AMENOPHIS

Amenophis' self-titled album was a decent enough symphonic prog album - perhaps inclining a little heavily towards Yes worship, but a reasonable listen if that's the sort of thing you're really heavily into. Their second effort bears a title - You and I - which might make you think more Yes- inspired symphonic material is to come, but it was not to be - it seems that the band were making an effort to clamber onto the neo-prog bandwagon, but weren't quite sure how to go about it.

The songwriting is simplified compared to the symphonic intricacies of the debut, but lacks the hooks and the flair which the real masters of the neo-prog style brought to the table (and the idea that neo-prog is super-simplified prog is, in itself, an oversimplification - the fact is that this material often isn't even as intricate or embellished as a typical Marillion track of the era). In addition, the lead vocals from Elke Möhrle pitch for a Jon Anderson vibe but fall hopelessly short of the mark. Perhaps it's best all round if we just kept our attention on the band's debut album and quietly forgot about this one...

What a revelation! Listening to this the first time I was simply blown away. How could I have not found this sooner? Another masterpiece lost to time?

Suntower - breathtaking use of music that can almost be described as scenic; ever soothing, never boring.

The Flower - a great balance of music and vocalization working together to complete the 1, 2 opening punch.

Venus - a little darker, spacier sound with excellent precussion throughout and an inspiring musical break that carries you through the rest of the track.

The Last Requiem - Light winds and heavy riffs melt into driving drums which give way to a pure display of instrumental excellence at every level. I'd call it a jam if it weren't so well thought out and pieced togther. With parts both soft and beautiful, and fast and skilled this song is worthy of a place alongside the other, more well know, classic epics of the genre. You'll swear you can even feel the wind rush past your face at times. The vocals hear are similar to Eloy's in delivery style but Vollmuth's voice is a tad more gentle.

Bonjour, magnifiques Champs-Elysees - a short little track of delicate music

Notre dame tres honorable - the delicate sound of doom

Le vivant montmatre & Une promenade sur la rive de la Seine - light and airy, perfect balance from the previous track. Relaxing while still being interesting.

La vue de la tour eiffel - a little bit of a folky feel with the acoustic guitar complimented by the type of sweet, angelic music they used to strive for in mass'.

If you enjoy being able to close your eyes and have the music take you on a journey than I can think of no better album for you. The music here is so rich that your imagination won't have to work at all. Amenophis is an experience, not an album. Was hard for me to imagine that at this point in my Prog journey I could still be blown away by an album but I was ever so pleasantly surprised here. I can't see giving this any less than 5 stars because it is an absolute masterpiece that more people need to discover, own, and cherish.

This German band did release a very good debut album five years prior to this one.

They were totally unsuccessful in terms of sales and remained silent for a long time. Unfortunately, their song writing is absolutely not on par here. This album almost sounds as a neo prog one and it is far to level the quality of Amenophis. Poor melodies, weak vocals, it seems as the band forgot to play fine symphonic prog music. Almost popish at times (Forever Is A Long Time). It is pretty strange how a band can change. Maybe they thought that this was the trend at the time...

The comparison with their debut doesn't work in favour of this You & I. An album full of boring songs I'm afraid. Once in a while some fine guitar will wake you up, but I was expecting more from the band. Very few exciting moments, some being really hard to listen to and accept. A few are still worth, like the rocking Classic Contact which features splendid musicianship. But I guess that this is just the least we can expect from a professional band.

The worse is reached with His Special Way. I'm looking hard to find any interesting aspect in this song. A sub-sub-Blondie track. I truely loved the original (Blondie I mean, in their 1977 through 1979 days) but Amenophis sounds so alien to this music that they shouldn't have tried to walk so many miles away from their roots.

After such a disgusting track, it is a real pleasure to listen to Interludes Of Bright Weather even if it is so much borrowed to Steve (Howe). Onother good tune (there aren't so many) is Close To The Sea, a fully Renaissance oriented song. If only the band would have produced more of this type. Instead, they were heading to more jazzy and dull stuff like Ghostball.

In all, this album is rather weak.

