OHRENSCHMAUS/EULENSPIEGEL

This reissue of the next two Ougenweide albums is one of last year's best news for folk prog fans. While both albums had received re-releases (legit or not), this little baby is a rather indispensable for fans and newcomers alike. Both this release and the preceding one have superb booklets with an extensive group history (English/German), including loads of photos (including the booklet's covers), both albums' full artworks reproduced as well as the totality of the lyrics printed as well. The sepia-coloured booklet is not as ideal as the first collection, because the two albums it features were much more coloured. A gorgeous picture adorns an excellent logo name that you will find in the previous release as well.

While I wrote reviews of the original albums in the album's respective page (so please look there for detailed reviews), what one must know is that this is about the best way for everyone to acquire their music, no matter if you are a newbie or a veteran of the group. While Ohrenschmaus is just an excellent, dynamic (and typical) album of theirs, the other one, Eulenspiegel is really the most charming and narrative of their discography.

An excellent (and cheap) manner to get comfy with this out-of-the ordinary band, but it is advisable to not listen to the full disc in a single shot for fear of overdose: rather divide your listening sessions to the original albums separately. This release being absolutely indispensable for the progheads, I can only wish that the label will put reissue the next four albums as well in the same format, especially the double-live album by itself and the next two coupled, Fryheit with its follow up Ousflug.