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Can
Reviewer: Pressed Rat | See all reviews by Pressed Rat
Section: Reviews | Category: Music
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Can - Monster Movie (1969). Other great albums are Tago
Mago (1971), Ege
Bamyasi (1972), Future
Days (1973).
If you have not heard this groups music ,then you are really missing out.
This group has some of the most trippy, best psychedelic music  I've
ever heard (especially Tago
Mago) This group is from Germany. They were an experimental/psychedelic/avant
garde group,and were considered to be the most experimental and adventurous
groups of the 70's. Listening to Can's music is a truly psychedelic experience!
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Visitor Comments about Can
Posted by Ben on 2002-08-28 14:34:22
My Score:
Comment: Me again, I got me a couple more Can albums so I got a better impression of the band, and let me tell you, I''m sold on this band. Sure Monster Movie didn''t do a lot for me, but their following albums sure did. Now on to two more albums. One of them is Future Days (1973). Incredible, nothing less than five stars is given to this album. This was the last album to feature Damo Suzuki. He left because he was going to get married, but there was a catch: either he convert to the Jehovah''s Witness to marry her, or don''t and stay with the band and leave her behind, so marriage it was, so he converted and left the band after. Future Days a more pleasant mellow offering from these guys and the results is one of the most wonderful albums I have ever heard. The title track proves what this album is made of. Really pleasant. The second cut, is "Spray", the first few listens sounds like a rather directionless mess, but its beauty reveals itself. "Moonshake" is one of those funky tracks that Can is known for, and is obviously the most straightforward piece here, but it''s still totally amazing. Then the album closes the side length "Bel Air" which reminds me of being out in the fields (the environmental sounds heard from time to time help). I am sold on this album. Just when I thought I knew what Can was made of, they gave us Future Days. Now on to Saw Delight (1977). Most everything Can has did after 1974 had lead to mixed reactions, and Saw Delight is no exception. Here the band witnessed their most drastic lineup change. Holger Czukay stopped playing bass and switched to wave receiver (he would leave after this album). New members came in: ex-Traffic members Reebop Kwaku Baah on percussion and Rosko Gee on bass. Let me tell you that personally I don''t find Saw Delight all that bad. Yes, it doesn''t sound that great that Can is trying a disco album, but it''s still a lot more intersting than your generic, crappy Village People album by a long shot, and there''s a lot more than disco here. "Don''t Say No" sounds like Santana meets Future Day''s "Moonshake". "Sunshine Day and Night" sounds repetitive, but I actually grown to like it. "Animal Waves" is the longest cut here, with spacy synths and repetitive basses. Now the problem here with Saw Delight is the band chemistry isn''t the same when these new members came in. They seem to be going on auto-pilot. But for some reason, I do like this album, and give it a three star rating. It''s supposedly not as bad as their 1978 followup Out Of Reach (which features "Give Me No Roses" which is their idea of a commercial pop song). Still, don''t start with Saw Delight, start with anything they did from 1971-1974.
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Posted by Ben on 2002-06-19 23:48:01
My Score:
Comment: I have only got two Can albums. One is Monster Movie, but for some reason or another, I just wasn''t that impressed by it. Musically, it''s a solid album, but Malcolm Mooney''s singing just really gets on my nerves big time. I prefer Damo Suzuki. The other is Tago Mago, and is much more to my liking. For one, Damo Suzuki''s voice just doesn''t annoy me the way Mooney did. And the band was able to explore much more the experimental side. The first disc consists of excellent, highly rhythmic psychedelic songs, my favorite being "Oh Yeah". There''s also the funky 18 minute "Halleluwah", which just proves that even a prog rock band, like Can can get funky. The second disc just simply blew me away! Can moved away from the highly percussive-oriented style and in to more freaky early ''70s spacy Krautrock style, not unlike what such bands as Amon Duul II, Ash Ra Tempel, early Tangerine Dream (i.e. Alpha Centauri, Zeit, Atem), even Brainticket, were doing. "Aumgn" is so creepy, it just really spooked me. You hear this constant "Aum" chanting in a very sinister manner (as you should know, "Aumgn" was a chant invented by Aleister Crowley, which sounds like "Aum" but much more sinister). Tons of bizarre electronic modifications and effects just add to the spookyness. Then there''s "Peking O" which adds some humor with Irmin Schmidt playing on some silly primitive drum machine and organ with Damo Suzuki going out of his mind with mindless babbling. Parts of this cut reminds me of the more freaky moments of Frank Zappa & the Mothers'' Freak Out. Then there''s "Bring Me Coffee or Tea" which harkens back the the style of the first disc. I have yet to hear Can''s other albums, so my opinion of the band is based sole on two albums.
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Posted by Anonymous on 2001-12-27 16:01:28
My Score:
Comment:
This is just a temporary review that I had written several years back. I will be reviewing each individual Can album soon (among many other groups), and it will be more in-depth than what you aee above - which is basically just a brief overview.
Pressed Rat
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