| # | Artist | Song (click to play) | Album | Year | CD label | My Gnosis Rating |
| 1 | Eela Craig | Agnus Dei | Missa Universalis | 1978 | Erdenklang | 9 |
| This Austrian band does a space rock version of the Catholic Mass. The vocal text is "the official prescribed text" and sung in Latin, German, English, and French. The vocals have a decidely 10 CC or Barclay James Harvest sound. The music reminds me mostly of the Hungarian band Omega. | ||||||
| 2 | Broselmaschine | The Old Man's Song | Broselmaschine | 1971 | Zyx | 10 |
| A mostly acoustic folk-progressive album. The male vocals sound remarkably like Gordon Lightfoot, while the female vocals remind of Joan Baez's pure vocal tone or Grace Slick, in her more restrained moments. The fine acoustic guitar of Peter Bursch is the primary melodic instrument. The music is filled out with an assortment of percussion including tabla, congas, mallets, as well as mellotron, flute, and sitar. Similar albums include Emtidi's _Saat_ and Hoelderlin's _Traum_. | ||||||
| 3 | Between | Einsteig (excerpt) | Einsteig | 1971 | ? not on CD ? | 11 |
|
An interesting mix of world music, rock, jazz, folk, avant-garde, medieval and
classical music sensibilities. At times the music sounds like Third Ear Band
or Algarnas Trädgård. On this album only, well-known classical flautist
James Galway was a member of the band.
iMusic Contemporary Showcase - Peter Michael Hamel | ||||||
| 4 | Froese, Edgar | Panorphelia | Aqua | 1973 | Virgin | 11 |
|
An amazing and innovative album of keyboards and electronics. Froese is
one of the founders of Tangerine Dream and the only one still in the band
from the original incarnation. As you can tell from the title of the album,
the theme is to musically represent water and ice. And yes, the music is
often dripping wet with mellotron. A good introduction to experimental
space electronics.
Tangerine Dream Home Page | ||||||
| 5 | Novalis | Feuer bricht in die Zeit | Brandung | 1977 | Repertoire/Brain | 9 |
|
On this album, Novalis adds a more commercial approach to their symphonic,
classical and folky elements. A high point for me is the vocals which sounds
remarkably like the vocalist from the Swedish band "Trettioariga Kriget".
Overall this album could be compared to early 1980's Eloy or Stern Combo
Meissen, when they were more pop-oriented.
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| 6 | Hoelderlin | Before You Lay Down Rogh and Thorny | Rare Birds | 1977 | WMMS | 12 |
| Although I have not heard their later albums, this is reportedly Hoelderlin's last good studio album. It's not surprising, though, as the band completely dissolved shortly after this leaving only the keyboardist Jochen Grumbcow for the subsequent 2 studio albums. Rare Birds is an excellent symphonic album with beautiful viola that sounds somewhat like Jean-Lic Ponty. | ||||||