MESSAGE

A Dark Message

From Books and Dreams by Message is a dark, spine-tingling experience that blends elements of krautrock, hard prog rock, and heavy psych. Released in 1973,, exploring heavy, soundscapes that play on unconscious fears and dream-like states.

Message a German / British band, were one of those enigmas of the Krautrock scenes . They evolved out of an early sixties Scottish rock 'n roll band called The Waysiders. When they split, guitarist Allan Murdoch returned to England and ended up playing in a band called M15 with future Nektar keyboard player Allan ' Taff ' Freeman. Due to lack of media interest, M15 moved to Germany in 1967 and eventually became Prophesy which evolved into Nektar. In the meantime, current Birth Control bassist Horst Stachelhaus had formed Message in 1968 and the two bands became close friends. Murdoch joined Message and invited along his old friend, vocalist and sax player Tom McGuigan, and that's how the British / German Message was formed.

The great album cover shares similarities with McChurch Soundroom's Delusion, and both albums share a common atmosphere of unsettling heavy psychedelia. The production by Dieter Dirks, known for his work with krautrock and heavier rock bands, gives the record a raw, intense sound, similar to early Nektar albums.

The album opens with "Sleep," a brief spoken word introduction that sets a tense mood, leading into the sprawling "Dreams and Nightmares (Dreams)." This track is a showcase for Allan Murdoch's heavy guitar work, particularly a riff that explodes midway through, while Tom McGuigan's vocals add a disturbing edge. The guitar solo towards the end channels a Black Sabbath-like heaviness that stands out as one of the highlights of the album.

"Turn Over" introduces McGuigan's saxophone, which weaves through the track's eerie atmosphere before giving way to a more rhythmic, jazz-influenced section. The sax adds a distinctive flavor, pushing the music into free-form, experimental territory.

"Sigh" is more melodic but features abrasive vocals that might not appeal to everyone. The sax and guitar interplay in the instrumental sections, however, adds depth and shifts the track into a more complex direction, ending with a sinister scream.

The second part of "Dreams and Nightmares" (titled "Nightmares") continues the dark, jam-like exploration with somber mellotron sections and restrained vocals, building toward more chaotic instrumental moments. The sax and guitar dominate, giving the track an unsettling, nightmarish quality.

McGuigan's sax and instrumental versatility add a unique texture. While From Books and Dreams has a dated sound compared to other releases from the same time, it stands out for its intensity and dark, dream-like atmosphere. From Books and Dreams is a very interesting an obscure record in lyrics and in music it's a great introduction in what became in heavy metal. An overwhelming, enveloping, mysterious, and surprising .

MESSAGE was an early German Krautrock band that was founded by bassist Horst Stachelhaus in 1968 in Düsseldorf. The band is mostly compared to Nektar for its two British members: Allan Murdoch (guitars) and Tommy McGuigan (sax and vocals) as well as appearing on the same label Bacillus which specialized in early German psychedelic bands. MESSAGE was a shapeshifting band with different career moves that unfortunately kept it from finding any particular success outside of its homeland unlike the more internationally successful Nektar. THE DAWN ANEW IS COMING is somewhat of anomaly in the band's canon since it is more remembered for its darkened heavy rock second album "From Books And Dreams" before turning to a more chilled style of brassy jazz rock on future releases.

The band also suffered a unstable lineup throughout its existence that lasted up to 1981 after releasing seven albums. THE DAWN ANEW IS COMING is the only album to feature the lineup of Tom McGuigan (vocals, sax), Billy Tabbert (guitar, spinet, vocals), Allan Murdoch (guitar), Horst Stachelhaus (bass) and Gerhard Schaber (percussion, vocals) along with James Allan Freeman who added extra mellotron and vocals. While comparisons to Nektar may ring true on the second album, this debut is less psychedelic and rather delivers a mix of more energetic rock that alternates with slower folk inspired motifs with English Tom McGuigan's vocals sounding a bit like Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson in the way he enunciate's his lyrics. The composiitons are somewhat complex with intricate chord changes and unpredictable meanderings into lengthy jamming sessions especially on the 8 1/2 minute title track and the near 10-minute "Heaven Knows."

