KRAAN

1. "Zoup" (7:14) great groove that feels as if it is really just the bare bones for something great--like a tame, two-dimensional Ozric Tentacles or Jean-Luc Ponty. They try hard--especially when Martin Kasper's keyboards join in--but it's just not enough. (13/15)

2. "Rainy May" (3:36) vocals! (8.66667/10)

3. "Überstürzter Aufbruch" (4:45) nice drumming as well as electric guitar solos in the third and fourth minutes. REminds me a lot of the MANNA / MIRAGE albums Dave Newhouse has been putting out over the past ten years. (8.75/10)

4. "Weit und Breit" (4:19) pleasant enough but not very exciting. (8.66667/10)

5. "Twisted" (4:57) more singing over pretty straightforward near-pop rock music. (8.5/10)

6. "Norwegen Dia" (5:04) like a remake of a ROLLING STONES song ("Satisfaction") or Tom PETTY. Cool mid-section: groove, rhythm gtr and lead synths. (8.75/10)

7. "A Skyful of Veils" (4:26) nice, fairly original song, but still in a raw, "unfinished" state. (8.7/10)

8. "Plain Vanilla" (4:38) I thought (with no little excitement and anticipation) this was going to be an homage to the pair of Focus songs, "Soft Vanilla" and "Hard Vanilla" from 1975's Mother Focus, but it's not. Still it is one of the more polished albeit bluesy songs on the album with multiple layers of interesting things going on at once. (8.75/10)

9. "Bikinian Rhapsody" (4:10) definitely dreamy, island-like music. Could've/should've been developed more. (8.7/10)

10. "Aus allen Wolken" (4:08) The main melody in the chorus sections (coming from the fretless bass) sounds so much like THE POLICE's "Wrapped Around Your Finger." (8.75/10)

11. "Norwegen Dia" (Acoustic Version) (5:07) another song using an old Smooth Jazz Pop remake/cover melody line. (8.6666667/10)

Total Time 51:24

An album that sounds like a bunch of old guys getting together occasionally to jam, occasionally liking one of their jams well enough to process, produce, and release it. The work of both the drummer and the bass player are quite solid and often interesting.

B-/3.5 stars; a very pleasant easy-listening album that many older prog lovers may love but, for all intents and purposes, offers nothing new or exciting to the lexicon of progressive rock music.

The band operates as a trio with founding members Hellmut Hattler on bass and (very rare) vocals, Peter Wolbrandt on guitar, and Jan Fride on drums. The pro and con of these veterans that were 3/4 of the original Kraan in 1971 still going on is that the album isn't exactly full of shocks and surprises. Kraan do friendly optimistic swinging very well played Kraan music, reliable for the fans but maybe not necessarily attracting new listeners, although for somebody who doesn't know the band, this album is as good an entry point as any studio album (but check out their live ones first). The music is melodic, warm, mostly instrumental, with jazzy influences.

One winning ingredient of the Kraan formula is the perfect balance between teamwork and instrumental performances. There are many solos of Peter's wonderful guitar (most songs have two or more guitar tracks). There's also a guest keyboardist, Martin Kasper, who is rather prominent in some parts of the album, and integrates himself perfectly into the band's sound. Jan and particularly Hellmut with his unique style of bass playing are very strong instrumentalists, but don't go on solo trips and instead support the overall sound. Generally the music is well composed and structured (all compositions and words by Hellmut Hattler) and the band comes together to generate a unique ensemble sound, which sets it apart from much of jazz rock/fusion.

I find a number of Kraan studio albums rather hit and miss, but not this one, which presents a consistent approach with some moderate contrast (particularly the more rocky vocals-driven "Twisted") and no weak spots. I think I haven't enjoyed Kraan albums from beginning to end as much as this one for a very long time, certainly not studio albums (they were always better live).

When it comes to the rating I have to be honest and say that this album isn't really that progressive and will be too much of an easy listening experience for many on this site. So the PA rating has to be three stars even though my personal enjoyment is certainly worth four stars. Check this out if you are a fan already, or if you like somewhat light but extremely enjoyable optimistic music played by top instrumentalists.

