Hoelderlin

The German band's self-titled second album was released in 1975. Their first album, Hoelderlin's Dream, which came out in 1972, consisted of largely-acoustic folk-rock with lyrics in German, and featured the vocals of Nanny de Ruig. The band had changed directions by the time of the second album. The German lyrics and female vocalist are gone, and their style has become full-fledged progressive rock.

A listen to the album reveals identifiable influences from Genesis and King Crimson, even Jethro Tull (due to the frequent use of flute). The whole, however, is much more than a mere pastiche of the band's heroes. The band's compositional and instrumental talents are unquestionable. The highlight of the album is the 17-plus-minute "Deathwatchbeetle," which is composed of varied and contrasting sections arranged into a suite. It's memorable and original.

Despite the presence of Conny Plank as engineer, there's little on the album that is reminiscent of Krautrock. That the band is not merely a creature of the studio is demonstrated by the CD's bonus track, a 14-minute-plus live rendition of "Deathwatchbeetle" from 1974 which differs from the studio version but still shows clearly the band's virtuosity and creativity.

Personnel: Michael Bruchmann: drums, percussion; Christian Grumbkow: acoustic & electric guitars; Joachim Grumbkow: keyboards, vocals; Peter Kaseberg: bass guitar; Joachim Kaseberg: guitars, stagesound; Christoph Noppeney: viola, acoustic guitar, vocals.

Guests: Zeus (Birth Control): alto saxophone; Norbert Jacobson (Release Music Orchestra): clarinet; Conny Plank: voice, synthesizer-help.

The album was released on CD in 2007 by Capitol Music (0946 3 85380 2 8).

Hoelderlin's website: www.hoelderlin.com

Buy the album on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hoelderlin/dp/B000MGAX9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1279326600&sr=1-1