01	Ernie's Reise						11:04
	02	Severity Town						10:00
	03	Anywhere						04:20
	04	Rockpommel's Land						19:58
	05	Tontillon						06:15

Originally released in 1977
1998 reissue on Repertoire (http://www.repertoire-records.com)
PMS 7095-WP
Remastered with one bonus track

Grobschnitt [Germany]

Grobschnitt (72), Ballermann (74), Jumbo (75), Rockpommel's Land (77), Solar Music Live (78), Merry Go Round (79), Volle Molle (80), Illegal (81), Razzia (82), plus several more during the 80's

Grobschnitt had many elements that made them so special - a great dual guitar sound, good keyboards, and a strange drummer/effects man (Eroc) who brought an element of silliness and humor to the group (one of the things that made Gong so fascinating in their heyday.) Their first five albums are all classics and are for various different reasons. Deriving from early seventies space rock and the best of Santana, Grobschnitt's first album (self- titled) is a fantastic album that builds and releases tension in style and may be one of my personal favorites (I am a huge Santana fan - this band is way too overlooked in progressive circles.) A change of style into more symphonic realms occured on their double second (reissued on 1 CD) Ballermann which featured one record of varying length symphonic songs and one record that contains the cosmic suite "Solar Music" Maybe their least immediately accessible album, subsequent listens reveal this album's majesty. Moving to a more "accessible" sound on their third LP Jumbo, Grobschnitt moved into the realms of Yes-styled symphonic progressive while remaining very German. Funny voices (by Eroc) permeate the album on the minute long cuts which balance the epics (especially "The Excursion of Father Smith") quite well. A German version of this album exists as well. Maybe the one Gibraltar readers will like the most is the band's fourth, Rockpommel's Land that moves even closer into the Yes realms, featuring a beautiful Roger Dean-styled cover. Four tracks here, including a 20 minute same-titled, epic, this concept album is basically about a young boy and a hugebird (the maraboo) that consistently helps him and bails him out of trouble. This album is also very symphonic and has more of a keyboard presence than the first three. In my opinion, a landmark in space/cosmic rock is Grobschnitt's fifth, a live rendition of the classic "Solar Music" from Ballermann - Solar Music Live. This album is almost wall-to-wall guitar solos that shimmer and glide along a space rock backdrop - absolutely amazing music. I haven't bothered to find any of these guys later albums - sources say they fall short of these five - but their sixth Merry Go Round can't be much worse than Solar Music Live can it? Rockpommel's... and SML have both been reissued on CD as well as Ballermann and are all musts. I hope to see the first and third get the same treatment.
This classic Germand band produced a long string of great and not-so-great albums during the 70's and early 80's. Their sound is characterized by fairly original overall style, colorful melodies, and a very unique lead voice. Most of their albums have some bizarre clowning-around on them. Lyrics are sometimes in german, sometimes in english, but never mixed on the same album. Jumbo comes in both english and german versions. Rockpommels, Ballermann and Jumbo are three of the more dynamic, colorful and typically progressive of their albums. Solar Music is a more spacey and experimental live album. Illegal and Merry Go Round are mixed bags, both with a somewhat harder edged sound, and both get very strange at times. Their second live album Volle Molle pretty much sucks all around, and their first album is classic german hard rock, not all that progressive. The indespensible ones are Ballermann and Rockpommel's Land.
German band which seems to have been *very* symphonic, and of the worst pretentious kind. At least their Rockpommel's Land is of that kind and is no fun at all. On their 1981 effort Razzia they are, like so many other bands, oriented towards more straighter rock is much better. (It's not straight without a twist, though.) Although you'd better not know German when you listen to "Wir wollen leben."
Excellent, sometimes kooky German band. Comparable to Yes in many ways, my favorite is Solar Music Live which is one power break after another. "Solar..." reminds me a lot of Steve Howe's solo in "Yours is No Disgrace" from YesSongs - except it's about 40 minutes longer. Great stuff.