I was extremely enthusiast about their debut and after having listened and reviewed this one, I can only tell you to stick to Amenophis if ever you would be interested in their work. Their new female vocalist is just average, passion is non-existing, melodies... did you say melodies? Forget it!

Only a few strong guitar breaks and harmonious keyboards are in essence the only positive ingredients available in this album.

Two stars.

To release a debut album in 1983 has nothing special, per se. But should the album been a progressive work of interest is another matter. And "Amenophis" did a good job on this one.

Purist might say that some musical lines are borrowed, I just feel that the music displayed here is very pleasant, diverse yet mostly instrumental. From the wild and hectic opener "Suntower", the listener is plunged into a sweet and very delicate "The Flower" which features some fine English vocals (which is not often the case with German bands, unfortunately).

Some pastoral moments combined with more rocking ones are a winner. Melody is never forgotten either. This band deserves the attention of any symphonic prog enthusiast. They had their influences of course, but to have the courage to release such a work in those progless times surely deserves high recognition.

Not all compositions are great of course (otherwise, this album would have been a masterpiece), but even in the weakest moments, "Amenophis" scores rather high ("Venus").

The central piece of the album is of course "The Last Requiem". A twenty-four minutes epic full of sublime guitar breaks (wild at times, atmospheric during others). The band (and the lead vocalist) being at unison. Even if it is deeply related to the early mid-seventies, the music is really enjoyable. But I belong to that generation (as to the blank one, but this is another story).

This epic will appeal to all early "Camel" fans. Emotion in the guitar play and fantastic harmony are mixed with some more (short) jazzy passages. Actually, this is the archetype of symphonic prog music (by far my fave genre).

Unlike many other bands of the time, "Amenophis" succeeded in being interesting throughout their effort. They can't be consider as too cloned, like many others IMHHO. At least during this album which I consider as a very good one.

Four stars.

Amenophis only managed this one followup to the self titled symphonic masterpiece, and it was a major departure, as the band tried to do what they felt necessary to received radio play and better sales. Any additional sales turned out to be marginal, or at least not enough to allow the band to soldier on further.

After such an ethereal, cerebral debut, "You and I" is much more energetic, indeed poppy in parts, but retains the meticulous approach to arrangements. Vocals are more prominent and they attempt to be more sing-songy than before, where they really blended into the mix. Elke Möhrle acquits herself well on vocals, especially on "Tomorrow is a Long Time" and the very Renaissance like "Close to the See", where she trades off admirably with Wolfgang Vollmuth. Several fairly routine yet modestly progressive instrumentals help the CD achieve variety within a simple and highly accessible symphonic framework, as does the almost rap-like "Ghostball". The guitar and bass riffs make this the heaviest song of the group's career, although the competition in that department is scant.

For those expecting "Amenophis Part 2", you will be very disappointed, but for those who can suspend disbelief, or for whom the first recording was no great shakes, this is a pretty decent neo styled album. A visit to their website revealed a lot of tracks still in the vaults, some of them alot more progressive sounding than what is here, but, given the lag of almost 20 years, the band would need more encouragement than you and I alone could provide.

Starting off with some nice piano then symphonic synth, "Suntower" sounds very soft at first but then 3 minutes in it picks up speed and is very original and smooth sounding. Some people compare them to Camel, but to me they sound more like Sebastian Hardie, mainly because it's very guitar oriented throughout much like Mario Millo's playing in Sebastian Hardie. Vocals are not a highlight, but for the most part, especially on "The Flower", the singing is kept somewhat behind the instruments and I must point out that the Genesis comparisons are mainly for this tune with it's Gabriel-like fantasy lyrics and the flute passages and Hackett-like flourishes throughout. The accented-German singing gets in the way of "Venus" an otherwise decent soft prog track though things pick up at the four and a half mark when the songs switches gears and becomes a bit jazzier then steals a bit of classical, (don't ask me what classical song it is I'm not up on my classical, but you've heard it a million times before). "The Last Requiem" is a 24:20 epic with really nice flute work, nimble drumming, (catch the Genesis drum swipe 2 minutes in!) and subtle yet fiery guitar. Unfortunately there's some terrible singing towards the end but it's only for a short period of time. The last five tracks are short instumentals, very nice with an overall classical nature. This is a fine prog album from the dark ages of the early 80's. A great find by the guys from Musea with a typically excellent booklet with pictures and an extensive history of the band. Well worth the price if you are curious about quality symph-prog from the 80's. 3.5 stars!