While the opening "Changes" features some psychedelic elements, "When I'm Coming" and "Evil Faith And Charity" are more akin to more straight forward English hard rock. Despite being British dominated, THE DAWN ANEW IS COMING still evokes a sense of German Krautrock in its looser delivery system and heavy use of mellotron. Although lead singer Tom MCGuigan is a native English speaker, he still delivers somewhat of a faux broken accent of some kind however the British presence left an indelible mark on the band's sound making it sound like a hybrid of some sort which it clearly was. While the music itself isn't nearly as colorful as the beautiful album cover art work, the band was amazingly competent in its instrumental interplay and the album is an interesting collection of five tracks although the album is rather on the shorter side at only 33 1/2 minutes of playing time. Like many classic albums of the era, THE DAWN ANEW IS COMING features bonus tracks on various reissues.

While some could write off MESSAGE's debut as a somewhat generic representation of hard driving rock from the early 1970s as it lacks an abidance of progressive elements at this stage, the performances are still rather unique and most importantly pleasant. Tom McGuigan delivers passionate performed vocals that sound rather unique and the album sounds like a strange chimeric beast that slipped in between the world of British organ-driven hard rock from the likes of Deep Purple, Black Widow and hints of Van der Graaf Generator along with the German sounds of early Eloy, Birth Control and Wind. The occasional saxophone embellishments further add a bizarre sense of lack of direction as the album does feel a bit scattered as it progresses from beginning to end but overall i find this to be a very addictive mix that is tied together by strong rhythms, brilliant melodic songwriting and bet of all McGuigan's animated vocal style.

Second album by the Scottish and German band (Allan Murdoch and Tam McGuigan were Scottish), From Books and Dreams sports an extremely creepy cover depicting a skull with a snake going through its eye sockets. Here the band takes on a heavier approach than on From Books and Dreams. Tam McGuigan, therefore takes on a heavier vocal approach, something like Don Brewer's vocal approach on Grand Funk's "We're an American Band" (not that Message sounded like Grand Funk, more like a heavier version of Nektar). "Sleep" largely consists of eerie spoken dialog, while "Dreams and Nightmares (Dreams)" is largely guitar-oriented jam with saxophone. "Turn Over" features a voice that repeats: "Turn Over". I believe the band intended that to be a lock-in groove that repeats until you remove the tonearm (given your turntable isn't automatic), but apparently the record company didn't understand that so it repeats "Turn Over" several times before it's over and your tonearm returns to its resting place (if its an automatic turntable). I own the original LP (with the unboxed "Bellaphon" logo on the label) so I should know this. There seems to be some confusion with the tracklistings, once again, seems like record company misunderstanding (no wonder they left the label after this album). "Sigh" (if that's the name of the song) features those really in your face hard rock vocals, with some amazing proggy hard rock passages. The last piece is the lengthiest piece and most proggy. The Mellotron makes an appearance with Allan "Taff" Freeman of Nektar providing it, as a guest. There are some spoken dialog as well.

It's obvious that, while Message appeared around the same time as Nektar, Nektar ended up as the much more commercially successful band. From Books and Dreams is truly worthy of your attention.

Truly a great debut by this British/German band. Allan Murdoch seems to be the only constant member of the band. Of note here is future Birth Control bassist Horst Stachelhaus. I really dig the cover, which was enough for me to buy the album, but then I already owned From Books and Dreams so I know that if I enjoyed that one, I should enjoy The Dawn Anew is Comin'. This one is a bit calmer than From Books and Dreams, and perhaps a bit more psychedelic. I see comparisons to Nektar, and I can see that. Not only that, but Allan "Taff" Freeman providing some Mellotron as a guest, and they share the same label (Bacillus/Bellaphon). "Changes" and the title track remind me a bit of how Jethro Tull might sound like if there was no flute. "Evil Faith and Charity" is more in Deep Purple territory, but without organ. "Heaven Knows" is most like Nektar circa Journey to the Centre of the Eye, a nice calm atmospheric piece with some nice Mellotron from "Taff" Freeman. "When I'm Home" is a nice catchy piece, again the Nektar comparisons being valid.

