TAGO MAGO

Classic Rock Presents Prog made this album their special feature a couple of issues back (or the last issue if you live in Australia/Japan/USA). So that made me interested and I purchased this album. Something I do not regret.

There is no doubts Tago Mago is one of the most influential prog rock albums of all time.

Let me elaborate on this. Back in the 1990s, we had this Manchester rave scene with bands like Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. The latter band released their highly influential Step On single in 1990. A song that is such a blatant Can and Tago Mago rip off that I am very surprised they got away with it. It is called theft, btw. The whole rave culture went on a plundering raid on Tago Mago and ran away with everything. Not to mention dubstep and various other music styles coming out of rave and the Manchester scene.

That is why this album is one of the most influential prog rock albums of all time.

Music wise, this album is based on primitive beats and rhythm structures. From these beats, the music expands with vocals and some electronica aka early 1970s elements. That is all there is to it really. But Can really hits the jackpot with Tago Mago because of the hypnotic music here and the songs they unleash from the base of the tree trunk.

I find this album hypnotic and great. I am probably under the spell of Tago Mago. Sometimes, primitive is great and this album is indeed a great album. A couple of barn stormers is missing, but this album still deserve it's status. I would urge everyone to at least check out Tago Mago.

4 stars