MADE IN GERMANY

If you took this album, and ADII's first album Phallus Dei and played them both for an unknowing listener, they would never even suspect it was the same band! How did these guys make such a radical evolution into spotless pop craftsmen as is evident on this album? You won't believe me until you hear it, but songs like "Ludwig" have an almost Beatlesesque quality to them (albeit on MUCH more drugs). Ambitious vocal harmony arrangements, pristine production values, orchestral flourishes... Amon Duul?? It blows my mind. Anyway, this album is a masterwork of a completely different sort than their earlier releases, so naturally many fans will not still be onboard at this point. Short, vaguely Floydian spacy instrumental breaks replace the full-on sonic assaults of yore, and the main feature is... songs. Beautiful, sometimes achingly melancholic, sometimes witty and humorous, always honed like a gem... this is top-notch songwriting without ever losing ADII's keen eye for ambition and, ahem, stoniness. As is noted by my fellow reviewer, the boys (and girl) in the band handle the English language splendidly here, and Renate Knaup's voice is in peak form. This is a veritable shipload of music (double lp) so I can't even begin to describe songs, but rest assured that if you appreciate gems of songcraft and brief, spaced out instrumental voyages, you will love this music. Yet another stunning accomplishment by this sneaky little band.