STORIES, SONGS & SYMPHONIES

This one is a stinker and very pompous and totally missed Procol Harum tribute( even the awful cover was paying a bad tribute to the English sleeve artwork of Shine On Brightly) . What were thinking Dollasse & Có. when they did this dreadfull project. They even managed to approach the appex of pomposity and bad taste : Arthur and The Knights Of The Round Table by Mr. Wakeman himself( the man with the star-sprinkled cape). Stay away from this unless you just got offended with this review (and you are still reading) , then run to your closest specialist and order it.

Wallenstein's fourth and last truly Progressive album may not be the best introduction to old style Classical Rock for anyone not accustomed to the clichés of the early 1970s. Modern listeners are cautioned to approach it as they would any antique museum piece, forgiving the now dated splendor and occasional histrionic overkill to better appreciate the age and rarity of the artifact itself.

You'll have to also overlook some of the most awkward and embarrassing amateur cover art ever forced on an undemanding public, and the best of luck. I don't know what's worse: the cosmic Santa Claus (or whatever he is) piloting his astral sled across a rainbow-strewn galaxy, or the piano bursting with hallucinogenic flowers and mushrooms.

It's a shame, because the music itself measures up to anything else being produced at the time, in Germany or elsewhere, although the unsympathetic production doesn't do it any favors, rendering what might have originally been full-blooded performances into thin, toothless facsimiles. Odd how the group's fourth album, in 1975, should sound so primitive compared to their debut, produced in the dark ages of studio sophistication circa 1971.

This was certainly the most overtly orchestral effort yet by Jürgen Dollase and company, as befits a band that liked to call itself (to their eternal shame) "The Symphonic Rock Orchestra". Dollase's vocals are, as always, an acquired taste, but his hand at the grand piano is strong and sure, without any of the empty pyrotechnics practiced by other keyboard wizards at the time. Joachim Reiser's violin is more conspicuous than before, and guitarist Bill Barone is even allowed a few understated jams, notably in the long middle section of the title track.

The music, unlike the group's earlier efforts, is entirely upbeat and optimistic, which of course will date it badly to jaded post-modern ears. The album even opens with something approaching an unapologetic pop song ("The Priestess"), which never fails to put a smile on my face, even with the (deliberately?) dopey lyrics.

It's not essential listening by any stretch of even the most open-minded imagination, but the album is something more than just a guilty pleasure or a rose-colored stroll down memory lane. And even such a small part of our collective Prog heritage is worth preserving, isn't it?

This time around, German proggers Wallenstein took their classically inspired music to the extreme - even milking the sub-label for themselves as a 'Symphonic Rock Orchestra' for all it's worth - in rather large lettering on the cover. The compositions do have strong classical leanings whether they promote the fact or not, especially in Jurgen Dollase's Piano playing and Joachim Reiser's Violin. Piano is the lead instrument throughout the album, with some faint Mellotron touches and Synthesizer effects. 'The Priestess' is a rather pompous little track, featuring some brief twists and turns within its 4 min duration. Dollase's vocals are soft and polite, though he is a better keyboardist than singer (kind of re-iterates what another reviewer has stated but it's an obvious fact). The title song, 'Stories, Songs and Symphonies' is the choice track off the record, it lasts nearly 10 mins and features an excellent instrumental passage, driven along with a mid-tempo groove that's topped-off with some tasty piano work and guitarist Bill Barone gets to shine with some searing licks. 'The Banner' kind of passes by, quite forgettable really.

The long piece, 'Your Lunar Friends', starts out with a mysterious and spacey atmosphere, some pretty piano lines and bubbling Synth effects backed with a cool Bass groove, Reiser's ever-present violin adding the classical ingredient that goes hand-in-hand with their 'Sympho-Rock Orchestra' tag. The bulk of the song tends to meander a little, with subtle dramatics here and there. 'Sympathy for Bela Bartok' is a 3-part track (lasting just over 5 mins) and actually show-cases some quite complex interplay between piano and violin during part 1, part 2 is a slow, sombre section which merges into the uptempo 3rd part where Reiser's violin takes the spotlight again. Sadly they couldn't follow-up the fantastic 'Cosmic Century' with another, equally exciting release, though. 3 stars.

Interesting to note that the somewhat twee, pastel coloured cover-art was done by the drummer, Harald Grosskopf, who ended up joining Manuel Gottsching in his later ASHRA projects, with stops along the way to help out electronica whizz KLAUS SCHULZE.

