Eulenspygel - Ausschu


Year of Release: 2000
Label: Garden of Delights
Catalog Number: CD 042
Format: CD
Total Time: 66:04:00

Well, I'm not going to do this band much justice, as my familiarity is limited only to what it is in the well done booklet (kudos to Garden Of Delights!) and what I hear in the music. Eulenspygel, the liner notes say, were "one of the first German rock bands - apart from Ihre Kinder - to sing in German." The album's title Aussshuß (released originally in 1972) translates as "trash," and is a concept album about an orphan named Peter.

The band were Detlev Nottrodt on guitar and vocals; James "Till" Thurow on guitar, mellotron, giege (?), and sitar; Cornelius Hauptmann on flute, alto sax, and krummhorn; Karlheinz Großhans on organ and synth; Ronnie Libal on Baß; Mulo Maulbetsch on vocals (quite nice actually), and Günter Klinger on drums and percussion.

There are influences from all sorts of corners - Genesis, Yes, ELP, Deep Purple and others popular in the period - okay some are popular now, too, but you know what I mean. And yet, for the most part, they sound like no one else to me. In the first track, "Abfall" (which is also said to translate as "trash"), the music is sometimes angular, sometimes very smooth - ergo, very textured. There are many different moods on display through out the track's 22-plus minute length. There's a particularly nice Hammond solo towards the end, bringing the track over to the conclusion.

To say that this would fit in nicely along side such bands as those named above, though most likely Deep Purple, is probably as fine a description as I can muster. Not that I don't like this mind you, as I do, quite a bit. Though this wasn't the intent, there a numerous moments that could be called toe tapping. "Der Fremde" sounds a lot like Emerson Lake and Palmer, where Maulbetsch sounds more like John Wetton than Greg Lake. This also features, in a more Yes-like fashion, more organ and trilling flute. "Untertanenfabrik" is at once clearly influenced by Jethro Tull but again, a Tull fronted by Wetton. It's more than just Hauptmann's flute though... here's the best way I could describe this: Jethro Tull fronted by Wetton playing an ELP tune (the title of which is just on the cusp of my memory...). Of course, that only describes a part of it...it goes off into other territory for a few measures

The first jangly guitar notes of "Sechs Uhr Aufstehen" seem identical to those that open the Doobie Brothers' "Rocking Down The Highway"...both songs were released in 1972 and can't think that it's anything but coincidental. Being different bands with different styles, this is the only commonality, though it wouldn't seem strange of the Doobie Brothers to do this song. It would seem strange, I think, if Eulenspygel played "Rockin' Down The Highway." This is the first of three bonus tracks written specifically for a program "on the regional Stuttgart channel as part of a feature on deficiencies in the state-run care centres for young people..." Four additional bonus tracks are demos from 1973 and 1974 that were recorded as a reformed Eulenspygel - Maulbetsch and Nottrodt as before with Peter Weber on bass, Tilmann Fuchs on guitar, Martin Gnädinger on keyboards, Wolfgang Haisch on drums and Bennos Schrader on sax and flute. Tilmann Fuchs was "a blues guitarist with a lot of feeling..." Nottrodt recalls in the liner notes and these tracks do have an overal bluesier feel

This has all the elements I look for in music - textured arrangements, good vocals, and good performance (great performance, perhaps). The production quality is quite good. As I mentioned before, Garden Of Delights has taken a lot of care with this release, including pictures of the band, pictures of the album's inner sleeve, a discography of the band and its offshoots (itself formed in the wake of the Royal Servants' split).


Tracklisting:
Abfall (22:17) / Menschenmacher (2:57) / Teufelskreis (6:50) / Herzliches Beileid (2:55) / Der Fremde (5:45) / Untertanenfabrik (3:55) / Sachs Uhr Aufstehen (2:08) / Junge, Was Willste Drau?en (2:42) / Mich Kotzt Heir Alles An (2:19) / Schlafstadt (3:56) / Kinderlied (4:28) / Freut Euch, Kinder (2:51) / Zusammenstehen (6:22)

Musicians:
Detlev Nottrodt - guitar and vocals
James 'Till' Thurow - guitar, mellotron, giege, and sitar
Cornelius Hauptmann - flute, alto sax, and krummhorn
Karlheinz Gro?hans - organ and synth
Ronnie Libal on Ba?
Mulo Maulbetsch - vocals
G?nter Klinger - drums and percussion.
Peter Weber - bass (10-13)
Tilmann Fuchs - guitar
Martin Gn?dinger - keyboards (10-13)
Wolfgang Haisch - drums (10-13)
Bennos Schrader - sax and flute

Discography:
Eulenspygel 2 (1971)
Ausschu? (1972/2000)
Trash (1972) (English lang. release on 8-track)
Eulenspygel (1979)
Laut & Deutlich (1983)
Eulenspygel (1979/83) (2CD set)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin DE

Added: October 1st 2000
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Hits: 2995
Language: english

  

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