NEUSCHWANSTEIN

A huge name of the symphonic scene in German, NEUSCHWANSTEIN were formed in 1971 in the city of Volklingen in the district of Saarbrucken.The big forward step for the band came in 1974,when they won a musical competition in Saarbrucken,adapting on stage a rock form of Lewis Carroll's ''Alice in wonderland''.The album was re-issued on Musea in 2002.

A stunning story-telling prog rock release,''Alice in wonderland'' contains dreamy symphonic progressive rock,interrupted in a few moments by spoken parts,which try to get the listener into the tale-atmosphere of the album.The sad thing, for those unfamiliar with the German language, is that all lyrics are written and sung in NEUSCHWANSTEIN's native language...but musically you will be rewarded to the maximum by the album's pure beauty and symphonic splendour.From the dominant moog solos and driving organ (NOVALIS similarities are evident) to the classical piano ans light harpsichord,all musical soundscapes are created by the heavy ans inspiring use of keyboards by the Klaus Mayer/Thomas Neuroth duo.The guitar echoes are trully melodic and inspiring yet carefully presented and mid-70's ELOY and even better ANYONE'S DAUGHTER are good reference points.However it's the flute work of Neuroth in here which will leave totally speechless!From the melodic interplays with the keyboards to the strong driving parts,Neuroth ''catches'' the best periods of CAMEL ,GENESIS and FOCUS (at least in the flute parts) and throws them into the mix to make the sound even richer and more symphonic.

''Alice in wonderland'' is oversaturrated in melody, interplays and calmness and it is marked by my side as one of the most important releases from a German symphonic rock band.Absolutely essential,followed by 4 shining stars!

Thank you all for your enthusiasm in our music we made in 1978, naturally influenced by all these wonderful music during this period. Some people may say and said: "Hey, this CD sounds like Genesis." But the CD is not the original music, the musicians recorded on tape. The CD is a remix. Remixed by a nice producer and a Genesis fan. Without the intention, the charme and this unmistakable sound of the seventies. So, if you can, hear the vinyl. Only on vinyl "Battlement" is truthful.

And here are the news: In 2009, composer and keyboarder Thomas Neuroth and flutist Klaus Mayer revitalized the band. With a new lineup they are working on a new album, which will be released in spring 2010. Inspired by life and death, happiness and tragedy. Lyrical, rock, symphonic.

Slightly frustrating.

This German band has recreated the story of Alice In Wonderland with German spoken words inbetween the music. The main leading instruments is flute and keyboards. Guitars adds texture when needed.

The music is mostly a symphonic floating sort of new age. It is beautiful. It is also pretty boring without much happening throughout. ELOY is a good reference here. JETHRO TULL and FOCUS has to be mentioned too due to the overuse of the flute. It is the dominating instrument here. It is so dominating that I am pretty sure this album can be used as background noise and mood enhancer in a supermarket. Therein lays the problem with this album. It is pretty dull. But it also has some uptempo parts where the band sounds like a crossbreed between ELOY, YES and FOCUS. These are the best parts of this album. Some funky jazz parts is also detected here too.

This is by no means a bad album. It has some good parts and some bad parts. I am not willing to endure thirty five minutes of flutes and five minutes of guitars/keyboards and that is why I am not rating this album very highly.

3 stars

A few years before Neuschwanstein conceived their masterpiece "Battlement" (to many, including myself, one of the best symphonic prog albums ever from Germany), the band had already written an album-worthy set of tracks that, together, made the concept of a progressive opus inspired by Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". I suspect that this was done when the band was still a 5-piece (before the arrival of Frederic Joos), but you can tell that by then the fivesome had found out their own voice within the realms of symphonic prog rock. There aren't too many lyrics in "Alice in Wonderland", and most of them are narrated. The opener is literally an intro that comprises brief atmospheres based on floating piano washes and eerie cymbals, until the instrumentation settles in for 'The Gate to Wonderland', lyrically structured across a prominent presence of bucolic ambiences provided by the playful flute lines and the elegant interventions on synth (orchestration and solo). All in all, it is mostly a second intro, and a "third intro" arrives with the slightly more mysterious 'Pond of Tears', which is where the synth layers become more relevant, and also there is a more noticeable presence of the guitar phrases alongside the ever haunting flute lines. The melodic display is definitely more ambitious than on the preceding track, but it still feels like a sequence of amalgamated snippets than a track with a power of its own. Track 4 is the first piece in this concept that benefits from a proper development - it starts very lyrical, like a symphonic journey with heavily pastoral accents, but soon the piece reveals a colorful imagery of sound that alternates density and lightheartedness in an ultimately symphonic fashion. Influences from Camel, Novalis, Eloy and Focus' introspective side are (or seem to be) very transparent here, with some touches of early 70s Jethro Tull. Regarding the sense of magic delivered through the global instrumentation, you can also tell that there are also coincidences with what Happy the Man were doing at the time on the other side of the Atlantic for their "Death's Crown" project - it is no wonder, since this album's tracklist and that HTM project were both conceived as musical bases for visuals and theatrical deliveries. 'Five O'Clock-Tea' is segued to the last notes of the preceding track's enthusiastic closing portion, bringing back a ceremonious note that works really well due to the clever architecture that ordains the various moods and motifs. This is the sort of grandeur that I wished earlier for tracks 2 and 3 - at this point, the musical ideas are becoming gradually more robust. After a brief sung section, the track shifts toward a sense of sheer, dramatic intensity without losing its melodic drive. The last section is a joyful imitation of cabaret-oriented jazz, which makes an efficient contrast against the solemn note that signals the start of the following track 'The Marching of the Queen - Palace of Wonderland'. The band's ability to create beautifully crafted melodic developments of motifs and the easily flowing transitions comes to its full fruition on this one - even though you won't find as many dramatic shifts than on previous tracks, this one never gets boring or monotonous. The portions where the band gets to Celtic and Renaissance territories, the sonic beauty becomes irresistibly sublime. 'The Court of the Animals' starts with the mandatory narration over a piano sequence (electric and grand, simultaneously): some more amazingly beautiful melodies and textures get in, and then some exciting interludes bring warm Tullian airs. The closer 'Alice's Return' wraps up the concept with a reprised motif. All in all, "Alice in Wonderland" is not as gloriously genius as "Battlement", but it is not a disposable progressive album at all; no, it is an excellent addition (albeit with a not too great sound production) to any good prog rock collection. 3.90 stars!

