nonetheless, it contains cool passages where the listener can catch up and is finally pleasant.

As one of the first krautrock albums, "Phallus Dei" unveils a novel and unique style, mixing mystical, rock, psychedelic, incantatory and eastern sonorities. Maybe this can be considered as one of the first records of the so-called "world music" genre, as it displays a long journey through different continents. The other important krautrockers strongly incorporating exotic influences to their compositions are EMBRYO and POPOL-VUH, who are represented in this disc by one invited member. A coincidence? I don't think so.

For a first release, "Phallus Dei" is really innovative and groundbreaking. Although not always accessible and still bathed in freak'n'roll jams of the late 60's, it's nice to hear this mixture of different musical landscapes. Not the best place to start with to discover AMON DÜÜL II, as this is their most experimental and weirdest efforts. But don't miss it if you want to hear something original. Essential for krautrock, psychedelic or mystical music fans.

Fortunately, the minor flaws will be quickly corrected for the next opus...

Review by Kempokid
COLLABORATOR Prog Metal Team
5 stars While on one side of the spectrum of prog rock, you have bands like Neu! and Can, who while they do experiment with strange concepts at points, they often stick to very rigid, repetitive, almost mechanical beats in order to create a hypnotic effect. On the other side of things, you get bands like Amon Duul II, more focused on that experimentation side of things while keeping to the basic sound of krautrock. Furthermore, the fact that this is one of the earliest examples of krautrock shows a style already madly experimenting, taking and avant garde approach to writing, being absolutely insane in many respects, especially given the fact that this was released all the way back in 1969.

It definitely has qualities of such an early blueprint of what the genre was to become however, as there are some rough edges to be found within, although these rarely tend to be an issue, as they are far overshadowed by simply how crazy this album is, with madcap lyrics and vocals making appearances everywhere, ranging from drawling chanting to insane screams and wails. This works exceptionally well when paired with the absolutely incredible sound created, a truly psychedelic mix, heavier on the bass, while incorporating great deals of world music into the mix, giving it a tribal feel. Each song incredibly expansive and explorative, bringing in a plethora of different soundscapes and moods while consistently maintaining a very trippy atmosphere. One of my favourite moments of this is in the second song, Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren, where after some dissonant chords and an offbeat feel are being projected to the listener, everything briefly falls apart and becomes much more energetic and fun as some more standard vocals enter the mix after the previous high pitched squealing has dominated the track. I also adore the upbeat nature of Lucifer's Ghilom's intro, and find it to continue the somewhat dark, yet ultimately zany and fun nature of this album as a whole, as this song in particular is infectiously upbeat and fun, while still keeping up a mysterious air. This song is definitely just a fun romp in every way, with even the slower section being quite entertaining due to the violin used contrasting the distorted vocals in a perfect way, both being very unusual in their execution, but both working so well in tandem, especially with the exceptional drumming and bassline keeping pace. The highlight of the album however is undoubtedly the 20 minute eponymous jam, which takes a much darker approach compared to everything else the album has to offer, along with a far more free flowing one. The multiple crescendos, often baced up by some impressive guitar solos. The furious energy of the drumming further intensifies this soundscape, creating a complex, immersive atmosphere, ever changing and ever brilliant, with interweaving guitar sections, dissonant violins, and downright ominous sonic imagery. The shift into more strange territory just past the halfway point makes this incredible song even better, feeling as if an entire world is being created within the vigourous tribal drumming and screams, feeling as if I've just walked in on some sort of sacred ritual, all before the intensity drops out and introduces some of the most delightful vocal work I've heard. Each line sung is equal parts charming and mad, with each word sounding heavily slurred, but executed in such a loveable way that simply screams "fun".

Overall, as one of the first krautrock albums, this is a masterwork, being extremely dense in atmosphere and not breaking it even with some extremely avant garde concepts being thrown in the mix. There is a definite roughness that this album has, similar to how Can's Monster Movie showed, except in this case it works excellently, rather than taking away from the music, it adds a certain primal edge to it that just further pushes it up into absolute greatness. This is definitely a krautrock masterpiece and definitely an album that I recommend you check out if you're either a fan of krautrock or simple strange music in general, because wow, this album is something else.

