Anyone's Daughter - Requested Document Live 1980-1983

Year of Release: 2001
Label: Tempus Fugit
Catalog Number: 20636
Format: CD
Total Time: 144:38:00

Having known next to nothing about this band before exploring this CD, my first thought in listening to this live CD was how influenced by Marillion the band seemed at times. And then I looked again at when this was recorded - 1980 and 1983 - Marillion were not yet then the influential band they later became. There were other bands I thought of, too, however -- ELP, in that vocalist Harald Bareth sounds a bit like Greg Lake (and a bit like John Wetton), and Genesis. Both of these are surely likely, as Anyone's Daughter released their first album of symphonic progressive rock, Adonis, in 1979. Most of that album appears on disc one, recorded May of 1980, June of 1981, and October 1982 (7 tracks). The remaining three are from 1980's Anyone's Daughter. In this early period of the band, the lyrics were sung in English, and Bareth does quite well with them. By their third album, Piktors Verwandlungen, the lyrics were in German?but that only changes the method, not the quality. In Blau and Neue Sterne form the material on disc two, recorded in 1982.

As a live recording, disc one sounds terrific. The album opens with the light guitar tones of Uwe Karpa and swelling keys of Matthias Ulmer that lead "Between The Rooms." It has that lyrical, pastoral feel (Though it doesn't sound like it, I did think for a moment to intro to Rush's "Closer To The Heart" - it's that same kind of intro). The tones and way Karpa plays is very much like what we would hear several years later from Steve Rothery on Misplaced Childhood and after. But, of course, this springs from Steve Hackett and his style of play. The next twenty-five minutes are filled with the "Adonis" suite, and it is here you most definitely here the Genesis influence. I don't know if one really could say there is a German style of singing -- I'm not talking accents or tone, but the way the vocals are placed and treated. Having been listening to a lot of the Garden of Delight reissues? it is in the use of echo mostly, I think. And they achieve that here live, too. As good as the vocals are, it's the instrumentation that really shines. The keyboard work from Ulmer, the textured and varied drumming from, well presumably Kono Konopik, who sat behind the kit until mid-1981, but as there is no specific information as to which performances were recorded when, it could just as easily be Peter Schmidt, who took over. You will think of ELP greatly during "Adonis III: Adonis" ?though oddly, "The Court Of The Crimson King" comes to mind as well. There are times similar dynamics to the more symphonic parts of that King Crimson classic. But at no point does it feel to me like Anyone's Daughter has grafted favourite borrowed licks to fashion something new. Ulmer's playing has much softer edges than Emerson's and is less classical than say Rick Wakeman? he often parpy though, often playing a flurry of notes -- somewhat Wakeman like in that, though. Bareth's bass guitar, when it emerges from the mix, has a very throaty sound, which I don't really associate with Mike Rutherford, but do with Pete Trewavas? After the storm that is "Adonis III: Adonis" we get the calm aftermath of "Adonis IV: Epitaph." This is a stately, leisurely summation of what has come before. Themes are reflected upon with what might be called wistful insight. "Anyone's Daughter" is a bit spacey, in a Pink Floyd kind of way start with, but switches to a heavily Hammond-dominated groove with a hint of funk. It's funny to think that this is music from the early 80s, at time when Genesis, whom they mostly emulate, were releasing Duke, Abacab, and Genesis, Yes were releasing Drama and 90125, and ELP were essentially defunct. The music, because of its style, sounds much older than it is.

At any rate, I really do enjoy what I'm hearing here. The drum solo that trails "Thursday" might be a little overlong, but it's hard to judge that when you are listening to an album, trying to review it. But, it is a tremendous piece of drumming. The drum solo is followed by a bass solo from Bareth, that ends by quoting phrases from "In The Mood," a piece associated with Glenn Miller. The keys are shrill during "Blue House," but that really a preference thing.

Disc Two shows an equally interesting but much different Anyone's Daughter, especially in "Carrara" which is so many things in its seven minutes - soaring guitar leads, swirly keyboard passages, jazz-fusiony Hammond and bass trade offs. And features a tour de force keyboard attack that is just a few notches below the ferocity of Keith Emerson. The rhythm behind it churns and grinds, cymbals crashing left and right, all in a cacophony that somehow manages to stay musical and not devolve into a chaotic mess of sound. I like the percussive "Nichts F?r Mich," which is a darker track than their earlier material, though stylistic is consistent with swirling keys, soaring guitar leads, and Bareth's rich vocals. This was on ? "Der Plan" is jaunty, rockier than elsewhere. Here you will think of "neo-prog," no less because keys play a prominent role. "Sonne" is acoustic in feel (and much like mellower ELP). I like Karpa's guitar here, the bright tone of steel strings. The track sounds a bit like the mellowest parts of The Moody Blues' "Tuesday Afternoon." It is really a showcase for Karpa though as he weaves a delicate lattice of sound, the space in between filled by keyboards. "Tanz Un Tod," the longest piece of either disc at 16-plus minutes, has a 70s feel that made me think of Little River Band, Pablo Cruise and Ambrosia at various times, but also gets a bit jazzy. And there comes a point where the Ulmer takes center stage, playing a light, lyrical, classical piece. It is recorded all too quiet, unfortunately, so unless you are listening to this loud to start with, much of what is being played is lost. The shadings in Ulmer's playing though make this piano solo much more interesting, overall, that the drum solo of the first disk. However, there is something very quintessential Emersonian about it, at least to me, that also seems like it been done before, which also make you want to start checking to see whose piece he is really playing. I'm guessing that this is the "Yaqui" portion of "Tanz Und Tod." Karpa gets to bend a few guitar notes in the "Tanz Und Tod" section that closes the suite. The lighter guitar tones return for "F?r Ein Kleines M?dchen" as well as the parpy keys. The album ends abruptly?a little crowd applause at fade would have made it less severe.

Overall this is a really good, two-CD set that serves as a terrific introduction to the band, as it spans their first four studio albums. I really enjoyed listening to this and recommend it to like-minded fans.

Tracklisting:
Disc One: Between The Rooms (5:38) / Adonis I: Come Away (8:35) / Adonis II: The Disguise (3:58) / Adonis III: Adonis (8:43) / Adonis IV: Epitaph (5:52) / Superman (4:09) / Blue House (8:01) / Thursday - Solo (15:06) / Moria (4:54) / Anyone's Daughter (11:34)

Disc Two: Sonnenzeichen - Feuerzeichen (6:19) / Nichts F?r Mich (7:42) / Der Plan (3:46) / Sonne (5:31) / Carrara (7:29) / Tanz Und Tod (16:23) / F?r Ein Kleines M?dchen (6:13) / La La (3:23) / Ilja Illia Lela (7:05) / In Zerbrochnem Glas (3:33)

Musicians:
Mattias Ulmer - keyboards, backing vocals
Harald Bareth - vocals, bass
Uwe Karpa - guitars
Kono Konopik - drums, percussion
Peter Schmidt - drums, percussion

Discography:
Adonis (1979)
Anyone's Daughter (1980)
Piktors Verwandlungen (1981)
In Blau (1982)
Neue Sterne (1983)
Live (1984)
Last Tracks (1986)
Danger World (2001)
Requested Document Live 1980-1983 (2001)
Wrong (2004)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin DE

Added: July 30th 2002
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: www.anyonesdaughter.de
Hits: 2059
Language: english