Anyone listening to Battlement for the first time cannot fail to notice the similarity between vocalist Frederic Joos and Peter Gabriel. The Genesis comparisons don't end there either; Neuschwantein musically also tread similar ground to the English symphonic prog legends in the Gabriel era, though less complex, particularly in the rhythm department. Hans-Peter Schwarz though no slouch holds a steadier beat most of the time compared to Phil Collins dextrous excursions. The use of Flute also adds to the Genesis comparisons.

Released in 1978, Battlement is the second album from this German Symphonic prog band and pretty good it is too. Loafer Jack however is not the most impressive of openers with its simple melody and structure for the most part, though a keyboard dominated instrumental break adds some interest. From here though things get more interesting with all the rest of the tracks being longer than Loafer Jack though no epics, most being around the 7 minute mark but long enough for the band to add some enjoyable instrumental sections. There's some nice use of acoustic guitar (Frederic Joos again) and enjoyable keyboard work in seventies tradition from Thomas Neuroth; a fine player indeed.

One of the best tracks is Intruders And The Punishment with its many changes, enjoyable melodies and long instrumental passages. Joos despite sounding like Gabriel does however lack his character and has a weaker voice, thus leading to the vocals being the weakest area not only here but elsewhere on the album. No such problem on title track Battlement with its long opening haunting instrumental section before vocal duties are passed to bassist Rainer Zimmer.

Overall then an enjoyable listen though I'm not blown away by it. A band that are worth checking out for fans of seventies symphonic prog, particularly if you like early Genesis.

Neuschwanstein second album to date from 1978, after their musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland from 1974, entitled Battlement is a real joy to listen, from capo al fine. One of the true lost gems of german symphonic prog of the '70's. The music is like everybody observed Genesis meets Camel and even Eloy in places , specialy on vocal parts. But besides this influences this album is a good one in every way with a lots and fine keyboards arrangemets, synthesizers who sound very inteligent for such an unknown band. They've taken the name after King Ludwig castel from Bavarian Alps . The voice reminds me of Gabriel and even in places as I said with Eloy's voice Bohreman. Every single piece from here is a winner, from acustic instrumentation to explosive keys with guitar interplays, this album is a good aquire for every serious listner. The fact that some of the reviewers considered this a Genesis clone, that don't bother me at all, I'm realy impresset by this lost treasure of the late '70's. So all in all an excellent addition to every collection, a real surprise for me, in a good sense. Recommended.

Well, how could I have missed this prog gem for so long? In fact, a few weeks ago I´d say I had never heard of them. Thanks to PA I got to know the band and bought this CD. Now I can say it´s truly a lost album that any 70´s prog fan should discover too. It is unfortunate that those guys released only one LP (and in 1979 - worst timing for a prog release ever!). But this interesting combo from Germany still managed to do a great job.

Ok, the first impression is the similarities they have from early Genesis, especially the opening track Loafer Jack. It could have come from Nursery Cryme! I was amazed by how french singer Frédéric Joos can sound exactly like Peter Gabriel: in fact, it could really be him! Good song, good interpretation, but also highly derivative. Fortunatly, the next tracks are quite different and show a band that obviously had a strong Genesis influence but also had a knack for writing good tunes and was developing a personality of its own. The title song, for exemple, owns it´s structure more to Jethro Tull than to Gabriel & co (thanks to the flute breaks and also to the bassist vocals on this track). All band members are of course very skilled and the production was perfect for this type of music. In fact, it was actually better than some of their idols albums! Great guitar and keyboards runs, nice acoustic breaks and a dynamic rhythm section are the trademarks of this tight band. The songs are varied, with lots of shifting moods, good vocals, strong hooks. No fillers anywhere.

