Originally released in September of 1978, Klaus Schulze?s X (tenth album) cemented Schulze on the forefront of both avant-garde composers as well as one of the absolute masters of the synthesizer. X is a series of musical ... more »biographies to the contributions of Nietzsche, Trakl, Herbert, Bach, Kleist and Ludwig II and was originally spread out amongst the four sides of a double LP. This new release is a careful transfer from the original analogue master tapes and contains the full length versions of all recordings, some of which were previously edited to fit the LP format. A remarkable live version of Objet d'Louis is added as a bonus track, recorded in September ?78 with backing from a Belgian classical young people?s orchestra.« less
Originally released in September of 1978, Klaus Schulze?s X (tenth album) cemented Schulze on the forefront of both avant-garde composers as well as one of the absolute masters of the synthesizer. X is a series of musical biographies to the contributions of Nietzsche, Trakl, Herbert, Bach, Kleist and Ludwig II and was originally spread out amongst the four sides of a double LP. This new release is a careful transfer from the original analogue master tapes and contains the full length versions of all recordings, some of which were previously edited to fit the LP format. A remarkable live version of Objet d'Louis is added as a bonus track, recorded in September ?78 with backing from a Belgian classical young people?s orchestra.
"I picked up this deluxe edition for a very good price and I was blown away by the sheer brilliance of this man. A keyboard lover's wet dream to say the least. Washes of mellotron, synthesizers, drums and percussion, strings(real strings!) with the strings sounding like synthesizers at times. Sound quality is very good. A detailed booklet/history/notes from Klaus himself. A must have for fans. Disc 1: 4 tracks/79.45. Disc 2/3 tracks/79.43. The label side of the cds look like lps complete with grooves. Digipack. I prefer Disc 1 over Disc 2 due to the fact that Disc 1 is harder edged, lots of Tangerine Dream stylings and faster paced. Disc 2 is a bit slower but brilliant nonetheless. You may hear some slight distortion in spots on Disc 2 since it is the louder of the two particularly on track 3/the bonus track. Very minor quibble however."
A magnificent, large-scale work by Klaus Schulze
Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 02/24/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Released in 1978, X (the tenth album by Klaus) is a magnificent album of electronica that features loads of spacey, gothic sounding analog synthesizers and subtly haunting moods. Based on the liner notes, the album was recorded as a score for a film (entitled Barracuda) so Klaus had a larger recording budget than normal. In fact, the extra finances were used to incorporate a string section here and there - it works very well and sections of the string parts were looped (i.e. via tape loop). Joining Klaus once again on a full drum kit was Harold Grosskopf - they work wonderfully together on this album.
Klaus plays an impressive assortment of analog synthesizers on this album including big moog synthesizer, PPG synthesizer and sequencer, minimoog, ARP odyssey, Korg poly synthi, Polymoog, EMS Synthi A, and Mellotron, in addition to various bits of percussion including tom toms and cymbals. I love the synth tone colors that Klaus selects on all of his albums, and they are just as warm and organic sounding on X even though some of the instruments were capable of fairly mechanical sounds. The mellotron use really works for me too and the sounds of the Korg and Polymoog are great. With respect to the other players, a cellist plays on Heinrich von Kleist, a violinist plays on Friedemann Bach and a small string orchestra is featured prominently on Ludwig II Von Bayern. The stringed instruments blend seamlessly with the banks of synthesizers and bring a very interesting (vaguely experimental/avant-garde) and haunting textural element to the music. There are also various tape effects and psychedelic flourishes here and there that add yet another layer.
The tracks on this album present musical "biographies" of sorts that are devoted to various figures from disciplines as varied as philosophy, literature and music. The pieces are extremely long and grand in both scale and texture, with many close to or over 20 minutes in length - two tracks last for nearly a half hour each (Ludwig II Von Bayern = 28:39 and Heinrich Von Kleist = 29:32). The shortest track lasts for "only" 10:51. Lengthy pieces like these were used heavily in minimalism, and X achieves a similarly hypnotic effect (for me at any rate) - this album is simply fantastic to listen to late at night on a good pair of headphones and become completely immersed in the sweeping soundscapes. Although all of his pieces were long, this (at the time double LP album) recording seems to pull out all of the stops.
This remastered, two-disc release by RevisitedRec (InsideOut) is simply amazing and features the pieces as they originally appeared on the original album with excellent sound quality, loads of informative liner notes, and glossy color photos of Klaus. The bonus track includes a live performance of Objet D'Louis featuring Klaus and an orchestra - the sound quality is "so-so" although the performance is excellent. Overall, this version of X is very much a "deluxe" package.
All in all, this is a remarkable work of electronica from Klaus Schulze and is very highly recommended along with Mirage (1977) and Timewind (1975)."
The Apex of Schulze
norman a. blardony | Philippines | 09/30/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Indeed this is an ambitious but highly successful album, a fullfillment of his vision, the peak of his brilliance in electronic music."
A fantastic album made better
x_bruce | 08/07/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The new material including the full version of "Georg Trakl" and the full orchestral version of "Ludwig II von Bayern" recorded live make this worth having. The two items are the length of many CDs, well over 50 total minutes, and the material is excellent.
Keep in mind this was originally recorded and written in 1978 this collection of epic songs inspired mostly by authors is not only vintage KS but perhaps is his defining moment in his early/mid career.
As a musician, I stole so many techniques and compositional ideas, some that I use today, and they as this album are contemporary. KS brings his drone technique with some drums which may seem tame but are very well played considering most drummers in 78' had very little clue how to play with a bunch of sequenced synthesizers. There are times even Klaus sounds lost although only he would know for sure. Those moments make this recording alive and in fact, there is a live feeling to "X" that is appealing.
For the keyboard geek there is a nice synthesizer list used on the album and some good pictures, particularly of the "Big Moog" which looks about 6 feet tall (although none I've used were more than 3 or 4 feet high). Also included is an article in semi-interview style which is interesting and useful for setting up how and why the "X" album was developed.
Historically, "X" made Klaus a international star, even though this was his tenth album! The CD quality is excellent, especially if you have the older CD release which misses a lot of this releases material and has a terrible remastered sound.
Things to listen for if you're not familiar with this masterful album:
1. note the sounds, many are still in use today, these were KS developed timbres which many musicians spent their developing years trying to copy.
2. the development of songs point to the concept used by post rock artists for the last ten years...perhaps more. That's because the song development is masterful but in due course owes a good deal to classical music forms
3. the unabashed willingness to use technology to define a new form of music is so aptly demonstrated on "X's" compositions that it's the first KS album I recommend to new listeners and people that are seriously considering doing solo work with synthesizers. It is important to remember that despite four or five synths playing sequences with KS playing drones and melody on top of them, this was fairly new to rock oriented listeners who helped this album deserve it's near-mythic status.
If you like synth music, if you like post rock such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor then you will find many of the forms they use and in many synth artists more than a few ideas that post date this album.
The fine packaging and sound make it a must have for KS fans and a great place to start for future fans."
Track Listings (4) - Disc #1
