Search - Triumvirat :: Russian Roulette

An awful album

zapelini | Florianópolis, Santa Catarina Brazil | 03/07/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is by far the worst thing Triumvirat has ever made. "A La Carte", the former album, was a solid pop-rock effort. But this album has nothing to offer to a Triumvirat fan. The band was only keyboard wizard Jürgen Fritz and lead singer Arno Steffen. All other instruments were played by session men (including members of Toto). Nothing wrong with the instrumental, but the vocals are terrible, and all songs are uninspired. Buy it only if you are a completist."

Triumvirat: Not An ELP Clone

G.T. Tyson IV | 11/10/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Triumvirat came roaring out of Germany in the 1970s as Capitol's answer to Emerson Lake & Palmer. The similar instrumentation lineup- organ, drums, bass/vocals- did seem somewhat derivative of ELP, but Triumvirat took the format and made their own unique brand of art rock over four albums. They fell into the trap so many 70s prog-rock bands got caught up in: excellent musicianship, wonderful talent but not much in the way of sales. But with "A La Carte" Triumvirat attempted to diverge into a more radio-friendly pop sound. This album is miles away from "Spartacus" or "Pompeii", but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Their cover of Brian Wilson's "Darlin'" on this album should have gotten some airplay, but didn't. This is an interesting illustration of what happens when a band deliberately departs from their original established style specifically to pick up some radio action. Such strategies hardly ever work, but "A La Carte" is a noble experiment towards that end."