Amon Duul II: Wolf City (1972)

Amon Düül II is simply one of the greats of Krautrock, and in the early ’70s, made some of the finest albums in Krautrock, like Phallus Dei (1969), Yeti (1970) and Tanz der Lemminge aka Dance of the Lemmings (1971). The band frequently witnessed lineup changes, such as bassist Dave Anderson leaving to join Hawkwind, and other musicians going in and out.

1972 marked a point in Amon Düül II’s career where the band dispensed with side-length jams and extended experimental passages for more compact, song-based material. Carnival in Babylon was that album. Renate Knaup, who sat out Tanz der Lemminge was back, and she played a much greater role in the band than she ever did before. The band was obviously looking for a larger audience, that’s why the recording of more accessible material. But luckily they did not sell out, so if that’s what you’re fearing, relax. Later that same year comes Wolf City.

To me, this is a leap over Carnival in Babylon (although Carnival in Babylon is not bad, and I recommend that one too, just they made some obvious improvements on Wolf City). Many familiar members are still here including Renate Knaup, John Weinzierl, Chris Karrer, Lothar Meid, plus the return of Falk-U. Rogner (who wasn’t on Carnival in Babylon), plus a new drummer, D. Secundus-Fichelscher. This time around Rogner included synthesizers, first time for this band. Also included is Jimmy Jackson, an American who played with the likes of Ray Charles (which means he had an R&B background), who strangely turned to the Krautrock scene by playing for the likes of Embryo, and this group. Here he plays something called a choir organ, which sounds like a Mellotron choir, but can hold those notes indefinately, unlike a Mellotron (Wolf City isn’t the first ADII album Jackson played on, he was also on Tanz der Lemminge). Finding proper info about this choir organ is not easy to come by, and I seen no pictures of one.

“Surrounded by the Stars” is the opening cut, and often regarded as a fan favorite. Has sort of a Pink Floyd meets Jefferson Airplane feel. Renate certainly is an acquired taste, as she’s often compared to Grace Slick meets Nico. “Green-Bubble-Raincoated-Man” has a rather pop/psychedelic feel, but I really like the twists the band included to this piece. “Jail-House-Frog” is a wonderful example of the band merging the song-based approach the band was now exploring with spacy experiments of the past. The first half pretty much covers the same ground as the previous two cuts, while the second half of this piece includes piano, some strange spacy sound effects and the extended choir organ from Jimmy Jackson. The title track is a rather aggressive, rock-oriented number in which Lothar Meid handles the vocals. “Wie der Wind am Ende einer Straße”, despite the German title, is actually heavily Indian influenced, with Indian musicians guesting on sitar and tabla, it starts off rather electronic, with Falk Rogner handling the synthesizers, before the sitar and tabla kicks in. “Deutsch Nepal” is the only song on the album sung in German, and another aggressive rocker, with some Eastern influences. Then comes the last piece, “Sleepwalker’s Timeless Bridge”. The instrumental section sounds a lot like something off Carnival in Babylon, but when the vocals kick in, this time by D. Secundus Fichelscher, I get reminded of Gong, even the vocals sound a lot like Daevid Allen!

Wolf City really shows how tight and solid the band became. The production is also excellent, which is something I couldn’t believe I’d say for an ADII album. Earlier albums, like Yeti, did not have very good production (but of course, the music quality more than makes up for it, making them easy for me to recommend), but I guess that kept their underground status legitimate. It’s nice to see the band was still able to hold their own recording shorter, more accessible material, and still not selling out! My only complaint is this album is just too darn short (not even 40 minutes here). And it turns out to be one of their finest albums too.
– Chris Karrer: guitars, violin
– Lothar Meid: bass, vocals
– Renate Knaup: vocals
– John Weinzierl: guitars
– Rolf-U. Falkner: synthesizer, organ, piano
– D. Secundus Fichelscher: drums, vocals

Guests:
– Jimmy Jackson: choir organ
– Olaf Kübler: sorpano sax
– Peter Leopold: percussion, vocals
– Al Sri Al: sitar
– Pandit Shankur: tabla
– Liz van Neienhoff: tamboura