NEVERGREEN!

This is the singular release by little known band MISSING LINK hailing from Munich and being lucky to meet UA-agent Gerhard Augustin who coached as well Amon Düül II and was looking for young talented musicians. They got a contract for three album but unfortunately disbanded already one year after the release of their debut. As mentioned already in their biography Dieter Miekautsch joined MISSUS BEASTLY and EMBRYO and Holger Brandt was drumming for BETWEEN and SAHARA thereafter. The seven own compositions presented on "Nevergreen!" are absolutely noteworthy and can be described as intricate jazz rock with occassional echoes of classical harmonies quite obviously inspired by British bands like COLOSSEUM, MOGUL THRASH or WARM DUST. Especially Miekausch shines on "Song for Ann" presenting it solo on piano. But apart from that more mellow one all other tracks are dominated by a vital rhythm section and powerful, blues-tinged vocalss serving as a backbone for the jazzy harmony lines presented on electric guitar and sax highlighting in expressive solos. Keyboards like e-piano, Hammond or as well Mellotron (in"Spoiled Love") have been used rather additionally for rounding up their sound. Some slightly odd and disharmonic parts are very well integrated into the compositions.

Although this album is not considered a classic by many experts of the German 70's progressive scene I'd say it's absolutely on par with releases by EMBRYO, KRAAN or THIRSTY MOON and I'd highly recommend it to fans of those or mentioned British counterparts. Maybe not an essential but certainly an excellent addition to any Prog collection!

Graced with a usual rather ugly artwork (this is only confirming the German trend as opposed to the much more refined British, Italian or French counterparts), Missing Link's sole album is something of a lone gem just lost in the middle of nowhere, but fortunately, it was rediscovered a while ago. A rather short album versed in a rather rocky-oriented jazz- rock (if you can understand this), recorded in at the unavoidable Dieter Dierks studios, this Munich sextet had a rather unique sound, in mixing jazz and rock in their own terms much like the cross-town rivals Out Of Focus did.

Somehow much closer to Colosseum or Burnin' Red Ivanhoe than to Miles or Nucleus, this album is also fairly close to some Kraan (and somehow to a lesser extent the sadly forgotten Ardo Bombec) due to a slight psych element still present throughout the album. The album is very varied in moods ranging from the almost acoustic (piano-dominated) Song For Ann to the full-blown jazz fused with rock of Time Will Change (with its great funky guitar) to the dramatic Only Me. A good cross of Colosseum and Kraan with some moments making you think of Atomic Rooster (the opening of Kids Hunting), the album never really raise the hair in your neck, but you will find plenty of good rocking and many progressive joys in successive listenings. The album has just received a GOD reissue with a non-album single A-side as a bonus Friday On My Mind.

Unfortunately, the group would stop at this album, and keyboard man Miekausch would go on to join Embryo and Missus Beastly, but and drummer Brandt headed for the superb Sahara. While not really essential per se, this album does deserve its fourth star because of its relatively equivalent-free sound, and its refreshingly happy feels and its original tone

MISSING LINK released only one album in 1972 before breaking up. They were based in Munich which could boast of bands like AMON DUUL II, BETWEEN, EMBRYO, OUT OF FOCUS, POPOL VUH, SUBJECT ESQ. among others. Holger Brandt the drummer for MISSING LINK would go on to play for SAHARAH, while the keyboard player Dieter Miekautsch would go on to play for both EMBRYO and MISSUS BEASTLY. The music here has a strong Jazz flavour similar to early EMBRYO or KRAAN. They recorded "Nevergreen !" at Dieter Dierks studio and made use of the mellotron he had there.

"Spoiled Love" is heavy and dark to open, vocals arrive as it settles before a minute. Gorgeous guitar before 2 minutes goes on and on. A calm with keys a minute later then mellotron floods in. Amazing ! Sax before 4 minutes then the vocals return. Love this track. "Song For Ann" is filled with piano melodies. "Time Will Change" is a cool track with sax, piano, guitar and drums standing out at different times. It settles before 3 minutes as piano and vocals take over, then guitar and sax join in too. "Only Me" has a good uptempo intro before it settles with vocals a minute in. The contrast continues. I really like the organ before 4 1/2 minutes.

"Sorcery" is my second favourite track after the first song. This is an impressive instrumental where each member gets a chance to be in the spotlight. Outstanding tune ! "Filled Up" opens strongly as horns and a good rhythm section dominate. It sounds like harpsichord 1 1/2 minutes in and later. Vocals 2 minutes in. The tempo picks up after 3 1/2 minutes. Nice bass. Themes are repeated. "Kid's Haunting" is uptempo with strummed guitar and prominant bass. It changes after a minute as sax and drums take the lead. Vocals 2 minutes in. The guitar lights it up after 3 1/2 minutes. Great bass here too. Organ 5 1/2 minutes in. The tempo picks up again with vocals and bass leading the way.