With this album Wallenstein delivered maybe the last good testament of their career, the next releases are almost pop, and never much intrested by prog conesurs, including myself. So, Stories is the last truly symphonic album of these not so well known german prog band. Far from being bad , but with a lack of vein, and sometimes even mellower than the predecesors, this album is not something great, but not bad. I always considered music of Wallenstein to be a crossing between Birth Control, Aunt Mary or in places Beggars Opera. Even the voice of Dollase is weaker in places, to mellow, and without to much vein, it's like the members are tiered to play and sing anymore. In the ens to me these is a good album, more like 2.5 rounded to 3 with some fine moments like the opening track The priestess and Stories, songs & symphonies, the rest are ok, but no more than that. Not recommende like Mother univers, the best album they ever done, but worth some spins from time to time.

A good album of this German band. In 70 decade, progressive world more comercial try made a fusion betwen classic performances and rock performances and this album is a try of made a rock opera but they realy don't now that it's not opera but ajust a classic fusion. Some orchestra sounds made that classic part, some guitar and drums movements made the rock part. Most of listeners of this album don't realy apreciate, but it's a good concept album for all that like sinphonic rock parts and it's not a boring work just some more contemporany works. I think that it's not to be a extraordinary album but a good example of a work made in 70 decade that I really apreciate and Germany have some good bands that never be a big names in world context but with some good albuns. I don't listen other works of this band but this, to me, is a good work. I give 4 stars.

Titled "The Symphonic Rock Orchestra", Wallenstein, on this, their fourth studio effort, show us that they had not lost track of what makes for a great Wallenstein record, and in the same breath, produce some refreshingly newer creative elements that make Stories, Songs and Symphonies delightful.

The band's previous three records are cerebral, intelligent, classically inspired symphonic prog, and quite frankly, i wasn't so sure they could top, or even equal, those five star efforts. I feel with this one, they very well may not surpass, but come close to equaling, the past greatness. Though in this record, Wallenstein show even more than usual that they can still be progressive, but also instill some important, new musical changes.

Though classically trained keyboardist Jurgen Dollase is still the highlight of the group's instrumental sound, other members shine on this record in a unique sort of way this time around, especially violinist Joachim Reiser.

The music on Stories, Songs and Symphonies is not quite as frenetic as previous records like Blitzkrieg, but instrumentally, they never lose your interest, and there is a cohesive spirit uniting all the songs on this album, so that there is diversity and varied moods and feelings, all right, but all fits together so well.

Mr. Dollase's lead vocals are quite nice- he sings with feeling and emotion, without being excessive, though the band really shine when they are instrumental, a Wallenstein trade mark, really.

Overall, an intelligent, cerebral record that is also delightful and beautiful sounding. Who would want their Wallenstein any other way? Five stars.

"Stories, songs & symphonies" is the German band Wallenstein's fourth studio album and in some way it's their most symphonic album so far. It was released 1975, almost fourty years ago and had an intriguing cover art work where we can read the name "The Symphonic Rock Orchestra Wallenstein" and "Stories, Songs & Symphonies". So we can really expect a marvelous bunch of songs. The cover shows a yellow space where a little chariot is pulled by a white horse under the rainbow. The album has five songs and they are played by Bill Barone(guitar), Jürgen Dollase(vocals, keyboards and mellotron), Harald Grosskopf(drums, percussion), Jürgen Pluta(bass, percussion and back vocals) and Joachim Reiser(violin, percussion).

All songs are fantastic to hear and I think of some passages of the oldest Genesis heard on Trespass and also Van der Graaf Generator blended with typical Wallenstein ingredients such as the classical rock influences and the violin. The vocals are poetic and lovely in their own way. Every track here is very worth hearing and in some ways this could be considered Wallenstein's best album so far. The musicians are clever and bright and creative. They do their own music and the result is lovely. It's a very classical seventies prog rock album with fantasy and a lot of music.

"The Priestess" starts quite calm but fascinating(9/10) and then comes a story telling track in "Stories, songs and symphonies"(8/10) and a jumping and beautiful one in "The Banner" which also seems to be inspired by classical music(9/10). "Your lunar friends" is the album's longest track and also a very intriguing one with classical guitar and sweeping harmonies going through the air(8/10) and the closer "Sympathy for Bela Bartok" is as its name suggests very classical inspired and flowing. I like what I hear, it's very sympathic(9/10).

The record over all gets the rating 4,3 and will get a string four star review by me. For you who want to hear very symphonic rock by Wallenstein this is a good record to go to. It is perhaps not their best album but I like it very much.

I wonder why this album usully gets negative reviews. I find this quite interesting, atmospheric and original. Indeed, there are some weak points, including the accented vocals for most reviewers, but I believe that all the tracks of the album are at a quite high level as prog compositions. True, the whole project is overambitious in terms of compositions while the band members were evidently not fully able to fulfil these high ambitions, but listening to the album is quite worthwhile: it is surely German prog without being reminiscent of anything else, the compositions are long and melodic -some, like me, will find the vocals quite warm too. Give it a try!