TRIUMVIRAT

The debut album from this band who has given me a lot of pleasure. But not with this album.

OK, this is not a bad album. Not at all. But there are pieces of music here I have problems with. The vocals parts on Across The Waters is as cheesy as the collective output of the cheese producers in Switzerland this year. The classical stuff is good though. But I cringe and want to hide behind the sofa when the vocals comes along.

The really good stuff on this album is the classical music stuff and the cover art. The bad stuff is the vocals and the bombastic hard rocking stuff. That is my opinion and my reasons to give out three stars.

3 stars

Although not quite as good as the previous Illusions On A Double Dimple, (what is?) Spartacus by Triumvirat is at the top of the group's output, and at the top of the whole seventies decade, the classic period of progressive music, also sometimes known at the time as "classical rock". Spartacus is a concept album depicting the story of the famous gladiator who led a revolt against Rome. I generally am not a big fan of vocals, period, but Helmut Koellen is so good at it , that i find myself really able to appreciate such things -he does not have to scream or shreik as many rockers do, -such a naturally musical person is pretty convincing without a need for that. This record is so well done, it is better than any of ELP's, and though Spartacus was mainly a hit in America, you can tell by the high quality of the music that this is a continental European group-the real source of great progressive music. It is catchy, but also cerebral and a thrill to listen to, and also a delight as it is really well-produced and engineered, as well as it being deeply heart-felt music. I understand that Helmut Koellen left the band just after touring in support of Spartacus, to pursue a solo career, and though he briefly returned to the band, his departure really shook up things, and they never really recovered, as evidenced by the later albums, which had lost the magic and appeal of the previous, the good news being that Helmut recorded a solo album that was released later called You Won't See Me. Spartacus is something that no rock music fan of the seventies should be without-a true essential! presdoug

To describe the sound here without futzing around with a billion paragraphs --- think ELP, except with better song structure, better vocals, better bass, better drums, stuff like sax, and even GUITAR on top of all that. Hence, moreso than even Tarkus or Brain Salad Surgery, Triumvirat's 'Illusions On A Double Dimple' is the quintessential masterpiece of keyboard-driven prog, and thumpier than almost anything you'll hear in the world or prog. beyond Yes's early years. For those looking for another classic to add to their collection, pick this up post-haste!!!

The bonus tracks, btw, are pretty cool as well. Any one of them could have been killer singles at the time!

A freakin' masterpiece that goes well beyond the 5 star mark.

Let me start by saying that it is wrong to label and dismiss this fantastic group as an "ELP clone"-a close examination of Triumvirat's music, and one will soon realise that they are a group in their own right (and a greatly under-rated one, in the grand scheme of things) The album Illusions On A Double Dimple is their best, and also the best progressive rock album of the whole seventies decade. This is real classical rock, and i love classical music. Any way you look at the sound they create, every aspect is done so right, and it hangs together and stands the test of time not only because it is technically well done music, but full of emotion in the same breath. Jurgen Fritz's keyboard work throughout is amazing, Hans Bathelt's drumming is a thrill to follow, and in the middle of that is the awesome Rickenbacher bass, and six-string guitar playing of the late Helmut Koellen, along with his wonderfull vocals, one of the most naturally musical voices in all of rock. For me, it is Helmut's presence in this recording the makes everything hang together so well, as it does with the following album Spartacus. It is also a mistake to overlook Helmut Koellen's solo album You Won't See Me, released just after his death in 1977, also great evidence of his overall great and sprirted musicality. I never discovered Triumvirat's music until the eighties, so unfortunately never saw them live, but this album is so gutsy and exciting, as well as brilliant, it truly is the next best thing. No other group from this period stands a chance against this wonderfull recording, and there are two single tracks included in the 2002 remastered edition that are just as appealing as the album itself, everything hangs together even better than previously imagined. Progressive rock at its best! Presdoug

