CAN

Future Days, the title track, starts with some ambient noise before becoming locked into a shaky Indian-sounding percussion groove, as bass occasionally rumbles and quiet guitars form a calm, subdued atmosphere. However, the shocking thing is Suzuki's voice- on earlier albums, it was the forefront, a worried, nervous stream of words. Here, it is just more background noise, and instead of creating a strained feeling, it's loose and lost in the drums. At the end, it becomes a distorted yell, still dominated by drums and wavering guitar noises, and soon the Indian percussion returns for a few seconds, before fading into nothingness, reminiscent of the end of Oh Yeah from Tago Mago. Spray is a long, improvised piece, with more African-sounding percussion, coming off like a slightly less happy version of the title track. Moonshake is a relatively good song, and though it contrasts with the mood by going back to the style of Ege Bamyasi, with a mechanical drum rhythm, pulsing bass, and various sound effects skittering around with Suzuki's vocals, somewhere between the new and old style.

And then... the centerpiece, Bel Air. Twenty minutes of ambient Can-jam, like a more developed Future Days. But does it work? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Though there's not much to say in words, I can say that it feels relaxing, like being on the beach and just lying in the sun. There are two minor "orgasmic" parts; at 4:42 when bass and drums line up with Damo's elated whines, and about 9 and a half minutes in, where the music dies in bird cries, and slowly comes back. So, this album is a true great of ambient music, krautrock, whatever you call it, it's amazing. Recommended to fans of Can, light, airy ambient music, and all things relaxing.

A breakthrough on many fronts...

Tago Mago is the most controversial of their 'classic period'. Originally released as a double lp it had a strange structure. The first side has three psycho-beat/acid-rock/proto-punk/krautrock tracks, side two had the 18 minute Hallelujah that was basically a jam on just one rhythm with all influences of side one and some extra space influences. Side three was 17 minutes of pure horror soundscapes that would drive most people you know mad and side four has yet another 12 minutes of out-of-the-box experimentation and on shorter gentle track. As you can see by now, this is a very progressive ground-braking concept! I myself think the idea of Can must have been to make a great single record (lp1, side 1 and 2) and give some extra highly unusual experiments on the second lp. Therefore the second lp is far less accessible then the first one. I'll describe both record more accurate now.

The songs on side 1 and 2 all have an abstract psychedelic feel with intense vocals, the best of rhythms with perfect cooperation of drums and bass (Can is the most rhythmical prog act of the history in opinion) and acid like guitars with lot's of distortion. The vocals are confronting, especially on the acid Mushroom that is a song which rhythmic session can still be called modern today, but the vocals are way to extreme for today's standards. Somehow some things Can did never aged and were reinvented by other groups years later (until the day of today). Oh Yeah has more psychedelic and space influences and has again a killer rhythm! The tension of this song is build up by just playing heavier and heavier reaching a great climax. Side two has the 18 minute Hallelujah which is special because of keeping you attention for 18 minutes, though the rhythm section is basically unchanged throughout the song. The band explores ways to get the jam bag into the music and succeeds very well. Some spacey sounds and effects are interesting and It concludes the first record nicely. All tracks of lp 1 have a sort of distinct sound that has this never-ageing vibe. This is the true power of this record, many generations might be surprised how innovative seventies Krautrock was, especially this record.

The second record is different. There are strong avant-garde influences on this one. Aumgn (named after the esoteric cries of most wicked man on earth, Allester Crowly) is a sum of dark instrumental and vocal experiments. People with imaginative minds will find themselves to be on a lot of places during this special experience. People who like drugs should not skip this one! The controversy of using 'black magic' terms and 'spiritual' vocals is truly powerful and shows that Can wasn't going to leave one idea aside because of the social/cultural problems it could have gave them. On Aumgn Can uses guitar delays, a lot's of diffent drums, monk-like uuuuhhs and other sound effects that are sometimes hard to understand. Peking O. uses has yet some more experiments, this time with drum-computers. This is totally not my taste, but it's interesting to listen too for some times. Bring me Coffee or Tea is a song that could have made it to the first record of more conventional Can tracks with some nice guitar work and even melodic chord progressions.

