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GIFT

Krautrock • Germany


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Gift picture
Gift biography
German act GIFT started out as a school band back in 1969, initially under the moniker Phallus Dei, with an initial line-up consisting of Rainer Baur (guitar), Hermann Lange (drums), Uwe Patzke (bass), Helmut Treichel (vocal) and Nick Woodland (guitar).

By 1972 Woodland had left to join Subject Esq., while the rest of the band hit the studio to record their first album, and in 1973 their self-titled debut Gift was issued. On this production the band was pretty much cemented in a heavy rock sound typical of this day and age; with plain, hard guitar riffs served aplenty.

One year later their sophomore effort Blue Apple surfaced. By now Treichel had also said his goodbyes to the band, while Dieter Frei (keyboards, moog, mellotron, vocals) and Dieter Atterer (guitars, vocals) had joined the outfit. For this second creation the band's musical explorations took on freakier and more elaborate movements, to the extent that this venture is regarded as belonging to the rooster of albums deemed interesting for followers of the Krautrock scene.

This sophomore effort turned out to be the last by this German act though, and it is thought that Gift dissolved soon after the release of Blue Apple.

GIFT are currently working on their third album and are asking for donations at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/177808520/gift-release-2014

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GIFT discography


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GIFT top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.57 | 19 ratings
Gift
1973
3.51 | 23 ratings
Blue Apple
1974

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GIFT Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

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GIFT Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

GIFT Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Blue Apple by GIFT album cover Studio Album, 1974
3.51 | 23 ratings

BUY
Blue Apple
Gift Krautrock

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

3 stars This was the second and final studio by Germany's own GIFT. Released in 1974 there was some changes as the lead singer quit and one of the two lead guitarists also left. So they get another lead guitarist who also is now the lead singer and they replaced the original singer's spot with a keyboardist. So a different flavour here for sure with those keyboards that include piano, mellotron, organ and moog. I like the singer from the debut better but this new guy is good, in fact I do prefer the debut to this one by quite a bit. Interesting that on the RYM site the two albums are in a dead heat with a lot of ratings for each.

I'm sorry for this review for the fact this awful album cover has to be on the front page here for a while. I want to give my top three but I want to mention the opener, the title track just for the fact that it is so catchy on the chorus that it constantly got stuck in my head. Not a fan. First top three is "Don't Waste Your Time" another energetic vocal track, lots on here. But this is the best of those. The guitar lights it up before 2 minutes and we get some organ as well.

Second top three is "Got To Find A Way" and it's the longest at over 6 1/2 minutes. This is uptempo with organ and guitar over top. Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in. Guitar solo of course but this is the most proggy tune on here and I really enjoy it. "Reflections Part 1" sounds really good when it kicks into gear before a minute. As usual we get a guitar solo but man this has to be my favourite track of the bunch. There is a part 2 but it starts out sounding nothing like part 1 at first but then quickly changes to being exactly like part 1.

I can't even say blue apple without getting stuck with that song in my head. Another good record from these guys but I much prefer the self titled debut which has better songs and vocals despite missing the keyboards.

 Gift by GIFT album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.57 | 19 ratings

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Gift
Gift Krautrock

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

4 stars GIFT was a German band who released two studio albums in the first half of the seventies. They were birthed out of a band called PHALLUS DEI which most of these guys were a part of when they were still in high school. Clearly fans of AMON DUUL II but they would eventually change their name to GIFT and release this self titled album in 1972. A five piece of two lead guitarists, bass, drums and vocals. This is hard rocking material at times but man this band was innovative for being lumped with those heavy, hard rocking psychedelic bands of the late sixties and early seventies. In fact the best band I've heard in this style is LUCIFER'S FRIEND and while I wouldn't put this band at that level they at least can compete with the way they play and their compositions.

This is a very consistent album as well and I'm not surprised at Mike's 4.5 star review. The best song might be "Don't Hurry" with the wordless vocals and the guitars ripping it up. A lot of those vocal melodies on this album which I really enjoy along with the dual guitars. The closer "Bad Vibrations" seems like a shot at THE BEACH BOYS. It chugs along with vocal melodies over top. So catchy and I like when the guitar mimics the vocals as themes are repeated. The track before it is so good called "Your Like" with that killer start and how about the attitude. Love the guitar after 2 minutes and the calm that is interesting.

Dark and experimental to open "Game Of Skill" then drums only before guitars and bass kick in then vocals. I really like the sound of this one. The calm again is has my attention before it kicks back in. Cycling guitars with vocals late. The only song that didn't resonate with me like the other tunes was "Time Machine". A lot of wordless vocals and flute on "Groupie". How about that instrumental section on the opener "Drugs" ripping it up. This is followed by the proggy "You'll Never Be Accepted" the longest piece at almost 7 minutes.

A great debut and the followup "Blue Apple" will also impress big time even though there was a couple changes in the band.

 Gift by GIFT album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.57 | 19 ratings

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Gift
Gift Krautrock

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

4 stars The birth of Germany's progressive Krautrock scene took many roads with some bands focusing on the farthest out psychedelic trips possible, others tackling the technicalities of jazz-fusion, some more engaged in catchy crossover pop hooks while others merged the heavy psych 60s with the hard rock 70s. The Augsburg based GIFT was one of those bands that took the last option and crafted an interesting take on the heavier aspects of the earliest sounds of what would be called heavy metal. GIFT is actually the German word for "poison" and what you get with the band's first of two albums that emerged in the early 1970s is a venomous sting of infectious early heavy metal that cranked up the speed, volume and prog complexities of the heavy psych sounds that flooded the latter part of the 60s.