It always brings me joy to discover great prog from the eighties, I guess because it doesn't happen very often. AMENOPHIS are from Germany and they released two albums in their careers.The band I was reminded of when listening to this album was GENESIS, and that would mainly be because of the guitarist. This guy can really play some amazing melodies, especially with the acoustic guitar. Actually the last five bonus songs are all fairly short instrumentals, primarily made up of some tasteful, beautiful and intricate acoustic guitar melodies. Nice. His brother is the drummer, while the bass player's talented sister (an artist) actually designed the surreal cover art. This record though is guitar driven all the way.

"Suntower" is so well done, the keyboards and the relaxed guitar solos.This is all so melodic, but the song ends quite aggressively with keys and guitar leading the way. "The Flower" is my favourite song. We hear vocals for the first time in this beautiful and delicate song. Guitar comes in at 2 minutes and it's fantastic ! This is a GENESIS moment for me as the tempo changes continue in this song. Some great energetic guitar solos after 6 minutes.

"Venus" has a spacey intro as vocals come in. Guitar and drums play on as some in your face bass arrives 5 minutes in with keyboards following. "The Last Requiem" is my second favourite. For the record i'd swear there was flute on these last two songs. Anyway the guitar in the intro is really good and the drums and bass lead the way until a scorching guitar solo comes in. It's almost 4 minutes in before we hear vocals.

A couple of years ago Greg Walker sent me his "work in progress" list of what he feels are the all time greatest prog records (one per band) ever recorded. It's a 3 page list and this record is included, now I know why. 4 bright stars.

This is truly one of the lost classics of German symphonic prog, all the more impressive as it hails from the dark days of 1983 and seems to avoid all the horrid trappings of that decade while still sounding original.

Amenophis on this debut is more ethereal sounding than any of its admittedly mellow influences, like Camel, Genesis, Yes, Eloy, Renaissance (listen to instrumental break in "Venus" to see what I mean - think "A Song for All Seasons") and perhaps even Focus and Sebastian Hardie. The vocals are emotive although spare, keyboards rich, and the guitars varied in expression. Not to mention that the monster epic track, "The Last Requiem", features some pretty nice flute during its purposefully meandering 24 minutes.

The bonus cuts are somewhat new agey, being acoustic guitar and string synth duets. and would not be worth 5 stars on their own, but they are pleasant enough and follow logically from the original album that I cannot dock a star for their existence. They represent a fascinating experiment in lush minimalism.

Amenophis comes with my highest recommendation if you are into the pastoral side of symphonic progressive rock.

It’s easy to be hard on bands that started off with the complex compositions and virtuoso performances that defied pop culture and instead embraced all that makes symphonic progressive rock such a joy to listen to; then later moved closer to more palatable sounds, or abandoned prog music altogether. Amenophis didn’t go so far as to leave their roots behind, but this second and presumably final album is a major departure from what drew me to their first recording.

The lineup is slightly different here with the addition of female vocalist Elke Möhrle, and with Kurt Poppe on keyboards and Rene Kius on drums both replacing founding member Stefan Rößmann. The sound is much closer to neo-progressive with the heavily sequenced synthesizers, simpler rhythms than on the first album, and of course with a lot more emphasis on vocals.

Stylistically this album is a crapshoot. The opening “Dance on the Pyramid” is majestic, keyboard-intensive, pleasant, and unfortunately misleading. The following “Forever Is A Long Time” starts off with a keyboard sequence that reminds me too much of Asia, and guitar work that could have come from Dire Straits. And then the lady starts to sing. I’m sure she’s a nice person and all, but this is pretty close to a new-wave voice, and combined with the already suspect rhythm section, I do believe we have a full- fledged neo-prog tune. “The Key Of Life” is more of the same, but one of the Thompson Twins have apparently taken over on vocals, or at least it sounds like they have.