Conclusion. This album has survived the test of time in a brilliant way. Record one is a masterful Can creation and record two is heaven for people who like true experimentation, avant-garde and even music beyond that. I'll rate lp one with four stars and record two with another four stars. The latter doesn't get it's stars for nice listening and have a great sunday afternoon, but because of it's motivation and innovation. This is a very important (I might say essential) record for progressive music: it will appeal to fans of Krautrock, psychedelic rock, psycho-beat, highly rhythmical music, jam-music, avant-garde and experimental music. For others this might be too psychedelic and hard to get into. I myself like the first record very much and have to be in a really good mood to listen to the second, though the latter strikes me as one of the most daring recordings of prog history! Four stars, well deserved!

Some ultra acid feel are experienced while you're listening to "Outside My Door". A dark psyche trip, a complex human experience. A musical battlefield.

Now, I can hardly feel great emotions while listening to this "Monster movie". Fun at best (but not for long), this album doesn't hold too many catchy items. The second side long "Yoo Doo Right" doesn't really bring any background to story.

I quite like the sub-title of "Certif1ed" review: "The Dinosaur of Prog vs the Monster of Punk". You et it all with this!

I rate it with three stars for its historical value. No more.

Point to have appointed name that was called "InnerSpace" in name of studio that had been used to produce album as symbol to their music. It will have been exactly one of the symbols to their music characters. The involved music character might be in the part where an original theory and the sense had been taken to the element to which the element of various music has been absorbed.

And, the point that the member of the band did not do pure Rock. It conceived a surely experimental element. The flow that the idea that other members had derived from another music character is introduced into the band might have acted on the band with originality though guitar player's Michael Karoli took charge of the part of Rock to some degree.

And, it is partial that keyboard player's Irmin Schmidt made remarks on. "Organism that pulsed powerfully" This word might have shown their directionality at that time and thought enough with this album. Or, it proposes it by Hildegard Schmidt who is the wife of Irmin Schmidt. It was not a sound of a complete band but construction of music mainly composed of the improvisation. It is thought that it has acted on the composition of this album.

Fact where content of this album produced at first as the part has existence as content of two classes. It might be proof where the element and the idea of various music are surely included.

And, the point that this album had already been produced before "Soundtracks". This album is officially registered as 3rd Album. However, details from the debut album to this album might have been very reformative. If the details are considered, the listener will be able to discover a reformative part to which Can had gone.

And, the point that the band tried always to establish existence as the organism and the set. These parts are surely reflected in the content of the album. The part of the impression that the establishment of the genre is not established by the base and the idea of the music character that the member exactly had might be large. It is possible to catch in this album that packs various reformative idea and directionality as one of the important parts in the history of their music.

"Paperhouse" might be a tune with the progress of the ballade. However, the involved anacatesthesia and a straight part can be caught as one of the elements that men at that time gradually revolutionize. A flow advanced as the element of psychedelic is laced with the rhythm including the dash feeling might be a part calculated as a composition. The dash feeling gradually shifts to the element of Blues. This conversion might be splendid.

As for "Mushroom", a complete song twines round the rhythm that puts the accent with the melody with the anacatesthesia. An intermittent arrangement consistently contributes to the sound with gloss that rules the tune.

The line of Bass pulls the tune from the introduction of SE to "Oh Yeah". It might be a tune that derives from the idea of the line of Bass. The gaga part by the rhythm repeated as one of the charms of Can might exist. The sound of decorated keyboard and guitar has succeeded in the decision of the tune to the progress of steady Chord. The song that appears on the way is sung in Japanese. However, it is not significant to the word and the grammar. This part might be an idea of Kenji Suzuki.

"Halleluwah" is a tune that contains the part of Blues and psychedelic. It is a part of the introduction of their good rhythms as the result. And, it is original that doesn't end only by simple Rock. The tune doesn't drop the quality of the flow of the composition of the album. The tune develops gradually while assuming the rhythm to be a subject. A flow steady as the sound of various decorations is taken is created.