This band was obviously inspired by Amon Duul II's classic debut album "Phallus Dei" because the then school band formed in the same year of 1969 and took on Phallus Dei as its band name. After a few years of practice and the recruitment of new members the lineup featured on the band's eponymous debut was Uwe Patzke (bass, vocals), Helmut Treichel (vocals), Rainer Baur (guitar) and Hermann Lanze (drums, percussion) after being discovered by Munich producer Otto Hartmann who signed the band to the Telefunken label. Considered one of the more adventurous heavy Kraut bands of the German scene, GIFT wasn't exactly the most popular on the scene but gained a loyal cult following for its dedication to dexterous compositional flow that adopted the excesses of progressive rock without sacrificing the heft of a bantering display of guitar, bass and drums. It's also notable that guitarist Nick Woodland was listed on the credits but actually quit the band before recording began.

GIFT's debut is an excellent display of no nonsense hard rock with a brilliant juxtaposition of cleverly crafted compositions that feature strong melodic hard rock hooks with heavy guitar riffs and an excellent rhythm section that features hairpin turn time signature changes and unexpected twists and turns in the musical flow without sacrificing the underpinning of what makes a hard rock song work so well. The Krautrock scene was filled with heavier bands but not all of them could pull it off but GIFT did so with seeming ease with a particularly strong emphasis on the drumming and percussive accoutrements that give the album that extra special something. Add to that the strong confident vocal ability of Helmut Treichel and it's easy to declare GIFT's debut release as one of the most competent heavy psych releases of the early 70s.

Perhaps not quite as heavy as contemporaries such as Lucifer's Friend, GIFT certainly took the established heavy psych sounds of the late 60s to their limits before the scene moved on to the hard rock and heavy metal that would soon become the more popular style of the 1970s. While compared to the fellow German band Hairy Chapter, GIFT was similar to many other bands such as Captain Beyond and Twenty Sixty Six and Then but due to the talented members on board managed to stand out as an original all its own without deviating significantly from the established heavy psych sounds of the era. This one doesn't seem to get as much love as the more psychedelic Kraut bands of the era and gets lost behind the harder bands from England and the USA but for my tastes GIFT successfully cranked out a wild ruckus of an album for their debut. The band would change its sound by adding keyboard sounds for its sophomore album "Blue Apple" but for this first offering GIFT was a powerful beast of heavy guitar driven rock music.

4.5 rounded down

 Blue Apple by GIFT album cover Studio Album, 1974
3.51 | 23 ratings

BUY
Blue Apple
Gift Krautrock

Review by VOTOMS

4 stars A classic Krautrock album. First of all, this cover art sucks, this bubble butt stinks! But it's a good album. Okay, Gift was formed in 1969, Germany, as a school band. The joke quickly becomes a Krautrock band. Blue Apple (1974) is the second and last effort from these guys. While the two first tracks are just fine rock pieces, Don't Waste Your Time is awesome. The vocal lines are cool, and the organ is amazing. I like the guitar intro riff, repeated sometimes during the track. The bass tune is cool. The drums are fine, but could be better. The great surprise is Psalm, the fourth track, and better than the previous one! This one, ranges between an acoustic atmospheric catchy song and a psychedelic rock, with awesome riffage. Everything's Alright is another good track, but too repetitive. I must admit that without the organ, this album would be uncatchy.

Go To Find A Way did a great work opening the Side 2. Awesome right from the intro, the mellotron, moog, organ and stuff are very well executed. This song features a great guitar solo, by the way. Reflections is half weak, half good. The first mellow part sounds dead, but the second part really captivate and shows the real strenght of the song. Left The Past Behind is the last track of the album, and the virtuocity of the members makes a very funny ending. A good addition for any Krautrock or oldschool British Hard Rock collector.

 Gift by GIFT album cover Studio Album, 1973
3.57 | 19 ratings

BUY
Gift
Gift Krautrock

Review by apps79
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

3 stars Formed as Phallus Dei in 1969, this German outfit from Augsberg featured British guitarist Nick Woodland along with singer Helmut Treichel, guitarist Rainer Baur, bassist Uwe Patzke and drummer Hermann Lange in the original line-up.As Phallus Dei they reputedly recorded an album, which was never released, and afterwards the band changed its name to Gift and secured a deal with the Telefunken label, but at the time Woodland had already departed and joined Sahara, although his name appeared in the original vinyl version of the first album.Recorded at the Union Studios in Munich, Gift's self-titled debut was released in 1972.

Obviously influenced by the British Hard Rock bands of the time, Gift played a powerful Hard Rock with strong progressive flourishes and lots of jamming parts in the Kraut Rock tradition of many German Hard/Psych Rock acts, despite their tracks being actually rather short.The music is very energetic and edgy all the way with a pounding rhythm section and numerous impressive guitar leads, while Treichel prooved to be an excellent singer with his quite British-accented voice.While the negative point of the album tends to be the similarity between the pieces of the album, the combination between these angular Hard Rock riifs with the inventive grooves and the tyipcal Kraut-styled middle-part jams is mostly working well.Expressive vocals with good choruses, fiery solos and a good dose of changing tempos result a bunch of dynamic and adventurous compositions.Often the album retains a grandiose, emphatic and haunting atmosphere, based on Baur's classy guitar exercises, while a couple of tracks feature some good flute parts of unknown origin.

Guitar-based Hard Prog of good quality.The alternation between down- and uptempo grooves along with the standard Kraut Rock atmosphere in the instrumental parts are sure to satisfy all listeners of trully dynamic rockin' vibes.Recommended.

Thanks to Philippe Blache for the artist addition. and to Snow Dog for the last updates

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