"Wolf City", from which this title track is taken, is probably the most popular and well-known of all 'Amon Düül II' albums. It's also their most critically acclaimed one to boot. This was the second LP released in the fruitful year of 1972, after "Carnival In Babylon", and features the same structured way of songwriting that almost leaves behind the improvised "jams", found on the first three records, though there are still some occasional less scripted passages.
Made in the same year and with the same producer, Olaf Kubler, "Wolf City" continues to lay down the folk influences, but uses a rich tapestry of Indian sounds such as the tablas, sitar and tambura, all elements found on the seminal and exotic 'Yeti' album. At times, the sound finds the familiar Gothic horror which they're renowned for, though it remains a quite uplifting record most of the time.
Personnel changes, and a move round on instrumentation, culminated in the biggest line-up yet, as even more musicians and friends added whatever they could to the proceedings. The usual hardliners make up the bulk of the writing and playing but were accompanied by an outer circle, including the musicians Jimmy Jackson ('Embryo') on organ, Al Sri Al Gomer on sitar, Liz Van Neienhoff on tambura, and Paul Hydra on violin.
Mainstay Reante Krotenschwanz-Knaup gets to sing a lot of lead vocals again and is joined by the interesting character Rolf Zacher, actor and haphazard character, and bandleader John Weinzierl who leads the band throughout. Just to add confusion, a side project was recorded at the same session, entitled "Utopia", led by Lothar Meid and Olaf Kubler.
It also included a lot of the same players. This was an attempt to produce a more international sounding LP, and even included a re-recording of the track "Deutch Nepal", though it became chaotic for all involved, so 'Amon Düül II' regrouped and went on tour, to escape the debacle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_City
Holy cow! I almost forgot about these guys, I brought one of their albums in grammer school because it was in clearance and I liked the cover art. It was Hijack and it soon turned into my favorite band that nobody ever heard of, righteous! Thanks for the memory flashback
9 Comments (since 17 Jul 2014)
leejohnson
"Wolf City", from which this title track is taken, is probably the most popular and well-known of all 'Amon Düül II' albums. It's also their most critically acclaimed one to boot. This was the second LP released in the fruitful year of 1972, after "Carnival In Babylon", and features the same structured way of songwriting that almost leaves behind the improvised "jams", found on the first three records, though there are still some occasional less scripted passages.
leejohnson
Made in the same year and with the same producer, Olaf Kubler, "Wolf City" continues to lay down the folk influences, but uses a rich tapestry of Indian sounds such as the tablas, sitar and tambura, all elements found on the seminal and exotic 'Yeti' album. At times, the sound finds the familiar Gothic horror which they're renowned for, though it remains a quite uplifting record most of the time.
leejohnson
Personnel changes, and a move round on instrumentation, culminated in the biggest line-up yet, as even more musicians and friends added whatever they could to the proceedings. The usual hardliners make up the bulk of the writing and playing but were accompanied by an outer circle, including the musicians Jimmy Jackson ('Embryo') on organ, Al Sri Al Gomer on sitar, Liz Van Neienhoff on tambura, and Paul Hydra on violin.
leejohnson
Mainstay Reante Krotenschwanz-Knaup gets to sing a lot of lead vocals again and is joined by the interesting character Rolf Zacher, actor and haphazard character, and bandleader John Weinzierl who leads the band throughout. Just to add confusion, a side project was recorded at the same session, entitled "Utopia", led by Lothar Meid and Olaf Kubler.
leejohnson
It also included a lot of the same players. This was an attempt to produce a more international sounding LP, and even included a re-recording of the track "Deutch Nepal", though it became chaotic for all involved, so 'Amon Düül II' regrouped and went on tour, to escape the debacle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_City
lynn200
never heard of them,thx for your write up.....liked the extreme of it...
btener
all KINDS of yes to this!
moondog
Love all their early stuff.
kerheb
Holy cow! I almost forgot about these guys, I brought one of their albums in grammer school because it was in clearance and I liked the cover art. It was Hijack and it soon turned into my favorite band that nobody ever heard of, righteous! Thanks for the memory flashback