Being a big fan of both KRAAN and EMBRYO I certainly fell for the sounds of MISSING LINK. A solid 4 stars.

The only German band's album is almost forgotten but quite interesting release. Krautrock with accent on jazzy side, with keyboard passages and some (not very attractive) vocals. Melodic (sometimes even more than average German band from that time), with rich arrangements, band's music sound quite attractive.

Possibly, nearest to Colosseum sound, this album can attract jazz-rock and krautrock lovers both. Nice early European jazz-rock, not very memorable compositions though. Band recorded this only album and was disbanded (CD re-release from 2005 has their only single as bonus). Dieter Miekautsch later played with much better known Embryo.

Proggy Jazz-Rock Fusion from Deutschland--produced and engineered by Dieter Dierks. Sadly, this is the band's one and only album.

1. "Spoiled love" (5:19) opens with heavy rock chords and sound palette that sounds just like it comes from the kind of Black Sabbath or albums that SPINAL TAP made their name on for their parodies. Getting into the meat of the song there are some ELP-like sounds and chord progressions (and skill displays) before the organ and bass fall into line for the support of Gabriel Dominik Mueller's excellent voice to sing over. Great song established with stellar performances from all of the instrumentalists though especially Markus Sing's amazing lead guitar solo in the third and fourth minutes. I love how it goes soft for Dieter Miekautsch's electric piano solo (with added Mellotron later) for the final motif as bassist Dave Schratzenstaller's Greg Lake-like lines remind the listener of KING CRIMSON's In the Court of the Crimson King. Saxophone joins in with a little over a minute to go before Gabriel returns in the final minute; here he reminds me a lot of Roye Albrighton's voice for NEKTAR. (9.5/10)

2. "Song for Ann" (2:49) a great Keith Emerson-like piano solo. Gorgeous! (4.75/5)

3. "Time will change" (5:31) very disciplined almost-mathematical Jazz-Rock that is built a little like Paul Desmond's "Take Five" while sporting some "I'm a Man" descnding chords to regularly bridge the band into a reset. Nice piano, electric guitar, and saxophone. A new blues-rockin' motif starts around 2:45 which eventually supports the TRAFFIC/VAN MORRISON-like vocals that arrive in the fourth minute. (How much this reminds me of the 1990s HAPPY MONDAYS!) Awesome bass and rhythm guitar play along with Gabriel's excellent blues-rock vocal. Not my favorite style of music but definitely a great construct with quite excellent and creative performances from everybody in the band. (9.125/10)

4. "Only me" (5:07) more power psychedelic blues-rock that seems quite inspired by bands from a few years earlier like Traffic, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and even Santana. (8.875/10)

5. "Sorcery" (5:23) a blues-rock vamp over which sax, electric guitar, and keys elicit some impressive solos--especially Markus searing wah-wah guitar. The sound palette drifts into some really nice ALLMAN BROTHERS territory in the fourth and fifth minutes just before everybody throws any restraint to the ground for a free-for-all race to the finish. (8.875/10)

6. "Filled up" (6:26) More interestingly-constructed music that seems to have its hands in several pies: rockabilly, Baroque, and even the angular, anachronistic quirk of Gentle Giant. The vocal section in the fourth and fifth minutes is like GG being performed by Peter Hammill's VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR or The Netherlands' FOCUS. Interesting-- and definitely way more proggy than jazzy. Too bad Gabriel's vocal track is recorded/processed rather poorly. (8.875/10)

7. "Kids hunting" (6:11) on this one I hear a 60s rock start turn VDGG with some AREA injected into the music in the second minute. Vocals enter at the three-minute mark with a kind of DEREK SHULMAN style of singing used in the first vocal motif. But then the band switches to a more rapid-paced rock motif in which Gabriel's voice sounds more like Sabbath's Ozzie Osborne. The vocal performance is nice but, again, it's recorded/rendered rather poorly--like Grand Funk Railroad's early renderings of Mark Farner's lead vocals. (9/10)

Total Time: 36:46

Too bad these talented musicians (and songwriters) didn't stay together: there is some very high-quality musicianship as well as highly-creative song construction going on here. Only guitarist Markus Sing and keyboardist Dieter Miekautsch went on to contribute to any other successful bands (Konstantin Wecker and Missus Beastly/Embryo, respectively).

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of creative, skillfully-rendered progressive rock music.