Grobschnitt were one of the crop of German bands that fell into the Krautrock category, mixing progressive rock influences with improvisational elements and humour to create a very compelling brand of music. The irreverence was evident in their music, but not at the cost of technical and compositional proficiency. All the musicians were masters of their instruments, and created cohesive albums that showcased their talents. Ballermann is a prime example of this music. Recorded in 1974, it featured keyboard/guitar-based progressive rock delivered with intensity, but interspersed with quiet, melodic passages, and anchored by the drumming of Joachim Ehrig (Eroc), who went on to further fame with his solo releases. This work also contains 33 minutes of "Solar Music," a Grobschnitt concert staple. This is a very adventurous piece that moves through a variety of musical moods, with enough room for all the members to display their respective talents. The vocalist, a gentleman nicknamed "Wildschwein" adds a further Arthur-Brown-like dimension to the music, which, in turn, adds to the unpredictability. However, his appearance is quite limited, and the music dominates through most of the 73+ minutes of this CD. Illegal, Rockpommel's Land and Solar Music Live are all from their middle period, where they were at their best. Their music is keyboard/guitar oriented, with standout drums and percussion by a gent who went by the name of Eroc. Illegal is the most improvisational of the bunch and recalls the somewhat psychedelic sounds of groups such as Amon Duul II and the like. Rockpommel's Land is a "concept" work, about the fantasies of a boy lost in a strange land. For those who enjoy lengthy, symphonic works, this would probably be the best recommended. The music has a backdrop that recalls bands such as Genesis, but the ability of the musicians in this band to improvise adds something more to the sound. Solar Music Live is a live recording that captures the musical virtuosity of the band very well. Volle Molle also contains live recordings by the band which offers proof of the power of the group to improvise and put together a powerful performance. The music is raucous at times, but mostly fast-paced progressive rock with long instrumental passages driven by guitar, keyboards, and drums.
I have two Grobschnitt albums, Solar Music Live and Rockpommel's Land, two very different albums, both excellent. Solar Music Live is incredible. Grobschnitt apparently went through several phases, nearly one for each album, so SML can hardly be considered representative. It can be high recommended though. Shimmering guitars over a mesmerizing backdrop, this album is considered by some to be one of the best space rock albums of all time. The album is nearly 60 minutes of flowing musical thought, with a little bit of silliness thrown in for fun. Judging by the CD cover, they must have had an interesting stage show. Rockpommel's Land is a concept album and much more symphonic in nature. If you've heard Novalis's classic Sommerabend, you'll have a feel for this album. The concept is of the travels of a boy and a strange bird. Some have said this album is very Yes-like but I think it's a little more similar to Novalis than Yes, plus they have their own quirkiness and sense of humor. Perhaps it's just my ears. Though I prefer the spacey texture of Solar Music Live, this album is well worth a listen, particularly if you are a symphonic fan.
Grobschnitt are one of the better Brain-label bands. Ballermann, originally a double LP, includes the 33-minute guitar-prog classic "Solar Music". Lots of people will want it just for this, great keyboards too! "Magic Train" is another great long piece, with varying dynamics in the different passages. "Nickel-Odeon" is pretty good, even though there is a chord-progression that blatantly rips off Yes' "Yours Is No Disgrace" in the middle. "Drummer's Dream" is a nice softer, acoustic tune. And "Sahara" is a weird piece with fine guitar work and slowed down vocals by drummer Eroc (On the spoken intro, he reminds me of Sgt. Schulz from "Hogan's Heroes"!) Rockpommels Land is a concept album, apparently about a young boy who rides a giant bird to the land of stone-people, or something like that. The story notwithstanding, there is some fine music on this one, with more excellent guitar playing and more keyboards than Ballermann. Yes is strongly in evidence, but this reminds me even more so of the McDonald and Giles album, especially the side-long title track, which is not unlike "Birdman". Excellent stuff. Solar Music Live is, as the title indicates, a live version of the title song, but extended out to about 50 minutes, with odd experimental tricks by Eroc and great slabs of dual guitar jamming. I, who normally don't care too much for live albums, really love this album. The experimental tendecies first explored here were further developed not only on Eroc's solo albums, but reportedly also on the next couple of Grobschnitt albums: Merry-Go-Round and Illegal. Keep that in mind when you find these. Razzia was recorded without Eroc, and apparently was the first of their lame neo-prog LPs. I have a couple of these: Kinder and Narren (1984) and Fantasten (1987). The first is a concept album, both are comparable to Genesis of the same period, i.e. pretty pop orientated and boring. The live Last Party is supposed to be the only worthwhile document from this period. -- Mike Ohman