Best tracks: Lucifer's Ghilom, Phallus Dei

Weakest Tracks: None

Verdict: This album is incredibly impressive, fusing styles amazingly to create what I can only describe as an absolute masterpiece. If you're into krautrock by any stretch of the imagination, I implore that you give this a listen if you haven't already.

Latest members reviews

3 stars So i posted a thread on the forum asking people to recommend albums for me to listen to and review, and one of the first people recommended that i listen to the first four Amon Duul II albums. Naturally I started with this album, Amon Duul II's debut album, "Phallus Dei". I can't say that i inst ... (read more)

Report this review (#2530278) | Posted by Cboi Sandlin | Tuesday, March 30, 2021 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Give me love! It's going to be weird! Deep in the German underground Amon Duül II was formed out of a hippy commune. They were highly original and experimenting with new territory like eastern influenced psychedelia, proto-punk, opera vocals, bizarre vocals, and spacejamming. At first Amon Duül ... (read more)

Report this review (#720499) | Posted by the philosopher | Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | Review Permanlink

3 stars The debut album from these Kraut pioneers. An album released in 1969. I am impressed. The music is spacy and psychedelic. The vocals are OK. The sound is not that good. But it is acceptable. The first four pieces is like "why is this album so highly rated ?" before the twenty minutes long tit ... (read more)

Report this review (#575402) | Posted by toroddfuglesteg | Friday, November 25, 2011 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Insanity... This was the second Krautrock album I'd ever heard, and it hooked me on "Dem Guten, Schonen, Wahren" but unfortunately sort of lost me afterwards, only to regain my attention on some other parts. It's very unique and weird, but has some boring parts. A description of the mu ... (read more)

Report this review (#337310) | Posted by DisgruntledPorcupine | Sunday, November 28, 2010 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Phallus dei is a really enjoyable album from start to finish the song kanaan is one of my favorite amon duul 11 songs and allways play the song twice when i put the album on,i wouldnt say that phallus dei is the best amon duul 11 album but its one you really should own,the cd i own is the 2001 r ... (read more)

Report this review (#204372) | Posted by davidsporle | Thursday, February 26, 2009 | Review Permanlink

3 stars There are portions of this album that I really enjoy......the drumming is sometimes inspired.....there are some kool pyschedelic sections...... and this music is truly progressive.....in the sense that there was really nothing quite like it before...... There is nothing all that wrong with this ... (read more)

Report this review (#164366) | Posted by digdug | Thursday, March 20, 2008 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Amon Duul II's debut album and what an debut! Sounds like Barret era floyd only 100 times more triped out. And thats yust the 20min long title track that is a real psychedelia epic with all kinds of wierd stuff thrown in to creat a musical brew, its hard to keep track on whats realy goin on most ... (read more)

Report this review (#160406) | Posted by Zargus | Friday, February 1, 2008 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Man, is this band great! With psychedelic urgency, this band literaly exploded into formation like the cosmic forces that accumulate at the nebulous origins of the universe! After this album, psychedelia was no longer the paisley afterglow of changing colors and mystical enchantment; no indeed! I ... (read more)

Report this review (#55913) | Posted by wooty | Friday, November 11, 2005 | Review Permanlink

5 stars One of the ultimate Kraut trips. So gothic, so heavy, so GERMAN!! It's almost hard to explain -- you tell people what "krautrock" is by making them listen to an album like this one. It's almost a singular sound within the psych/prog genre. The followup "Yeti" is a bit more sprawling and fo ... (read more)

Report this review (#50642) | Posted by | Friday, October 7, 2005 | Review Permanlink

4 stars I am sad with this album. Although I am a fan of the progressive kraut, I admit that this album leaves me of marble. The mixture between the space and the psychedelic does not take. Amon Duul II seems more convincing when he is much more "rock" just like "Wolf City". For me, it has nothing ess ... (read more)

Report this review (#44558) | Posted by miedj | Sunday, August 28, 2005 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Stopping just short ofa five-star mark, (its worth 4.5 definitely) the first LP by Amon Dull II is still one of the all0time greatest space-rockP's going. The opus that is the title track just fizzes along with er...fuzz-ball energy - this is early UFO with talent! Building up a trancey psych- ... (read more)

Report this review (#27747) | Posted by mandrake2 | Tuesday, January 11, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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