"Aumgn" might be a tune of which the element made from the process from which this album is produced went out strongly. The element of the improvisation raises the quality of the composition of this album further. The flow that the sound of the guitar processed by the effect is made anxious is intermittently continued. It might be difficult to understand the meaning of the tune because an improvised part has been put out as a tune. However, the part of the improvisation done through an enchantment song and the whole volume and the introduction of an electronic sound might succeed. And, the rhythm and the flow that appears in the latter half show the power involved to the tune.

"Peking O" might be a tune that irrationality and inorganic order exist together in an improvised element. The sound and the song to make good use of the effect overall continue the tension. The flow including an Oriental a little intention and an experimental part might be in some sense and the part of the calculation. The song gradually accompanies an inorganic rhythm and an unstable melody. The performance that each member does finishes up the tune while repeating intersection and secession. The part of the song proposed from another angle to decorated rhythm and melody might be splendid. The tune explodes suddenly while continuing the tension. The performance and the idea of the band that does a complete improvisation create one space. The idea intermittently done has a complete part with the song. The tension and the dash feeling advance rushing into the part of darkness further.

"Bring Me Coffee Or Tea" is a tune that continues a beautiful melody and the anacatesthesia. It is likely already to have been completed by the process of the production of this album. Power and the explosion that exists together will be decided as an important factor when talking about this album.

It is likely to be taken up as an album that shows one established part and directionality in the flow gradually revolutionized in their initial works.

Can sits at the extreme end of non-harmonious and non-melodic music that features on Prog Archives and it offers quite a contrasting approach to the dominating melodic and symphonic tendencies of progressive rock. Actually, I'm quite sure Can would have been pleased with the 1 and 2 stars here. Can didn't want to have anything to do with the mainstream music of their time (that was prog yes) and deliberately tore down the formulas and rules that other bands adhered to.

As I've stated in previous Can reviews, the influence and relevance of Can on rock music is phenomenal, be it not within the progressive rock field but all the more so outside it. Both the ethics and sound of this music has spread like the plague throughout punk, new wave, guitar rock, indie, ambient, drum and bass, trip-hop, space rock, you name it. The list of examples I could sum up is endless but I would certainly single out Hawkwind, Eno, PIL, Joy Division, Tuxedo Moon, Sonic Youth, Jesus & Mary Chain, Tricky and bands like Radiohead that continued this heritage.

Now on to the album which is, whatever the low average may indicate, without any doubt Can's crowning achievement. For starters this used to be a double album, which allowed Can to explore the new lands they discovered on earlier albums to full extent. Some tracks like Paperhouse focus on their anarchistic rock side, Mushroom is almost trip-hop and it's hard not to hear the influence this had on artists like Tricky. The obvious influence aside, it's also a beautiful piece of music if that still needed to be pointed out.

Oh Yeah and Halleluwah continue the incredibly rhythmic feel of this band. There is simply no competition for Liebeziet's entrancing take on funk rhythms. Suzuki must be praised as well. As much as he sometimes disappoints me on later Can albums, his raw expression here is unmatched. Aumgn veers off into an entirely different direction. Devoid of any rhythm and melody it pioneered similar sonic experiments from Cluster, Tangerine Dream and Schulze. I find this Aumgn to be really alluring and a revealing experiment on the possibilities of a human voice, an echo box and an anarchist state of mind.

The anti-music of Peking O is possible added here to drive even the most ardent of listeners away that would still be into the album at this point. I can't help but finding my mood lifted by the creative freedom that Can's anarchistic avant-garde testifies off. I wouldn't recommend it as car music, maybe it isn't even meant to be listened to at all, but rather to be experienced in the way you undergo modern art : to find the beauty of human creativity and liberty into what appears to be just ugliness on the outside. Enduring listeners get a treat at the end. Bring Me Coffee or Tea is almost a melodic delight after the violent destruction of our sense of harmony in the preceding hour.

You may like it instantly, you might need years till it dawns on you or it might never mean anything at all. It certainly took me a few years (and a punk phase of sorts) till I was unchained from my earlier harmonic preconceptions and learned to appreciate music for its rhythmic feel, emotive intensity or for the artistic ethics instead of just for good melodies. The liberty obtained by that process and the amounts of great music it has unleashed on my CD-shelf is nothing short of amazing.