If you're familiar with any of Kraan's previous live offerings then you will have a good idea of what to expect ? a kind of space-jazz-rock melange with a dash of funk that is simultaneously very tight (the 3 musicians have played together, off and on, since 1970) but loose enough to give the players space to stretch out and jam. The sound is clear and uncluttered; effects are used judiciously, particularly on Peter Wolbrandt's guitar, but all three instruments are played with a clean tone. Vocals are low key and mainly just add extra texture, although there is some nice interplay when Helmut Hattler joins in on backing vocals. The track list contains a decent mixture of old favourites and more recent material, and it rattles along at a good pace for the first hour or so. The album closes with an 18 minute version of Nam Nam that feels a bit drawn out and self indulgent, although it was probably great if you were in the audience at the time.

3.5 stars for this. The trio format works well, and for the most part the absence of a fourth musician is neither here nor there. If you're already familiar with Kraan's live albums this is well worth getting. If you're not so familiar with them, start with the 1975 live album and proceed from there.

As for the songs themselves, there are two instrumentals, which are the best songs of the album, especially Holiday am Matterhorn, where the players are let loose and do the best playing in the whole album. Nam Nam is more funky, but also a terrific song. Of the songs with vocals, the closer, Yellow Bamboo, is the best, with a superb bass riff and sax solos with effects, including sounding like a violin sometimes.

The effects are a highlight in this song, as they are in Home and Son of the Sun, in which the experimental parts make the band sound closer to experimental Krautrock bands. It is a pitty that these parts are kinda short, and the rest of Home and Son of the Sun are good, but not that special. As for the other songs, they have great playing, but they are not that interesting, since, in my opinion, the sung parts and not well integrated with the instrumental parts and they didn't manage to get the best of its elements.

Even so, it is still a superb album that is worthy listening.

By avoiding the drudgery of the daily gerbil wheel grind of having to work every day, the members spent a year forging their new craft and emerged with their highly influential eponymously titled debut album that was released in 1972 to critical acclaim. Despite all the musical development, the album was actually recorded in a three day recording and mixing session in Munich. Taking a cue from not only the jazz influences of 60s avant-garde heroes, this debut album is also steeped in lysergic 60s psychedelia as well as early 70s heavy progressive rock with a Led Zeppelin type of gusto seasoned with symphonic prog style time signature workouts and orchestrated ambience. Like almost all of the diverse bands that existed in the Krautrock continuum, KRAAN displays an album's worth of psychedelic ethereal jamming sessions that flex their musical muscle with one track "Head" swallowing up half of the album's run at an 18 minute and 36 second playing time.

The opening track "Sarah's Ritt Durch Den Schwarzwald" is a basic summary of all the elements that made the band. Electronic hypnosis inducing electronica, heavy time signature rich guitar riffs, groovy Amon Duul II inspired bass lines and Arab influenced percussive fortifications around the steady more traditional rock drumming styles. All of which convene to make a veritably brilliant Krautrock listening experience. It also displays one of the weaknesses of the overall KRAAN sound and that is the weak vocal abilities of Peter Wolbrandt. Luckily most of the album's run is instrumental but i have to admit that a more refined vocalist could have allowed the music to flow into higher dimensions. Second track "M.C. Escher" focuses more on the jazz-fusion elements which allows Johannes Pappert's alto sax runs to take the lead and steer the musical development although the session keyboard contributions of Rumi offer a veritable 60s psychedelic experience.

Third track "Kraan Arabia" shows a convergent evolutionary path with fellow Krautrockers Agitation Free with Middle Eastern influences dominating the soundscape in the form of frenetic percussive conga attacks that provide a strong rhythmic backdrop to the somewhat funkified bass lines that portend the future development of the band on future releases. The rest of the band however exists on separate planes of reality in the beginning with slow and sultry sax lines, heavy rock inspired guitar riffs that gradually succumb to the gravitational force of the dominate Arab inspired theme with only the funky bass lines finding untethered independence which more often than not captures the guitar like a dependent satellite as the sax sounds more like trip to the Casbah during a salamiyyah flute performance. The track also exhibits KRAAN as one of the more energized outfits in the Krautrock movement with emphasis placed on tight rowdy compositions that tamp down the ethereal psychedelic aspects.

