Amon Duul II

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Amon Duul II

Rock group

With the groups Can and Faust, Amon Duul II is considered one of the foremost purveyors of a brand of free-form, jazz-influenced acid rock from Germany, dubbed Krautrock by British aficionado and rock performer Julian Cope. This music balances dissonance and melody—not always in equal proportion—to create fascinating experimental sound collages.

In 1966 multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Chris Karrer formed a free jazz trio with Lothar Meid on bass and Christian Burchard on drums. Inspired by a Jimi Hendrix performance in 1967, Karrer joined a German commune known as "Amon Duul," where brothers Ulrich and Peter Leopold had been running an improvisational band named after the commune. Karrer signed on with the goal of steering the group toward something less experimental and more musical. Peter Leopold was all for it, but Ulrich insisted on maintaining an anarchic approach. The resulting schism yielded the original "Amon Duul" and the more ambitious "Amon Duul II," headed by Karrer on guitar, violin, and vocals. Amon Duul recorded one extended jam session that was released as two separate albums and featured chants and primal drumming. Amon Duul II was more musically ambitious and adventurous. Only the 1960s counter-culture could produce a debut album named Phallus Dei, which translates as "God's penis." Karrer was joined by Renate Knaup on vocals, Peter Leopold on percussion, Christian Shrat on vocals and violin, Britisher Dave Anderson on bass, John Weinzierl on guitar and sax, Falk Rogner on organ, and Dieter Serfas on percussion. The 20-minute title track was a loosely structured improvisation that ranged from spacey and cold to wildly tribalistic. "Luzifer's Ghilom" was another standout number, featuring precise hand drumming. The balance of the album showcased violin and guitar work, while mostly limiting German-language vocals to screams and flourishes. A 2000 reissue included bonus tracks "Freak Out Requiem Parts I-IV" and the abbreviated percussion number "Cymbals in the End."

The group's second offering, the 1970 double-set Yeti, was more controlled and better recorded. The rousing opener, "Soap Shop Rock," was a multi-tempo suite in four parts, with trippy, distorted guitar and raucous violins. Unlike their first effort, Yeti made excellent use of Renate Knaup's powerful vocals, which invited critics to compare her to Licorice McKhenie of the Incredible String Band. Renate's composition "Archangels Thunderbird" is often regarded as Amon Duul II's most popular piece. In The Wire she explained her growing confidence: "We were satisfied with what we had done. We felt proud about Yeti and we were among people who loved us. Nobody could harm us anymore."

The follow-up, another double LP called Tanz Der Lemminge (Dance of the Lemmings), added Henriette Kroetenschwanz and Rolf Zacher on vocals, Karl-Heinz Hausmann on various electronic instruments, Lothar Meid on bass guitar and double bass, Al Gromer on sitar, and American Jimmy Jackson on church organ. This complex, multi-layered effort often combined the sound-effect-laden confusion of Can's Tago Mago with the dreamy ambience of Tangerine Dream's Alpha Centauri. As a change of pace, the fourth side was a blistering set of guitar jams that demonstrated the band's appreciation for groups like Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead, and offered a surprisingly bluesy feel for a band lacking such roots.

Carnival in Babylon (1972) found the band pursuing more conventional rock structures while retaining its signature Krautrock style. Just as Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon included shorter tunes that became FM playlist favorites, Babylon introduced Amon Duul II to a wider audience. The next year they released Live in London, mostly covering numbers from the Lemmings and Yeti LPs. This was followed by Wolf City, which complemented Al Gromer's sitar with Indian percussion work from Pandit Shankar Lal and Liz van Nienhoff. The album used mellotrons, synthesizers, and strings to achieve a more symphonic sound. While the band had a reputation for drug-inspired performances, Wolf City was the only work with elements literally shaped by LSD. As Falk Rogner explained in a 1997 Mojo article, "For Wolf City, we all took acid and used Florian Fricke's great Moog synthesizer. We recorded for five hours and used perhaps seven minutes, for the tune "Wie Der Wind Am Ende Einer Strasse." A friend of ours overdubbed sitar, but apart from that it was all improvised. It was the only time we recorded on acid: we realized that it was a waste to spend five hours on five minutes of music."

The 1974 album Vive la Trance continued in the direction of making shorterand heavier rock tunes. For those who cherished the complexity of the band's earlier releases, Trance was seen as the end of the "classic" Amon Duul II period. The song "Mozambique" returned the band to its political origins, making a strong anti-imperialist statement and featuring some of Renate Knaup's most touching vocals. Later that year they released Hijack to a skeptical audience, rejecting the use of brighter brass and synthesized strings. Hijack was followed by the compilation Lemmingmania and the live Made in Germany.

By the time Amon Duul II released Pyragony X in 1976, Karrer, Leopold, and Weinzierl were the only original personnel remaining. Almost Alive (1977) augmented the group with several musicians and a backing vocalist, but failed to hit the mark. John Weinzierl left the band before the 1978 release Only Human. The situation improved for the 1981 effort Vortex, with the return of Knaup and a brief visit from Weinzierl. However, the band simply could not make the transition to the 1980s, and the adaptation of the richer production techniques of the era did not fit. In 1995 they released another studio album, Nada Moonshine #, featuring the pared-down lineup of Karrer, Knaup, Leopold, and Meid. While considered by critics an improvement over Vortex and Only Human, the album was regarded as little more than a nostalgia effort, lacking any of the excitement of their heyday. Amon Duul II recordings have been reissued in several compilations, including Surrounded by the Bars, Greatest Hits, Milestones, and Eternal Flashbacks.

For the Record …

Members include: Chris Karrer , guitar; Renate Knaup , vocals; Peter Leopold , drums; Lothar Meid , bass guitar; Christian Shrat , violin, vocals; John Weinzierl , guitar.

Formed as Amon Duul at a Munich, Germany, commune, 1968; became trio named Amon Duul II and released debut album, Phallus Dei, 1969; released Tanz der Lemminge (Dance of the Lemmings), 1972.