The idea concerning the music character of the member who tried to introduce a variety of music characters etc. might always have been done attended with an experimental element before this album. It is a part of the harmony of the music character by the above- mentioned member if it thinks as a result though the success to some degree in "Ege Bamyasi" received one the top by the content of this album. And, an experimental element and aggressiveness in the content that shifts from "Tago Mago" to "Ege Bamyasi". They might have had original flows of men who caught the tension from another angle and developed it.

Men who have them dare the tour for about 60 days in the spring of 1973 begin the production of this album. Damo Suzuki that takes charge of Vocal as a result secedes the recording of this album and the band has seceded at the end. Neither the entire reason nor the guess whispered with the listener and the fan are denied though various opinions exist in the reason for secession. As for the fact to which this album was acknowledged for the band as a very complete album, they might already have conceived the necessity that moved to the following directionality.

Aggressiveness that was able to be listened for the current work and an experimental part are almost excluded in this album. However, the music made through time when the band spent the tour and the vacation might have aroused the major break and the idea in the band as a result.

It might be not widespread in shape with too good recording technology and method in the early the 70's as the point that should make a special mention. The work recorded in the multiple might have been work difficult including a money part. Work and zeal to this album that they had constructed in the situation will have been the flows to face the attainment point exactly while following the methodology of the music character that they had already done. Anacatesthesia and order that rules the whole. Or, an electronic element and an unreal sound are constructed. Construction of music character that almost excludes part of extra and is done. If it borrowed the remark of Damo Suzuki, these flows might have been very completed too much. However, I will be able to feel a fatal part including the situation as for the flow that they reached this album. A new singer who took the place of Damo was not appointed since this album. And, the music character of the band is gradually revolutionized. When the album is a band, it is album as one of the masterpieces of a mid- term work that can be counted.

The sound of the float from the introduction of SE in an inorganic rhythm and the space repeatedly rules "Future Days". The member doesn't originate an extra sound. A transient song by Damo Suzuki twines at the same time as the sound of a good percussion instrument contributing to the tune. The order that they do will have originality. A repeated rhythm and an always steady guitar are constant. And, twining of the song that gives the sense in which it participates from another world might be splendid.

As for "Spray", I can feel one space that the band completely produced. Taste with good percussion instrument that is characterized this band and can listen at this time. And, the flow with a good performance of the band that unites order without order might be produced. Percussion instrument that flows in space. And, the sound of the decoration of the keyboard with the tension. The tension is always continued. The flow changes gradually and accompanies the song.

"Moonshake" is a tune from which ideas of men who were able to listen in the current album are followed well. The song twines round the line of a steady rhythm and Bass well. Progress of Chord by cutting of guitar. And, the sound of the decoration in close relation to the tune. The element that the composition of the album is tightened further by such a tune's being collected to this album might be given.

"Bel Air" might be one result of the attainment of the band. The guitar and the keyboard processed by the effect always advance attended with a constant anacatesthesia. The song and the tension that excludes aggressiveness might be consolidated in this tune as one shape of the band. A flow and a sound advanced attended with the tension might always give a good pain for the listener. The tune gradually increases the speed attended with the dash feeling. The performance to which each member is doing the band though it is integral might catch the tune from all directions and contribute. One creation that the band thinks about while showing various respects might be here.

The music character that Can multiplied from the first stage to middle term might be all important. Especially, their works at this time are always popular.

If the point for the music characters of them who multiplied from the first stage to middle term and were done was considered, the band might have been fixed by making the idea that they took and the sound and Vocalist.

Especially, the world of order and irrationality that "Tago Mago" has. Or, beauty and it destroys it of involving "Future Days". The music character that they had had will not have been a simple experiment. Establishment and influence of impression of band by Damo Suzuki. Or, the introduction of the rhythm of Afro and Latin is established and it succeeds. And, it is continuous of decorated sound in which a complete arrangement is given. In the flow of the transition, this album also has the opinion made for the part with the element of POP a little to exist. However, the transition of their albums and music can tie and it research alone. And, it is certain to have contained respect of room by their commercial successes if talking by thinking only about this album.