It's not as heavy as From Books and Dreams, but it's still a wonderful and amazing album worth getting!

I really enjoyed The Dawn Anew is Comin' and From Books and Dreams, they reminded me a bit of a heavier Nektar (helps that Allan "Taff" Freeman provided some Mellotron on those albums as a guest), but I really can't say the same of Using the Head. With such cheap bathroom humor for an album title, you'd think this band went all Frank Zappa on us, but that's hardly the case. Since the band released two more albums between From Books and Dreams and this one, it's clear that the only original member left was Allan Murdoch. Horst Stachelhaus was by now a member of Birth Control. To my ears, this is a pretty mediocre rock album without much of the great heaviness and progginess of their first two albums (I haven't heard any of their other albums except their first two and this one). I realize this is 1977 and not 1972/'73, but I've heard much better albums than this from 1977. The band was flirting with boogie and the occasional disco tendencies have themselves felt, but I can say I do enjoy "Walking on a Rainbow". Other than that this album really did little for me.

Whatever you do, don't make this your first purchase, try The Dawn Anew is Comin' and From Books and Dreams, you'll be glad you did. Get Using the Head if you need everything from the band or need everything on the Brain label.

A talented vintage progressive-related band with ties to Nektar, and well in need of fresh exposure and rediscovery, English/German band Message released a string of very solid albums starting from the early 70's with a focus on strong vocal melodies with lengthy clean instrumental passages. Their debut album from 1972 `The Dawn Anew Is Coming' is driven by the superior English language vocals of charismatic frontman Tom McGuigan and the epic electric guitar runs of Allan Murdoch. Heavy moments and light jazz/fusion flavours all feature, and like with the Moody Blues, often the lyrics (and the album title itself) seem to hint at a vague mind-expanding consciousness, giving the album a bit more weight and mystery.

Opener `Changes' is a punchy rocker almost in the manner of early Eloy, a chugging guitar urgency to the piece with two electric guitars playing separately on either side of the speakers. The atmospheric title-track moves back and forth through a wide range of emotions and moods. Slowly unfolding, thoughtful if slightly downbeat verses of low-key murmuring bass ruminations and a gloomy vocal shift in and out. Frantic up-tempo rapidly strummed acoustic/electric guitar passages chime with a manic urgency. Twisting and turning electric guitars snarl together with furious honking saxophone throughout `Evil Faith and Charity', a malevolent heavy rocker almost in the manner of Van der Graaf Generator. A spitting vocal howl, attacking drumming, wet cardboard box bass and dirty guitar grooves spiral ever downwards, lots of addictive bluster and noise to this one!

The melancholic `Heaven Knows' that opens the second side is the longest track at almost ten minutes. It's a mix of spacey, ambient moments interspersed with energetic and racing passages, the thoughtful lyrics a reflection on human and spiritual love. Building cymbal rises, eerie guitar chimes and sombre Mellotron veils compete with a pounding drumbeat and snaking electric guitar runs. `When I'm Home' is a paean to the contentment of being home, a confident and up-tempo eclectic pop/rocker full of bluesy guitar wailing and fluid bass slithering through the darkness. The highlight is when the piece slows down for an ambient passage in the middle with a stream-of- consciousness narrated recitation of a poem by Veronika Green "For The Darkness" over the most gentle and stirring of Mellotron wisps (like earlier in the album, supplied by Taff Freeman of Nektar).

Barely running a brisk 33 minutes doesn't ever allow time for filler or less interesting material to creep in, instead keeping the album direct and compact, with a perfect balance between catchy vocals with winning melodies and expertly executed instrumental sections. The follow-up album `From Books and Dreams' would prove to be their ambitious and darker masterpiece, but this debut still reveals itself to be a strong collection of melodic ambitious rock, and evidence of a band starting to stretch their progressive wings. Although the follow-up is superior, and the band also went on to record some decent (if more commercial) albums later on, there's still something charming about the naïve yet warm adventurous rock music found here, and it's my personal favourite from Message. Not a particularly important release, but a damn fine album and band all the same.

