PICTURE MUSIC

First of all, let's clear up some historical confusion. This album was NOT recorded in 1973. It was released in 1975, but recorded in late 1974(check out the official KS website if you don't believe me). I think Klaus and/or his management/record company at the time wanted people to think this was recorded in 1973...before TD's Phaedra album(which was recorded in 1973). It was as if Klaus heard Phaedra and decided he had to do something similar, but better. But he wanted everyone to think he did it at the same time; "Ja, I made this before Phaedra". Picture Music does not sound like it was recorded before Blackdance. On that album he only used a VCS3 synth while here he has an ARP Odyssey.

Anyone who had heard Who's Next or DSOTM was already familiar with sequencers anyway. Even if this album had been recorded in 1975 it still sounds way ahead of it's time. A lot of it sounds like 90s electronic music, not 70s or 80s electronica. The music can be repetitive but it's good in a hypnotic way. I prefer this album to both his earlier space stuff and his later more ethereal stuff. "Totem" sounds like early 90s house/techno/rave music(without the beat). "Mental Door" is more aggressive and strange sounding; it's my favourite of the two. The drumming is a nice addition to the song.

It's really hard to describe two 20-minute+ instrumental songs. Picture Music is the most electronic sounding thing he had done up to this point. It's more edgy and in-your-face than Timewind. Many say that was his best album; I think this one is(regardless of recording date confusion). Electronic music in the 1970s rarely got better. 4 stars.