EGE BAMYASI

To me, "Ege Bamyasi" doesn't quite live up to "Tago Mago". Simply because two of the songs I never could seem to warm up to, "Pinch" and "Vitamin C" (which I found a bit overrated). But the rest of the album is great, such as the psychedelic "Sing Swan Song", the KRAFTWERK-like "One More Night", and the quirky "I'm So Green". "Soup", like "Aumgn" and "Peking O" off their previous album, is another love it or hate it, but since I have no problem with the more radical moments of "Tago Mago", I have no problem with "Soup", which, in many ways, is similar to "Peking O", especially with Damo Suzuki's shrieking and mindless babbling. "Spoon" was originally released as a single at the end of 1971, which demonstrates that band could rack up a hit (at least in Germany) and still make it sound great.

On this album, there's a slight Middle Eastern influence, no doubt for the fact they named their album after a can of Okra they found in a Turkish restaraunt in Germany. But one with the two songs I'm not too keen on, "Soup" and "Vitamin C". To these, they seem a little too much like percussion exercises for drummer Jaki Liebezeit, and "Vitamin C" almost seems a bit clichéd (in CAN fashion, of course), and they make me wish for a little more music. To me, "Tago Mago" and "Future Days" are better albums, but this album is still packed with great stuff as well.