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Grobschnitt


This band became, perhaps, Germany's most popular live act in the late seventies because of their very theatric and bizarre shows. Their history can be traced back as far as 1966, to a band named Crew, of which Stefan "Wildschwein" Daneliak (vocals, guitar), Joachim "Eroc" Ehrig (drums, percussion) and Gerd Otto "Lupo" Kuhn (guitars, vocals) were members. Some recordings from this time are featured on Eroc's third solo album. With additional members Axel "Felix" Harlos (drums), Bernhard "Bar" Uhlemann (bass, flute, percussion) and Hermann "Quicksilber" Quetting (keyboards) they christened themselves Grobschnitt in early 1970. Their self-titled first album was recorded at Windrose studios, Hamburg, with Frank Mille (producer) and Konrad Plank (engineer) and released on Metronome's Brain label in the middle of 1972. The four tracks were typical progressive rock with complex arrangements, drawing some influences from classical music. Eroc's ethereal electronic effects and the crazy humour revealed in places gave them some distinction. The long instrumental sections were dominated by Lupo's varied guitar play. Neither critics nor buyers found this album very tempting at the time. Nevertheless, it's now a highly regarded album with memorable tracks such as "Wonderful Music" (3:03) and "Symphony" (13:44).



Looking back, it is perhaps overshadowed by their later albums. Harlos and Quetting quit the group in the Summer of 1972 (Uhlemann also quit for a while). Quetting re-surfaced as the keyboard player in Blonker in 1979. After some months of contemplating their future, Grobschnitt decided to continue. Their new strategies were planned during 1972 and 1973: a totally unbelievable blend of rock show, theatre and pantomime with tasteless costumes, gags, wit, weird make up and general lunacy with even their roadies appearing as actors on the scene. Grobschnitt created a flying circus, and its' orchestra was expanded by the inclusion of Volker "Mist" Kahr (keyboards). Early in 1974, the stage music of the show made it to vinyl, on the double album, "Ballermann". The album starts with the extremely silly "Sahara" sung by Eroc. Much better were "Drummer's Dream" and "Morning Song", which indicated their future direction. Half the album was taken up by the 33.5 minute composition, "Solar Music". This consisted of spaced out instrumental passages dominated by synthesizers and guitars. After "Ballermann", Uhlemann left again. Their new bassist was Wolfgang "Popo" Jager.



The next album, "Jumbo" (1975) showed a clear debt to Genesis. The best track was the opening cut: "Excursions of Father Smith". Due to their busy live schedule, a version of "Jumbo" with German lyrics appeared in 1976 to shorten the waiting time for the next album - it took 18 months from its conception to its appearance in the shops.

"Rockpommel's Land" was Grobschnitt's masterpiece with excellent sound and production (by Konrad Plank!). The beautiful cover painting looks exactly like an early Roger Dean cover. The four tracks tell the tale of a young boy named Ernie, bored with the usual monotony of everyday life. He takes an imaginary journey to a strange place called "Rockpommel's Land". The over-20-minute-long title track really is a classic with some very good Camel-like instrumental passages and haunting melody lines.



Grobschnitt's live shows were growing increasingly outrageous, and it was decided to preserve some of the fun for future generations. Their next release was a live album: "Solar Music Live". This was based on the long track from "Ballermann", but also included new music. It had a generous playing time of more than 50 minutes, but one feels that much is lost because you can't see what's happening on stage. "Merry Go Round" from 1979 veered towards a more commercial and rhythmic sound, but the lyrics were full of disgust for disco music and the Coca Cola company. This and all the subsequent albums were less and less interesting. "Volle Molle" was another live album. "Illegal" (1981) was a reaction against the polished sound of the previous studio albums: it was recorded in a practice room and was a great improvement on "Merry Go Round". "Razzia" (1982) was Grobschnitt's attempt to be a part of the German new wave movement. The later albums, "Kinder + Narren" (1984), "Sonnentanz" (1985, another live album) and "Fantasten" (1987) were half-hearted attempts to merge newer musical elements with their old, patented symphonic rock style. As such, they are best avoided, buy the first six albums instead!