When TRIUMVIRAT formed they were very much inspired by THE NICE.Keyboard virtuoso Jurgen Fritz certainly dominates the sound although the drummer Hans Bethelt is outstanding and almost as dominant.It would be Hans who would come up with the idea to do a concept album about Spartacus, and he would write all the lyrics as well.Their previous album "Illusions On A Double Dimple" sold quite well in the USA but poorly in their home country of Germany.This did'nt sit well with the band and Jurgen would in fact move to the USA where he said the working conditions were much better.Regardless,"Spartacus" would sell even better in America than their previous album yet have almost no impact in Germany.Go figure! I much prefer "Illusions On A Double Dimple" to this one although i still think "Spartacus" is a really good album. "The Capital Of Power" is an instrumental that opens with synths before kicking in quickly.Great sound here.The tempo will shift quite a bit on this one. "The School Of Instant Pain" opens with piano as reserved vocals join in.It picks up before a minute and the drumming is outstanding.The tempo picks up even more after 2 1/2 minutes and the keyboards are all over it especially after 4 1/2 minutes.It's the drums turn 6 minutes in. "The Walls Of Doom" is another instrumental.It's got a catchy beat with keyboards.That changes half way through although it's still all about the drums and keyboards. "The Deadly Dream Of Freedom" is a ballad that opens with piano and synths as reserved vocals join in. "The Hazy Shades Of Dawn" is an instrumental that is synths and drums led with some nice organ later. "The Burning Sword Of Capua" is another instrumental.Powerful organ and drums to start in this dramatic intro.The tempo picks up before a minute. "The Sweetest Sound Of Liberty" is my favourite.It's just a great vocal track with acoustic guitar.It gets fuller after 1 1/2 minutes as contrasts continue. "The March To The Eternal City" sounds so good! The synths and drums especially.Vocals and piano after 1 1/2 minutes as contrasts continue.Cool song. "Spartacus" opens with piano and vocals then it gets fuller, then the tempo speeds up 1 1/2 minutes in. This for me is a low four star album or high three.I choose the latter because when compared to "Illusions On A Double Dimple" which i gave four stars, it's a definite step down.

Considering that this band is known as the "German ELP" i really had no desire to check them out.I love ELP's debut but it's the only ELP album i still listen to. Well thanks to Todd i made the plunge and boy am i glad i did.This album is better than anything by ELP except for their debut in my opinion.We get two side long tracks both over 20 minutes full of proggy goodness.I suppose keyboardist extraordinaire Jurgen Fritz is the main reason for the ELP comparisons and he doesn't disappoint.This bottom line though is that this album is full of well thought-out melodies that are very enjoyable and challenging.On a side note my wife and daughter have been going through the "Gilmore Girls" seasons(they're on season 5 right now) the last 6 months or so,and it's hard to avoid it when it's on all the time.Anyway i almost choked on my supper the other night when this character Daniel says in the show that he's a closet progressive music fan,and that he's into GENTLE GIANT,VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR and TRIUMVIRAT. "Illusions On A Double Dimple" opens with beautiful piano melodies as reserved vocals join in.The vocals stop as the tempo picks up and it soon becomes a powerful soundscape with organ.It settles some when the vocals return.Great sound here.Piano,synths and drums lead after 4 1/2 minutes as we get this long instrumental section right through to the 11 minute mark.Some incredible stuff here.Spoken words then vocals after 11 minutes.A change 13 minutes in to a brighter sound with vocals.Another change 15 1/2 minutes in to a more urgent sound before returning to that bright,melodic soundscape.Some nice chunky bass too.Hey a cow bell 20 minutes in and some killer organ late. "Mister Ten Percent" opens with piano but bass and drums take over quickly.The tempo keeps shifting back and forth.The organ 2 1/2 minutes in comes and goes.Piano only before 3 1/2 minutes then we get theatrical vocals after 4 minutes.Sax 5 1/2 minutes.Then this instrumental section kicks in that's so impressive just like the first track.This one lasts until after 12 minutes when the vocals return.This section with vocals is so uplifting.Chunky bass after 14 1/2 minutes as the organ,synths and drums also stand out.Organ and drums then lead before 17 minutes.Huge bass lines return then the vocals as well later on. Nothing less than 4 stars will do.Great album.

Even an experienced hunter may miss the prey

Since 1976 when I received a 90 minutes cassette with "Illusions on a Double Dimple" on side A and "Spartacus" on side B, I've been a fanatic of TRIUMVIRAT, not only because of the incredible talent and skills of Jürgen Fritz, but for the sound of the whole band and the hallucinating arrangements. But after the Helmut Köllen left the band, the average "Pompeii" and the disastrous "A La Carte", lost he interest and never had the will to listen "Old Love Dies Hard", mainly because of Barry Palmer's voice, doesn't matter the strong accent, the late Köllen was a stronger singer.