The second side of the original vinyl LP was almost completely consumed by the almost nineteen minute track "Head" followed by a deescalating mellow closer in the form of "Sara Auf Der Gansewies" (of which the last word seems to not exist in any German dictionaries i can find.) "Head" as the title connotes is the more surreal and "heady" track that connects the band more to the trippy side of the Krautrock scene however even in the beginning it's clear that this is at no expense of the progressive rock oriented workouts with guitar and bass runs riddled with time signature deviations accompanied by galloping fast tempos and rock oriented tones and timbres. As with many behemoth tracks of the prog universe, "Head" consists of many suites and passages with moods transmogrifying into another with no looking back. While the track begins as a vocal oriented rocker sounding typical of an early 70s psych turned band introspection, it slowly wends and winds into more experimental instrumental territory with guitars becoming more freaky, percussion becoming more energetic and an extended free form jam into infinity. This is a track filled with both technical prowess as well as dreamy detachment but overall the heavy rock aspects never stray far. Rumi's keys makes a significant psychedelic reprise.

Right from the start, KRAAN emerged as one of the more popular representations of Germany's unique strand of progressive rock and were known for creating exuberantly brilliant live performances much in the vein of fellow countrymen Embryo whose emphasis on tight instrumental interplay and sophisticated compositions with elements of contemporary popular rock struck the right chord with the public. The debut album by KRAAN is probably the best example of their career for perfectly stratifying the many layers of musical elements that went into their overall sound. Like many of the prog acts of the day, despite critical acclaim, their talents didn't exactly result in instant financial success and the band would tamp down their ambitiousness in favor of a slightly more accessible sound that ramped up the funk groove aspects as heard starting on their second album "Wintrup." While not the most surreal of the Krautrock lot, KRAAN still managed to create an alternative musical reality despite not sacrificing their technical musical chops. Album number one is definitely the starting point to explore the band's sound in order to ascertain a clear context of their ensuing releases.

Kraan always have been a live band in the first place; on stage the interplay between the musicians in free flow could really shine, the tighter concepts that they tried out in the studio, including the occasional attempts at catchy songwriting have never played that strongly to the strength of these musicians. "Tournee" is a smaller brother to their probably best, best known and best sold 1975 double album "Live", which I think is one of the best live abums of all time. Tournee was recorded five years later and is just a single album of 42 minutes length. Hellmut Hattler and guitarist Peter Wolbrandt are still in the band, drummer Jan Friede was replaced by Udo Dahmen and saxophonist Alto Pappert was replaced by keyboard player Ingo Bischof. The fact that there are keyboards now rather than a sax is one of the major differences between Live and Tournee. Bischof is an amazing keyboarder, very virtuous but always relaxed and melodic. The keyboards make the sound somewhat smoother and fuller; also Bischof brings even more of a jazz influence, although Dahmen balances this with a more rocking approach. Bischof and Wolbrandt both compete for the title of the Fastest Hand In The West and Dahmen and Hattler surely don't need to hide. Dahmen can certainly play a well driving groove and he has quite some speed in his hands, too. "Live" has a bit more audience interaction, sharpness and spark than Tournee, but Tournee can hold its own very well with its more melodic dreamy approach and several rather calm relaxing parts. There is no overlap between the material covered by both albums, Tournee concentrates on the material of the 1977 album Wiederhoeren with the odd yet unpublished track. So Tournee is the perfect addition actually to "Live"; it's very nice how both of these albums are unmistakenly Kraan through Hattler's bass, the optimism, the joy of playing and the swinging sound yet they are quite different in character, "Live" more of a bright daylight character and Tournee for the smaller hours, lush and pleasant, sounding almost effortless yet still exciting and tight. The musicians of both Live and Tournee (apart from Dahmen, as far as I know) will turn up on Kraan concerts through the decades and the sounds of these albums together represent what the band stands for on stage to this day. By the way, the sound of Tournee is the way I like live albums: clear and transparent yet characteristically live without unnecessary perfectionism or studio trickery, with some natural concert hall reverb which a studio producer wouldn't let a band get away with, still perfect if you want to feel as close to being at the gig as you can.

Live is my number one Kraan album and Tournee is the number two, all studio albums are far behind. Tournee should really be better known; highly recommended, 4.2 stars!

