JUMBO

"Jumbo" was GROBSCHNITT's reply to "Solar Music" and really was a set up to "Rockpommel's Land" and for may has been incredibly overlooked, but stands out equal to both as a great album. All 5 songs again came from the studio of Conny Plank and for GROBSCHNITT brought a slightly more approachable and concerto-like concept based approach. Of course GROBSCHNITT continue to retain their slapstick humour sustained by Eroc's inane lyrics and uniquely used quirky voices and sound effects.

Musically "Jumbo" is dominated by key song writers with Lupo's talented lead-guitar work and Mist's keyboards. The Repertoire Remastered CD contains both English and German releases of "Jumbo" and offeres fantastic sound reproduction. Musically most of this album is actually reminiscent of themes to be explored in more theatric detail in "Rockpommel's Land" and none finer than the track 'Jupp/The Excursion Of Father Smith' which is perhaps my favourite GROBSCHNITT track from all their albums. The line up on "Jumbo" was Joachim Ehrig (Eroc) - drums, electronics, silly voices, Stefan Danielak (Wildschwein) - rhythm guitar, vocals, Wolfgang Jager (Pepe) - bass, Gerd-Otto Kuhn (Lupo) - lead guitar and Volker Kahrs (Mist) - organ, Mellotron, piano, synthesizer. "Jumbo" is a significant part of GROBSCHNITT's discography and an album I treasure.