There might have been room to create music to men who had concluded successfully "Spoon" offered for "Das Messer" of the television series of Germany worldwide. However, having acted as a little loose work in the flow to which the part of the room creates music is a well-known fact in them. It is said that "Spoon" was used to supplement the lack of the material collected to the album. It is said that the part of room finished recording hindering member's creation and session in a hurry. The Music characters of them who develop further and humours will be able to be found from "Tago Mago" in the album. The name of the canned food made in Turkey might be adopted and the part where the title etc. that were reminiscent to the title of the tune of the ingredient were introduced as an idea understand they had very original creativity. Some perfection and busy have finished when thinking about the Music characters of them done alone with this album ..a lot of included content...

The element of the music that each member was pursuing at that time takes up various topics, is pursued, and reflected in the tune. Music of Vietnam in which Holger Czukay had been always interested. Elements of the music such as Bali and Morocco interesting also of other members came to appear everywhere as one of the charms of their music characters at the same time as with the action that may be gradually reflected from their mid-term works.

"Pinch" might be one space that they exactly create. Floods of overwhelming sounds of men who were doing by "Tago Mago" challenge music further with this album as another route. The song of continued Groove and Damo that merges completely in the band has the overwhelming might. This tune will not be simple Rock. Decoration of keyboard to contribute to tune completely. And, the arrangement of the guitar and the percussion instrument has acted on the tune, too.

The development of the ballade around which a gentle song to the sound of running water is twined with the rhythm of "Sing Swan Song" is impressive. The guitar with the part of the keyboard and the decoration where the anacatesthesia overflows contributes to the tune.

The song with the feeling whispered to a steady rhythm twines round "One More Night". The part where originality is felt is proof that the decoration and the guitar of the keyboard contribute. The order united as a flow of the album is reflected in this album well. The introduction of Noise and the exactness of the song might have been established.

The melody and the rhythm of "Vitamin C" made anxious are impressive. And, the song of Damo Suzuki sung by a pronunciation near Japanese gives the band an original part and width. A contribution of the line of Bass and a constant anacatesthesia might be splendid. The melody of the keyboard also contributes to the tune.

The flow from the part of Coda of "Vitamin C" is received and "Soup" is connected. The flow that shifts from a quiet standing up to intense Rock gives the listener the overwhelming might. The band will be able to be discovered to establish and to develop exactly. The tune contains the part of the complexity further and advances. The flow that creates a constant space while containing decorated part might succeed, too. The flow that the idea into which the flow develops in the forward is exactly achieved by "Tago Mago" is reminiscent.

In "I'm So Green", originality and the melody of the band are features in the element that Rock is good. The arrangement of the guitar and the song with originality always press the establishment of the directionality of the band.

"Spoon" gives the arrangement of various sounds to a steady rhythm and raises the perfection of the tune. Decoration of impressive melody of song and electronic rhythm. Or, the sound that the keyboard contributes decides the impression.

It is likely to be acknowledged as an album with which the element of POP and steady Rock is blocked a little more in the work of Can. However, it changes and it revolutionizes it. move from "Tago Mago" to this albumAnd, if the flow is considered as one top that reaches by "Future Days", the album at this time can be caught as an important work when talking about them.

The music on Stranded is very much like the music on Soon Over Babaluma (1974) IMO. Just a bit more commercially appealing. Stranded is still charactarized by the trademark repetitive beats though and both Vernal Equinox, and the 13:20 minute long closing track Unfinished, feature the usual experiments as do the other shorter tracks albeit in smaller portions. It´s hard to say what´s missing really but the album just doesn´t appeal as much to me as the earlier albums do. Can is still an exceptionally well playing band and that of course is one of the greatest assets on the album. The production isn´t as interesting as it could have been and it actually sounds a bit cold to my ears.

Stranded receives a 3 star rating from me as it is a good album but lacks the really great things that excellent albums have.