01	The Eternal Question						15:32
	02	Big Boss' Eyes						08:54
	03	7 Punds Tommy						17:32
	04	No No Not You			Bonus Live Track			20:11

Werner Protzner - bass and vocals
Detlef Wiedecke - hammond organ, mellotron, moog synthesizer and vocals
Eduard Schicke - drums
Heinz Frohling - guitar, mellotron and vocals

All songs written by Spektakel
All songs produced by Spektakel, September 1974

1, 2, 3 recorded at Spektakel Studio, Steenfelde, Germany
4 recorded live at Oldenburg Univercity

Engineered by Arno Kannen and Hugo

Spektakel [Germany]

Spektakel (96)

Spektakel was the precursor to Schicke, Fuhrs and Frohling, existing from 1969-1974. They recorded music in 1974 for an album that was never released. The Laser's Edge label that released all three SFF albums on a two CD set uncovered Spektakel's music and released it on CD.




Spektakel - Spektakel

(CD, The Laser's Edge, 1996)

For a (long) while, some of us were too busy on other things to do some serious reviewing. This disc is one of the victims, but I hope this review will be some comfort. I did not bear this in mind when I wrote this positive review - it's really a marvellous album! :-)

Wow, only four tracks in more than one hour! This must be progressive rock or what?! No kidding - just a stereotypical description of prog, but prog it is! Spektakel comprise of, among others, Eduard Schicke and Heinz Frohling, known from the band they would form with Gerd Fuhrs.

I'm beginning to understand the musical taste of Ken Golden, head of The Laser's Edge. A bit to the jazzy side, anything far from the kind of neo-prog that seems to please so many youngsters in this genre, musicianschip... And I like his taste! Ken has brought us some very fine re-releases of The Load and Finforrest for example, but also set great new band Somnambulist in the spotlight, where they can stay if you'd ask me.

So, if you like Ken's taste for prog, you are going to love this one as well. Spektakel was formed in 1969, and dissolved shortly after the recordings of this album (which remained unreleased, by the way) in 1974. The three tracks they recorded in the studio (sixteen, nine, and eighteen minutes) have been enriched by a live recording (twenty minutes).

Well, what about the music, then? Musical moods, atmospheric paintings, on which the musicians, who show a great feeling for music, play compositions which were clearly born during jams. The booklet says the musicians shared a love for the music of Deep Purple. This is a clear influence on the music, but more on the way of playing (emotional improvisations), than on the actual sound. Spektakel are not as heavy as their idols. Dark, even melancholic at times.

The singing, as this kind of music implies, take no starring role, but fits the music quite well - no accent, not too cheerful. Keyboards are omnipresent. Loads of Hammond and Mellotron! No real long solos as such, all the instrumentalists play a certain part in a great painting, or a story. The songs may be too long to your taste. Clearly, this is a band of young musicians.

Fans of SFF will enjoy this release without a doubt. I think that for this kind of music we have to go back to the early Seventies all the time. Thanks to people like Ken Golden the search for that becomes a lot easier now and then.

Jerry van Kooten