Albums:
Grobschnitt 1972 Brain 1008
Ballermann (2LP) 1973 Brain 2/1050
Jumbo 1975 Brain 1076
Jumbo, German Version 1976 Brain 1081
Rockpommel's Land 1977 Brain 60.041
Solar Music - Live 1979 Brain 60.139
Merry Go Round 1979 Brain 60.224
Volle Molle 1980 Brain 60.291
Illegal 1981 Brain 60.365
Razzia 1982 Brain 60.510
Kinder Und Narren 1984 Brain 817 836
Sonnentanz 1985 Brain 827 734
Fantasten 1987 Teldec 626 439
Last Party Live 1989 Brain 843 106




Grobschnitt - "Grobschnitt" (1971)Superb German progressive rock group. They are most known as a symphonic progressive group in the vein of Yes, but they also explored other progressive rock styles. On this, their debut-album, they sounded almost like a progressive rock version of Santana. Both the guitar sound and the excellent drumming of Eroc reminds a lot of Santana, but the sound as a whole is of course much more progressive. Some of the organ parts have also some slight space-tendencies. As on all of Grobschnitt best albums, the tracks are lengthy with room for both structured themes and more jam-based parts. The drummer Eroc is well known for his humour and madness. His narration on the beginning of "Sun Trip" is quite striking! The album also features a medieval-styled song, "Wonderful Music", which truly lives up to its name. Overall, this is a great debut-album. Powerful, energetic and well played.


Grobschnitt - "Ballermann" (1974)The debut-album was followed up with this fantastic double-album. The Santana influence from the debut was gone, and the two records which made up the album consisted of excellent progressive rock but of a quite different kind. The first record featured symphonic progressive rock gems as "Magic Train", "Morning Song" and "Nickel-Odeon". You could also hear Eroc's sense of humour on "Sahara". The second record consisted of just one, continuos 33-minute long space-rock piece called "Solar Music". This is probably the only REAL space-rock track by Grobschnitt, but WHAT a track! It features tons of excellent space jamming, but the track as a whole is still structured and well written. Organ, electronic-space sounds and excellent spacey guitar make an awesome space-atmosphere. An essential album from the German progressive rock scene.


Grobschnitt - "Jumbo" (1975)On the third album, the group had turned into a pure symphonic progressive rock group with no signs of either space or kraut-rock anymore. Most people seem to think that Grobschnitt reminds of Yes. I won't disagree, but they have a sound of their own too. The vocals of Stefan Danielak (Wildschwein) are probably so far from Jon Anderson as you can get, and the band was NEVER a clone of Yes or any other band. "Jumbo" (which also was released in a German version) consists of symphonic progressive rock of the kind most of you will enjoy. Here you'll find good tracks as "Clown" and "Sunny Sunday's Sunset". "Dream and Reality" is a more relaxed track, and the vocal part in the middle reminds me in fact of Magna Carta! I must however admit that I have never cared much for the opening track "The Excursion of Father Smith", which also features some horrible synth-sounds. Unfortunately, that makes the album a little bit uneven for me. But the next album was totally flawless...


Grobschnitt - "Rockpommel's Land" (1976)From the cover to the concept, music, arrangements and atmosphere this is a COMPLETE symphonic progressive rock album! A concept album about a young boy who flies away in his paper-plane and meet a giant bird who takes him to a fantasy land called Rockpommel's Land. The album consists of four, lengthy, complex and wonderful tracks with absolutely no flaws at all. The arrangements are stuffed with everything you want: mellotron, organ and lots of tasteful and very symphonic sounding synths and guitars. It's not often I hear an album that reminds me so much about why I started to listen to progressive rock in the first place. Symphonic, majestic, great and a concept so far from reality as you can get! Stated simply: Wonderful! The music is so well written and structured as it can get, and there's no point in pointing out highlights here. For any symphonic progressive rock fan, the whole album is a highlight! The lyrics are very amusing and make the album to a world of its own. Next to Novalis' "Sommerabend", this is the best and most accomplished SYMPHONIC PROGRESSIVE ROCK album from Germany I've heard so far. If you like this style, then you'll surely take a lot of trips to Rockpommel's Land!
View the whole cover.


Grobschnitt - "Solar Music - Live" (1977)This monster album consists of a 54-minute live-version of the band's space rock classic "Solar Music". This must be one of the most intense and impressive performances I've heard from any band! Without any rest at all, the band delivers a continuos, almost one hour long jam so intense, energetic and inspired as it's impossible to not be impressed. The band stays true to the structure of the studio-version, but there's of course room for some new themes and even longer and more breathtakingly energetic jams. This is with no doubt one of the 5 best progressive space rock albums of all time, and simply so insanely good that it's totally obligatory in any progressive rock collection. Progressive energy at it's bet and most unbelievable. This is THE definitive space rock blowout and tour-de-force! But I wonder if the band really managed to do this piece so damn good as this every time they performed it.