Abacus - Abacus + bonus track (CD)

ABACUS - ABACUS

Studio Album, released in 1971
CD reissue 2012 New Music-Green Tree
+ 1 exclusive bonus track
8-page booklet
digitally remastered
sealed !



Tracklist:

1. Pipedream Revisited Part 1 & II (9:35)
2. Cappucino (4:05)
3. Don't Beat So On The Horses (4:32)
4. Song For Brunhilde (4:36)
5. Song For John And Yoko (5:05)
6. Radbod Blues 5:48)
7. Chestholder (5:42)
bonus track:
8. Midway Live 1974 (9:12)

Abacus biography
ABACUS is surely a big name for everyone interested in rock music. The band, formed in 1971, made their breakthrough at the Germersheim rock festival. There, they drew as much applause from the 300,000 visitors as did PINK FLOYD, SANTANA or EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER, all of which appeared on stage as well. ABACUS published 4 LPs, the last 3 beeing recorded at Giorgio Moroder's MUSICLAND. Global record sales, numerous national and international tours, TV and radio shows helped ABACUS became a top act— not only in Germany.

ABACUS generated the same dense sound on stage as in the studio. Maybe that's why they became a crowd-puller for many years and countless shows.

Musical differences about future record productions were, among other things, responsible for the break up of the band in 1976. Klaus Kohlhase, bass guitarist and motor of ABACUS, revived the band in 1979. He eventually found the musicians who helped to refine ABACUS' sound.

Der Name ABACUS ist sicherlich jedem, der sich für Rock-Musik interessiert, ein Begriff. Die 1971 gegründete Band schaffte ihren Durchbruch auf dem Germersheim-Rockfestival, wo ABACUS nicht weniger Beifall der über 300 000 Besucher verbuchen konnte als die ebenfalls auftretenden PINK FLOYD, SANTANA oder ELP. In der Folgezeit veröffentlichte die Gruppe vier Langspielplatten, von denen die letzten drei in Giorgio Moroders MUSICLAND aufgenommen wurden. Aufgrund der in aller Welt verkauften Platten, zahlreichen Tourneen im In- und Ausland, TV- und Radiosendungen wurde ABACUS nicht nur in Deutschland zu einem Top-Act.

ABACUS lieferten auf der Bühne den gleichen dichten Sonnd wie im Studio. Vielleicht wurden sie gerade deshalb zum Kassenmagneten unzähliger Veranstaltungen.

Musikalische Differenzen für künftige Plattenproduktionen waren u. a. dafür ausschlaggebend, daß die Band sich 1976 auflöste. Klaus Kohlhase, Baßgitarrist und Motor der ABACUS, hat ABACUS 1979 wieder ins Leben gerufen. Nach langer Suche fand er die Mitspieler, die gemeinsam mit ihm den Sound der ABACUS weiterentwickelten.

Review by Seyo
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
I was pleasantly surprised when I recently heard the album Abacus, given the relative obscurity of this German prog act of the early 1970s. It contains all typical elements of symphonic style: long compositions, change of tempo and dynamics, multi-part suite-like themes and certain grandeur feeling.

The best example for this is the opener 9,5-minutes Pipedream Revisited. Excellent melodies, interesting instrumental passages of organ, guitars and above all bass and effective vocals. Indeed, it is almost impossible to hear any bad music produced back in the year 1971, but Abacus is definitely above average. Another personal highlight is acid- folksy Song for Brunhilde with beautiful atmosphere underlined with sitar drone sounds, giving it a slight psych touch, which is quite captivating. Song for John and Yoko is of course an ode to the pop icon with slight cynical approach. Excellent Hammond and acoustic guitar leads into the song while later fast-stomping part has a healthy dose of pop irresistability.

Radbod Blues presents a deformed voice patterns and some drums solo acrobatics, while heavy Hammond sounds a bit like ELP or ATOMIC ROOSTER. There are also improvisational jazzy parts on piano followed by bombastic mechanical laughter device. Chestholder invokes bits of SWEET SMOKE laid back jazz jamming and similar vocals, strenghtened by nice Hammond solo.

The outro contains typical symphonic approach with re-cycling the previous themes of the album but also there are signs of experimentation with noise, loops and electronics. This portion reminds us of the current Krautrock scene in Germany from which ABACUS naturally took some elements. All in all, this is a fine, unpretentious album that should be listened to many times. The one deserving much more attention.