Planck was supposed to do only good to an already mature band with his professional background, but the truth is that this one sounds like the less convincing album of the original Kraan quartet.Blame it mostly on the rising edges of Funk throughout, as the strong psychedelic and Ethnic component of Kraan's music somewhat starts to fade and the same goes for the Kraut Rock character of the band, although facts say they still performed plenty of jamming improvisations during their lives.''Andy Nogger'' sounds like a pretty standard Jazz Rock/Fusion effort at the very end and the presence of the intense rhythmic patterns of the Kraut Rock movement is what still sets them apart from other acts of the time.The music is now a funky-oriented Fusion with less sharp sax lines and almost zero ethnic orientations, basically structured around furious grooves, intense bass lines, solid drumming and the occasional sax parts, delivering plenty of rockin' tunes, while the listener searches for some good old Kraan experimentation in the album.''Holiday am Marterhorn'' maybe offers such an attitude, being stylistically closer to the dramatic Kraut Fusion of the previous albums with great sax work by Johannes Pappert, but it's propably the production that make it sound a bit sterile at the end.However Kraan still play some quite tight and energetic music in ''Andy Nogger'' with good interplays, flaming rhythms and jazzy soloing.

A bit on the safer side of Kraut Fusion, lacking the intricate and deeply psychedelic moments of ''Kraan'' or ''Wintrup''.Bear in mind that this comes close to a standard Jazz Rock/Fusion effort, still carrying the Kraan identity, and chances to like it will increase.Recommended.

When I heard the first track starting I was a little underwhelmed. It suggested an album of mediocre slightly krautified hard rock with struggling vocal acrobatics but the second song "Luftpost" which means "airmail" actually takes you on a light fluffy flight into the friendly skies where saxophone clouds and precipitating dreams meet with violins, funky bass and progressive jazz chords. This album is a little up and down but it has indeed peaked my interest in discovering more of what this band has to offer. After all, during the mid-70s they were one of the most popular bands in Germany but have been eclipsed over time by the likes of Can, Amon Duul II amongst others. Overall I am happy to have discovered KRAAN and am surprised that they aren't just a little more popular than they seem to be these days. 3.5 rounded up

This album is a well rounded one, with lots of different flavors to keep things interesting. One of Kraan's calling cards, the jazzy bass-driven instrumental, is well represented here with three of the album's best tracks: the strong opening number "Wintruper Echo", propelled into the atmosphere by an irresistible echoplexed trebly bass riff, a fast tempo, and heavenly guitars; the jazz/fusion "Nachtfahrt", one of the album's few "repeats" of their late 70s sound employed on albums like Flyday; and the closing "Luna Park", a slower, more atmospheric instrumental that seems to combine the virtues of the two others into a feel-good nightcap.

The album's more experimental side is the one that gets the most grief from fans, but I think they work very well. "Faust 2000", the second track, sounds like some 80s pop tune I can't quite place, and it's in-your-face with pounding electronic drums, minimalistic half-shouted vocals, and a robotic, monotonous feel that's the antithesis of everything we usually think of bands like Kraan. But it's good! Jarring, perhaps, but bold and undeniably catchy. The title seems to acknowledge that this could be a pastiche of some imagined future for their fellow countrymen Faust - little did they know they would live to see this future! The other experimental track, "Viel Zu Heis", is another winner, this time exploring the realm of "dub" - an offshoot of reggae wherein the main performance is done at the mixing desk, remixing and adding effects to instruments in what would otherwise be a basic studio reggae jam. It's a strange one, but by golly it works.

The crowning jewel of this album is quite possibly the third track, "Elfenbein", a sophisticated and multi-layered song that features several contrasting melodies, moods, and shadings in the arrangement - almost a mini-epic at just five minutes long. Beautiful vocals, too, and very unlike any other Kraan track I've heard. I bet they spent a long time working on this one, it shows, and it pays off. A more guilty pleasure can be had in the unapologetic hard rock of the self-referential "Playing for You". Loud power chords, thundering drums, and a lyric that just expresses the joy of what they're doing, it's infectious and totally catchy. Love this track.

The remaining two tracks are unfortunately mediocre, to put it kindly. "Normal" and "Paper Stars" are very basic, uninteresting pop rockers - the former shows some promise with the main bass riff, but it fails to do much else for the rest of the song; even the lyric mainly repeats the phrase "Ich bin normal" in a voice that sounds like it can't wait to move on to the next song. "Paper Stars" is a bit more lively, but its melody is fairly trivial and uninteresting as well - when your only memorable element is a boring vocal hook ("way-ohhh!" in the chorus), the song has little chance of holding my interest.

Overall I'll give this a strong 3 - if you skip tracks 7 and 8, it might be worth a 4. If you despise 80s production, keep it at a 3. But even if you do, there's enough "classic" sound here to warrant a listen - if only to the three instrumentals plus "Elfenbein".