EXCELLENT
William R. Nicholas | Mahwah, NJ USA | 03/18/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Agitation Free was a band that used a lot of electronics in the early 1970s when they put out albums on the Vertigo label.
As far as art rock, this is some of the most tasteful. Electronics are used to form the base for contained songs, which leave room for some fantastic guitar work and other dynamics. Never are the keyboards gaudy like in some more commercial prog, nor are they respectable minimalist excursions like Tangerine Dream. These are genuine creative explorations, without pretense, that never billy club a listener.
Excellent cutting edge 70s work--that still works."
AGITATION FREE members get agitated and SPLIT
W. T. Hoffman | Pennsylvania, United States | 02/13/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It's sad to think that the talent of this band never panned out. These guys were all very young, between 19 and 21 when the band was at its height, so perhaps they simply didnt have the maturity to make it work. Before their second album was recorded, their drummer was kicked out for heroin addiction. The replacement drummer was kicked out, right after this recording. (Lack of committment to the band.) Worse yet, the sense of adventure, and experimentation had considerably weakened at this point. Gone were those Arabic sound bits, and strange, inventive transistions between songs, found on the first album. Now, this doesnt mean their SECOND album is lackluster or boring, in any sense. If anything, it's focused a bit stronger on the jazz improvisation sound, found on the first album. The only two songs that dont sound like all the rest, were the last two songs on the second side of the album.....one was a sort of acoustic guitar and electric guitar strum piece. The album ends with HAUNTED HOUSE, based on an "Edgar Allen Poe" poem, recited (with proper german krautrock accent, of course) over a sort of synth/mellotron soundscape. From that point, the song adds the rest of the band, for a slow, dreamy prog number, with singing. This is the only song in their catalogue, with real lyrics. It's not my favorite song by far (LAILA would have that honor), but at least SECOND isnt too stylistically consistant, or too "pretty". This album could have been a transistional piece, for more albums in a jazz rock vein, or an experimental prog sound (like King Crimson or Zappa), but the band karma didnt have the unity or maturity. On SECOND, the sonic surprises were mostly gone, except for a few seconds of electronic bird "chirps" during the "Morning Sunrise" song. This album overall sound is much like the Grateful Dead, when they would noodle away at some laid back, modal jazz rock. Two guitar players, with slow, slippery melodic lines, played against keyboard washes, and a fairly good rythym section. I could almost call it reminiscent of the Allman Brothers too, during their "Mountain Jam" song, but with far less energy.
Nothing is bad about this album at all, and for fans of the first album, you'd more than likely enjoy this one as well. It's not KOSMISCHE ROCK, that Cosmic rock that Tangerine Dream, or Ash Ra Temple were experimenting in Berlin, by this time. Nor is the sound like the "hard rock" krautrock bands, that really sounded more like Spooky Tooth or Uriah Heep....bands like VIRUS, KATHAGO, DSCHINN, or FRUMPY. What really sets AGITATION FREE apart, and spares them from being dated, or obsolete, is that they never put trite, "trippy" nonsense lyrics to their songs, or attempted to copy more successful British bands. (like ELOY, or JANE were famous for.) They had their own style, and a certain sophistication of sound and direction. Many bands have lasted much longer, with far less than that. They will always be remembered as of one of the best bands in the Berlin Krautrock scene. For those who like the sound of the Grateful Dead's laid back jam sound (or song transistions), then you'd like this album by Agitation Free. There is one more "studio" album (LAST), but i've never heard anything that good about it. It only had two of the original members, and the sessions were hardly unified in sound, or quality. Beyond this CD, the best recommendation, are the two live albums, comprised of original members."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1