The reissue includes the good track Midsmmer Day, that was recorded at the same time as the original LP, but it was not released. The remastering was very well done, I must say: you can hear every instrument and voice. Which, of course, enhances their outstanding musicanship even more. Musea did a fine job on the booklet too including liner notes, lyrics and a brief, but well written history of the group with some pictures. Of historical interest: Scorpions drummer at the time, Hermann Rarebell, played on one track.

If you´re into 70´s classic prog music in general - and early Genesis in particular - you should not miss this one. A great work of a band that surely could deliver much more, if only they had come out earlier (or much later). But Battlement is still an excellent addition to any prog music collection. 4 stars.

This band is a copy (I avoid the word rip-off because of its derogatory connotations) of Peter Gabriel era Genesis, but in spite of this I don't think any Genesis fans would be disappointed by this album.

A lot of the songs or on par with those Genesis releases and it's as if suddenly we've been given the present of an undiscovered complete release, lost in the vaults somewhere perhaps.

This album was released in 1978, and what we have here is an album consisting of individual songs that sound as if they're meant to represent different eras of Genesis from Trespass through to Selling England, but with a distinct emphasis towards Trespass. I mean that positively, I enjoy Tresapss quite a lot more than some tracks on Foxtrott of Nursery Cryme.

We have a singer, who sounds uncannily like Peter Gabriel, during the time of Trespass, and I mean much more than Fish or others ever sounded. It's so much like the real thing except that there's a very slight hint of an accent. As this was a German band, I was surprised to learn that apparently the singer was French. Very strange, because I could have sworn that he's got a slight German accent. Really quite puzzling. But otherwise incredibly close. He actually seems to sound naturally like PG, not trying to copy him.

As for the Guitarist: It's amazing, but he sounds as if Hackett were already playing on Trespass, with lines flowing in and out of the themes just as Hackett used to do.

The keyboarder has one thing going in his favour: He creates a beautifully lush Tony Banks background without his obtrusiveness that came into evidence later, at the same time being able to put in a few fantastic solos and filling some spaces with flowing synthesizer passages.

The bass and drums are mixed into the background and fulfil their purpose there more than adequately, although I can hear that especially the drummer lacks some of the intricacies that Phil Collins managed to insert so well. But this is hardly noticeable.

But the thing that makes me relish this release so much is the production. It was 1978 after all, and production had improved greatly between then and what was possible during the early '70s, so what we have here is something akin to an early Genesis release with sound that would have been impossible at that time.

If you're put off by copyists, then stay away, but you'd be missing a lot, but is you do decide to have a listen, I'm sure you'd be in for a very pleasant ride.

I give this album four stars, without any hesitation at all.

OK, So it looks like Neuschwanstein said, Let's make an album that sounds EXACTLY like classic Genesis, and then they did just that. Now, if you are like me, and you cannot get enough of Genesis from that era (Foxtrot, Nursery Cryme, Selling England by The Pound), then this is a GREAT thing. Because Neuschwanstein did an incredible job. Not only do the sound like Genesis in terms of instrumentation and song-writing, but the singer sounds freakishly like Peter Gabriel!

Some people cannot enjoy this album because it sounds so much like Genesis. But that is precisely why I love it. I don't care if it doesn't have an original personality. I'm the first to say they copied their sound. But they wrote entirely new songs, and the songs are great.

The way i look at it is like this. What this album lacks in originality, it more than makes up for with quality.

4 and a half stars.

The State of Complete Bafflement v Neuschwanstein

The case for the defense

The musical soil in 1978 was not remotely fertile enough ground to support delicate blooms such as this German species 'Retroproggessiva Teutonica' and their short-lived tenure is testament to the ruthless pruning policy adopted by the punk movement towards progressive rock in general which came to resemble 'Year Zero' Maoist fervor.

All these guys can play, record and compose extremely complex and challenging music extraordinarily well but if their career timing had been as well honed as their musical one, things may have worked out very differently.

The case for the prosecution

Of all the Genesis wannabe bands I have heard, this lot really do take the proverbial biscuit in terms of sheer unashamed brazen duplicity. They even make Marillion sound innovative. It is not beyond the realms of probability that in a blindfold test, someone with even a respectable and detailed knowledge of the Genesis repertoire, would be hard pressed to tell the difference between Reiner Zimmer and Peter Gabriel. The impersonation really is quite uncanny, and assuming that Mr Gabriel has heard same, must give the latter a dose of the 'creeps' for sure.

To further compound their sins, Neuschwanstein's compositions are actually really good and do not, as far as I can tell, plagiarise the actual musical content of Genesis, which brings us to the burning questions:

1 - Why seven musicians as talented as this wasted a large portion of their youth and creative energy by painstakingly and slavishly mimicking their English heroes ?

2 - What did Neuschwanstein sound like when they were impersonating Neuschwanstein ?

I for one would love to have heard the results of number 2.

The greatest Genesis tribute band of all time who did all their own material.