So the years passed and a few weeks ago during one of my usual CD safaris, found a very cheap copy of "Old Love Dies Hard" that the guy in the store was never ale to sell, after a short deal, I agreed to pay 3 bucks, took it to my house and placed it on the TRIUMVIRAT section of my collection, until past Monday when I took it to the car and placed it on the CD player....God, what a surprise!

Won't say it's in the level of "Illusions" or "Spartacus", but it's an excellent album that I missed for some decades due to a prejudice against the post trio formation of the band. The first surprise is the fact the album is absolutely guitarless (Well Köllen wasn't mainly a guitar player neither), but this lack of guitar enhances the listening experience of Fritz as a virtuoso keyboardist, specially with the piano where his technique is impeccable.

It's also important to notice that the original bassist Dick Frangenberg (Was replaced By Hans Pape before recording "Mediterranean Tales") is back, and the guy gave the size, because his performance is solid, as if he had never left the band. About Hans Bathelt is not necessary to talk, being that his style is part of the band since the start and is the only one capable to complement the style of Fritz.

The album starts with "I Believe", a well elaborate ballad in which Jürgen Fritz shows his skills with the Moog but mainly with the piano, changing the usually pompous atmosphere of the band for a more pristine sound that reminds of the softer tracks of "Spartacus" .

As I said before, Palmer's voice is not my cup of tea, but neither is annoying, and when Fritz does the backing vocals the sound is very pleasant, and if we add the perfect arrangements and the nice choirs, all the band sounds well, not brilliant by way above the average.

"A Day in Live" is another soft correct track in which again the arrangements make it sound much better, Bathelt (usually compared with Carl Palmer), achieves something that the great ELP drummer never could, to keep perfect timing, maybe needs more strength to play in band that keeps working as a Power Trio (Barry Palmer only sings so they are essentially a trio), but his technique makes any minor problem vanish. But the fascinating characteristic of this track is the clear and perfect piano, Fritz avoids using complex synthesizers to give an image of clarity and clean sound.

"The History of Mystery" (Talking about the whole track, because the division between parts 1 and 2 is only product of the limits of vinyl format) starts soft and melodic as the precious tracks, but after a short piano and vocals passage, TRIUMVIRAT takes us back in time to 1973, performing a pompous and brilliant track in the vein of "Illusions on a Double Dimple", as 4 years before Jürgen Fritz picks the heavy artillery and gives a lesson of versatility with each and every keyboard instrument he has on hand, demonstrating he hasn't lost the touch with the mighty Moog, while Frangenberg and Bathelt manage to follow his lead with the usual dexterity.

The track is anything but predictable, the changes are so radical that the casual listener doesn't know what to expect, the vocals enter when nobody could imagine and vanish as soon as he appeared to leave the keyboards reign, yes, they still remind of ELP, but in my opinion they are better most of the time, a fantastic song and a highlight of the album.

After a powerful epic as "The History of Mystery" a relief is required, and "A Cold Old Worried Lady" provides it, strangely in this beautiful melodic song Barry Palmer sounds great, his vocal ability sounds beyond his usual range and the band doesn't leave him along complementing him in every moment, not as vibrant ads the previous ones but still a solid song.

But anybody who knows TRIUMVIRAT must be sure that thee calm doesn't last forever, "Panic in the Fifth Avenue" is frenetic from start to end, as in their best era, the band doesn't rest for an instant, providing a breathtaking instrumental with memorable Hammond and Moog performances with a rhythm section that keeps the feet of the band solid in the ground and allowing maestro Fritz to wander wherever he wants, 10 minutes of pure Progressive Rock.

"Old Love Dies Hard" ends with the title song, which provides a softer closure to the album with excellent vocal performances by all the members and pristine clear arrangements.

As I said when starting this review, don't believe this album is in the level of "Illusions" and "Spartacus", but lets be honest, hardly any album is in that level, if I had only listened "Old Love Dies Hard", I'm sure would still consider THE RAT an icon of Prog and one of the best German bands ever.