Three and a half stars, but I'll round it up to four.

A grim slice of proto-metallic krautrock, 'From Books & Dreams' is hailed in some quarters as German masterpiece, though in actual fact this is much more a cult affair that seems to genuinely divide opinion amongst fans of progressive music. The problem here stems from the albums rather monotonous style, which finds driving guitar riffs undercutting some rather feeble vocals throughout the album's central two-part suite, 'Dream & Nightmares'. Part one, 'Dreams', quickly runs out of steam; 'Nightmares', which is the second part, follows the same dreary path. In between, murky goings on ruminate within the ominous 'Turn Over', whilst proceedings brighten ever-so-slightly with the atmospheric 'Sigh'. However, this is, overall, a rather uninspiring listen, and an album which may well appeal to fans of metal and heavy rock. Krautrock fans are warned: this basically an arty rock album, lacking the invention found in the material of fellow teutonic rock acts 'Faust', 'Embryo' and 'Grobschnitt'. Strictly for completionists then, this Message hasn't much to say. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

Fourth album by British/German MESSAGE, it took me quite some time to get this one. It's a bit surprising since I think this was still in their best period, actually this one was supposed to be last album worth seeking out, didn't think it was gonna be so rare with reviews.

Just seeing the nice cover art itself raised my expectations, and hoping that music would reflect that surreal image. The opener "Fred The Head" opens with very spacey or etheral sounds on guitar (reminding of the intro of "And You And I" by YES) but soon saxes kick in to give it a more original atmosphere. This theme of sorts is so good it actually repeats itself in another song later on "To Live Again". The album is basically further exploration of jazzy influences on the previous album, but still retaining some commercial side to the whole thing. I'm not an expert on JFR genre but I think some of it, like the song "Triangle" might be close to fusion, and especially the 7 minute long "The Sailor And The Flyer". Of other tracks, "To Live Again" is a good vocal oriented song with the similar sax theme from "Fred The Head", and I think "Chessmen" and "Destruction" is loudest they get but nothing like hard rock of previous albums. Personally, the tracks I could do without is "Volcanoes Under The Sun" as well as the closing instrumental number "Pharaoh's Leg" which is a very dull and repetitive guitar and sax interplay stretched to 3 minutes. Pretty dark as well and not as upbeat as the rest of the album.

This is the album that distanced them the most from their beginnings as a NEKTAR sounding band, and it would have been great if they continued to explore this new direction, because I think as a transitional album it would lead to great things. Personally I don't think it's the best album they did , but excellent record nonetheless.

This self titled album MESSAGE really got me thinking. It wasn't the first album that I heard by them. First I stumbled upon the second album "From Books And Dreams" which blew my mind and only the last song "Dreams And Nightmares (Nighmares)" on that album kind of slowed things down for me, not making it the psychedelic/space/heavy/proto-metal masterpiece that it otherwise would be (strong 4 stars though).

After hearing such stuff I was prejudiced when I found this album which was a lot more commercial and less progressive or heavy (you kind of expect it when you see the cover); yet I couldn't find flaws honestly in it. This album really doesn't make me wanna nitpick it at all, it's really an enjoyable listen and from my side, replayed very often. The sound of the band has changed a lot since the debut and their subgenre here on PA barely applies. It's not completely without progressive roots, as for other music like this I was personally reminded of maybe something like heavy progsters BIRTH CONTROL but only after their most creative years, more around the "Increase" album era in 1977. This album by MESSAGE is pretty accessible like that, however, unlike BIRTH CONTROL, it's more jazzy, gives more space to saxophones than their previous efforts, and just frankly, they pull it of better. It's worthy to remind that MESSAGE is a British/German band where vocals belong to the British member. Now I'm not that picky about how strong an accent a singer has, but this may be a feature that gives pretty charming results which maybe wouldn't work if it was Germans who were singing a pop tune. For example "Is That The Way" is a very laid back jazzy ballad and even though it gets complicated in the middle, the rest of it really made me think of RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS for some reason; it's really one of those vintage gem songs that you wouldn't be surprised if it would turn up sampled in a hip hop song one of these days. There is also some humour in "Horrorscope" which also reminds me of BIRTH CONTROL.

