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Abacus - Abacus CD (album) cover

ABACUS

Abacus

 

Crossover Prog

3.38 | 73 ratings

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apps79
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Over 40 years of history (with some breaks inbetween) for this German band from Hamm, which evolved from the 60's Beat band The Fashions.The Fashions had built their career as a supporting group to British bands touring Germany and eventually were heavily influenced by this sound, especially when they were joined by ex-Grail singer Chris Williams, leading to the formation of Abacus.The rest of the crew were guitarist Charly Schade, keyboardist Chris Barutzky, bassist Klaus Kohlhase and drummer Felix Hans.Their self-titled debut was recorded in August 71' and released the same year on Polydor.

This is very good and often complex full-blown Progressive Rock with also some instant melodies, reminiscent of CRESSIDA, SPRING, FANTASY and GREENSLADE, while the closest German comparison would propably be mid-70's BIRTH CONTROL.The sound of the band is strongly driven by the sparkling organ runs and solos of Barutzky and the soft guitar touches of Williams and Schade with the opening track being a highlight of genuine early-70's Progressive Rock, featuring great keyboard exercises and massive guitar hooks along with softer vocal moments, performed under some very demanding musicianship overall.The rest of the album includes heavy organ jams next to fiery grooves and melodic themes with Abacus achieving a nice balance between complexity and accesibility.A couple of tracks like ''Song for Brunhilde'' and ''Song for John and Yoko'' though are quite different, featuring plenty of acoustic guitars, smooth atmospheres and even some sitar, delivering more of a psychedelic than a progressive vibe.

Nice document of early-70's Classic Prog with some fantastic energy and a fair amount of interesting compositions.Anyone into British-styled or organ-driven Progressive Rock should check out this album.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

apps79 | 3/5 |

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