Can't rate the album with less that 4 stars because it's an excellent addition to any Prog collection, a gem that I left behind for three decades due to an absurd prejudice.

Triumvirat - Illusions on a Double Dimple (1973)

Yes, it sounds an awfully lot like ELP. In fact, I think there is little progression made here. No new grounds are discovered, no new recordingtechniques and no new sounds. This leaves us a still very inspired heavy/symphonic/key prog album! The recording itself is still quite oustanding for 1973, the coverwork inspired. Triumvirat proves to be a highly evolved technical group with great the keyplayer Jurgen Fritz, heavy drummer Hans Bathelt and bassplayer Helmut Kollen.

Though in the vein of Emerson Lake and Palmer, I find this Triumvirat much better then everything I've heard from ELP so far. This record is focussed, with no moment wasten. Two times twenty minutes of music, no interuptions, no fillers. The vocals are surpringly good for a German band. Both sides of the lp are great, I have no preference. There isn't much else to say about this record, for everyone knows about the ELP sound.

Yes, it sounds an awfully lot like ELP. But it's better. Four stars.

I was surprised to see so many 1-star reviews for this album. So is it really that bad? Please be aware though that I do like some of the mid-late 70's AOR stuff. I love this web- site and enjoy spending hours at a time reading the many thoughtful/awesome reviews. I've come to the conclusion that many 1-star reviews across the boards are not because an album is truely bad *but* because an album was not progressive enough or not progressive at all or that it reflected a change in a band from going progressive to a more commerical sound. At the risk of being tarred and feathered and perhaps hung from the highest tree in the prog forest, I still say Gentle Giant's "Giant for a day" is a pretty good album even if it's not progressive like their masterpieces "Free Hand", "Glass House", "Power and the glory". "Giant for a day" receives it's bad ratings due to "not being progressive" despite it's catchy tunes. Having said that, I feel this album fits into that category.

This is not a great album by any means but it's not a bad album either. For me, it sits comfortably in the middle. Yes triumvirat (like so many other prog bands in the late 70's) were going thru a transitional phase that was dictated by record companies in order to produce revenue. As great as prog is, it does not sell. Sooner or later the musicians have to eat and feed their kids and keep up payments on their homes. They can't do that by releasing concept albums or prog masterpieces. The general money paying audience demands verse/chorus/verse/chorus tunes that can fit comfortably on local radio stations that require commercial breaks from paid sponsors every 3-5 minutes.

This album is a good late 70's pop album by a fantastic prog band. I find some catchy/upbeat melodies on here as well as some bombastic vocals that have a soulful feeling to them. There are some syrupy ballads amonst choral arrangements but even the syrupy ballads are good. The syrupy ballads are similar to what the New Trolls did in their concerto grosso #2. There are some really good funky rythms and bass lines thru out too. I'm not big on horns and brass but their use of them on this album is quite effective and reminds me of "Saturday in the Park"-era Chicago. Once in a while, you'll hear some ELP- like analog keyboards done progressive style by Jürgen Fritz that lasts for about 3-4 seconds (which is out of place on this album) just to remind you that this is still Triumvirat.

If you like your Triumvirat to sounds like Spartacus or Illusions, then skip this one. But if you don't mind catchy 3-5 tunes done by a former progressive outfit, this album is worth a listen. In prog circles, this is not a good album. In commercial AOR circles, this is a good album. I also like their "New Triumvirat - Pompeii" album too and I find myself listening to these more than Spartacus.

This is not a bad album. It's just not progressive in the style of their earlier works. I don't think it deserves a 1-star rating just for being not progressive.

I can safely put this album in the same category as Caravan's "Better by Far" or Gentle Giant's "Giant for a day". Some nice melodic moments and killer bass lines at times.

Triumvirat are a band with a lot of instrumental skill that unfortunately never really sat well with me because of their sound being so akin to that of ELP. SPARTACUS is a very ELP-sounding album right down to the two ballads. The only difference is the unifying concept of a Roman soldier that I really never cared for. All of the short instrumental interludes are highlights for me (especially ''The Hazy Shades of Dawn'') even if all are so ELP-esque. The two ballady tracks are painful for me to listen to as Kollen's voice is grating here. I tend to lose concentration in the longer pieces because none of the themes thrown around really excite me that much. Not recommended.