Not their most progressive effort, but it is in competition for the best album. Unlike others, it's pretty even throughout and fun, and I have trouble separating highlights from the rest of the songs. Well, "Is That The Way" and "I Can See The World" with female backing vocals might be the lightweight ones, but it still isn't just background music. Weird how they failed to achieve mainstream success as this is pretty good. In any case, I recommend it. It's fun, healthy and good for you.

Skeletor's favourite album

An album named like this sporting a spooky art work with pirate skull and a slithering snake worming through it - should preferably inspire nightmares of werewolves and darkness. The themes within speak about the other side of reality, the one that peeps through in the middle of the night, disturbing you in your sleep with tales of ancient memories, forbidden fruit, poisonous creatures and man made taboos being crossed by yourself seen from a bird's eye's view.

First of all, I'd like to give a shout out to my good friend John(Mellotron Storm) for introducing me to this album. Just by reading his review, I knew that I was in for a treat with From Books and Dreams. The album is a sweet concoction of grungy gritty hard rock and psychedelic Krautrock themes. Even if this mix has been done a thousand times before, back then it was still an infant musical child slowly learning to stand on its own two feet. Whereas we now have a cornucopian factory hall production of bands trying to infuse Black Sabbathy grittiness with the psych tendencies of old - often ending up in the aptly named sludge genre, back then the psychedelia of the 60s had only just begun to branch out in all of these fascinating hybrids. For my money, it was Germany who spawned the most astonishing and breathtaking metamorphoses, and Message is certainly among those acts that modelled these two hardy ingredients into something unique, black and fiery.

Message wield a brawling dirty guitar-based sound that ploughs through the airwaves like a rusty scythe. The grim reaper of string instruments fuels this band's energy, and you can almost feel the dark and murky ambiance of this band creeping up on you like an out of breath shadow trying desperately to catch up. This is no Black Sabbath - even if I portray it as such, the emphasis on cosmic feathered hard rock is far too obvious for that to be true. Even so, the overall production of the thing still puts pictures in my head of ghastly tombstones, neon skeletor and a swampy atmosphere that occasionally gets split wide open by the sharp scythe-like guitars.

This is essentially riff based music, but spiced up with sparsely used saxophone, synthesizers and mellotron. On several occasions though, the band changes course within the basic song structures - heaves the anchor, and flies away on sprawling magnificent fusion sweeps led by a manic saxophone. These are beautiful sections, and when the guitars finally interrupt with their sweetened melodic flavours, the music suddenly develops a counterpointing shadow effect to the otherwise harsh murkiness of the heavy riffage.

The front singer is actually English, which does add a certain quality to the vocals. Let's just say that English sung albums coming out of Germany from around the same time were very often clouded in heavy Bavarian accents, which to me personally can spoil an otherwise exceptional record. Well not this one. The vocals fit the music, although they have a confrontational manner - they clash into the given structure - sounding almost cacophonous at times, though never out of place. They depict the dreamy images of the lyrics in a way that lifts the overall feel of the album, making the music and lyrical themes collide in a natural symbiosis. Especially the divided title track proves this rather peculiar meeting.

If you already enjoy the works of Nektar, Nosferatu, 2066 and Then and other such acts that flirted around with the sticky combo of hard rock n' psychedelia, then Message's second outing should please you like a hundred handshakes from Jimmy Page. I love this album - the way it keeps fresh and still sounds like a death defying creature coming out of fog-ridden bogs, - and to top it all off, it just so happens to rock like a regular mountain of riffs.