Ash Ra Tempel
's second album featured the first of several personnel changes,
Klaus Schulze
having departed for other realms and replaced as a result by
Wolfgang Muller
. A few guest players surfaced here and there as well, with one
John L.
taking the lead vocals -- another difference from the self-titled debut, which was entirely
instrumental
. The general principle of side-long efforts continued, though the first half was split into two related songs,
"Light"
and
"Darkness."
itself sounded halfway between the zoned-out exploration of
"Traummaschine"
and bluesy jamming, a weird if not totally discordant combination that still manages to sound more out there than most bands of the time.
Gottsching
's fried solo, in particular, is great, sending the rest of the song out to silence that leads into
Said song initially takes a far more minimal approach that bears even more resemblance to
"Traummaschine,"
fading out almost entirely by the third minute before a full band performance (including
Uli Popp
on bongos and
Matthais Wehler
's sudden alto sax bursts) slowly builds into a frenetic jam.
's vocals become echoed screams and yelps not far off from
Damo Suzuki
's approach in
Can
, and the overall performance is a perfect slice of
Krautrock
insanity, sudden swirls of flanging and even more on-the-edge solos from
Wehler
sending it over the top.
"Suche & Liebe"
takes up the entire second side, the performers this time around concentrating on the quiet but unsettling approach,
's massive soloing kept low in the mix but not so much that it doesn't freak out listeners. The song concludes on an almost conventionally pretty band jam, something that could almost be
Meddle
-era
Pink Floyd
, only with even a more haunting, alien air thanks to the wordless vocal keening. ~ Ned Raggett