“Classic Contact” is closer to the sound that made the band so endearing on their first album, but the tempo is much sped up, and the track is really too short to be fully developed.

I’m not sure what “His Special Way” was intended to do for this album. This is a combination of blues, cabaret, and jazz, with none of them being done particularly well.

The next two tracks actually manage to save this album from the cutout bin, in my opinion. “Interludes of Bright Weather” features wonderful introspective acoustic guitar, and strident, layered keyboard progressions that build and bounce around the rhythm section to create a Yes-like feel to them. This is a charming symphonic piece that almost seems out of place, but definitely ranks up with the best of their debut album’s tracks. And “Storm” succeeds despite the vocals, largely thanks to the fantasy- tinged lyrics, lush keyboard backing, and Marillion-like guitars that perform very well in a complimentary role. Both of these are too short, and this would have been a much better album if the first four tracks had been left out and these two had been developed into longer epic works to replace the first half of the album.

“Close To the See” had a chance to redeem itself like “Storm” did, but here the overly clever tempo shifts and cheesy vocals can’t overcome great keyboard and bass work. The closing “Ghostball” teases the listener with a regal feel, but is too short to develop into anything more than a postlude.

It’s really a shame the Rößmann’s couldn’t have stuck together for this second album, although as I understand it Stefan left due to health reasons, so I suppose this couldn’t be avoided. In any case, I’ll give this three stars largely on the strength of “Interludes of Bright Weather” and “Storm”. The rest of the album ranges from one to two stars at best. Only recommended if you are a fan of Amenophis, or are just curious. Otherwise pick up their debut, as that one is far superior to this swan-song.

peace

Yet another symphonic rock gem I would never have discovered without the benefit of the Progarchives, Amenophis are a lost treasure of the progressive past resurrected courtesy of the rush by many labels to build up their CD catalogs in the nineties. This is one of the keepers.

The arrangements on this album remind me a whole lot of Camel, with the notable exception that these guys don’t have a flautist, although they do a good job of creating some synthesized flute-like sounds. The net effect though is that this album sounds like what Camel might be without Andy Latimer’s flute, and with an acoustic guitarist who tends toward Spanish flair at times. All three band members play a variety of keyboards, so there is a great blend of sounds on the album. Most tracks are instrumental, and on the ones that have vocals the tone is mellow, soft, and rooted in the seventies.

It’s not surprising given the 1983 release of this album that it didn’t take off, but I would imagine it would have gotten a much better reception a few years earlier. Typical of seventies symphonic rock, the album is divided into four rather lengthy tracks, each somewhat distinct but having a loose sort of coupling, mostly in the consistent arrangements. The vocal reverb effects are a bit sophomoric, but considering these guys were basically amateurs when they recorded this, they can be forgiven the occasional cheesiness.

The recording quality isn’t the best I’ve ever heard, but presumably the Musea version is a cleaned-up one, so it probably sounds better than the original vinyl, which almost no one likely has anyway.

With song titles like “Discovering the Entrance in the Shadow of a Dying Bloom” and “The Last Requiem” one doesn’t have to have much of an imagination to visualize the type of music on this album – mystic, earthy, and often highly orchestral even if delivered almost exclusively from keyboards and acoustic guitar. The electric guitar parts and more elaborate vocals hint strongly of a Genesis influence, but closer to ‘Wind and Wuthering’ than to ‘Trepass’ or ‘Nursery Cryme’.

The bonus tracks on the CD version are pretty much live, and for some reason the titles are French. These are interesting, are even more mellow than the original album itself, and are more inclined to acoustic guitar and what sounds like an electric piano. The timbre of most of these tracks sounds French as well, and frankly nothing on this album really hints at its German origin. A real anomaly in all respects.

Too bad these guys didn’t hang around to make a career of music, as I think they would have had a long and fruitful career had they arrived either ten years sooner or twenty years later. As it stands, they delivered a great album full of symphonic and emotional music, and it makes for a great bit of mood music today. Highly recommended to hard- core symphonic fans, and a four-star album for sure.

peace