Search - Can :: Soon Over Babaluma

A further step beyond "Future Days"

mianfei | 11/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Following 1973's brilliant Future Days, Damo Suzuki left Can to become a Jehavah's Witness and guitarist Karoli and keyboardist Schmidt took over what vocals there were.



On "Soon Over Babaluma", Can showed that they had not suffered from the loss of Suzuki. Indeed, the soft, yet intense sound of that album is carried even further here. The opening track, "Dizzy Dizzy" may seem a little humorous in its lyrical tone, but Karoli's quiet, almost spoken, voice is actually an excellent complement to the band's evolving sound. The funky groove shows the band moving into territory not seen even on Future Days. The other track sang by Karoli, the eleven-minute epic "Chain Reaction" is even better. Can move toward "ambient" rhythms long before any other band and because they are not over-relying on synthesisers, they are able to capture this sound in an organic way that never allows any instrumentalist to dominate.



"Come Sta, La Luna", sang by Schmidt, has a deeply mystical tone with its keyboard sound reminiscent of a church organ and Schmidt's voice resembling a religious chant in the chorus and a child's voice in the verses. Karoli's guitar, when it comes in, was both dense and passionate. It was all done, though, with such passion as to be remarkably memorable, whilst the closer "Quantum Physics" is a really beautiful, cryptic piece described by "The Rough Guide" as a "vapour trail". "Splash", though attractive initially, does not have the quality of the other four pieces because the focus on keyboards and woodwinds veers rather close to late Soft Machine. Nonetheless, this is not enough to deny that Can were one of the most innovative and unique bands of the 1970s or that their rediscovery in the past fifteen years is a boon for music lovers in general. "Soon Over Babaluma" shows them at close to the height of their powers and is recommended for all music lovers."

No lead singers this time, and it still didn't hurt the band

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 05/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After Future Days was released, Damo Suzuki left and became a member of the Jehovah's Witness (who his wife he just married belonged to). This left the four core Can members, Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Irmin Schmidt, and Jaki Liebezeit to continue on without the benefit of a lead singer. Vocals duties now to Karoli and Schmidt, but much of it more emphasizes the instrumental side of the band.



Once again, the band did something yet different again, not repeating themselves. Ege Bamyasi was not Tago Mago Part II, Future Days was not Ege Bamyasi Part II. Likewise Soon Over Babaluma was not Future Days Part II. Apparently Irmin Schmidt started to acquire some synthesizers (at least it sounds like it to my ears) as well as even a real piano, which I thought was wecomed additions to the Can sound. "Dizzy Dizzy" has the pulsing repetitive sound, while "Come Sta, La Luna" is a real odd one with spoken voices, some Italian and Spanish influences. Next is "Dizzy", which is the band's exploration in to fusion, with Michael Karoli giving some extended violin solos, while Irmin Schmidt gives us some interesting keyboard work. "Chain Reaction" has an almost techno-like feel, but has some great guitar solos and is quite intense throught, it doesn't let up! Then comes "Quantum Physics", which is a much more experimental piece, with Jaki Liebezeit experimenting in percussion, before the band goes in to ambient territory, some of it actually bordering on New Age. Soon Over Babaluma was their last album for United Artists, and is regarded by some as their last essential album, or viewed by others as their first sign of decline, but I hadn't notice the decline here. The only post-Babaluma album I have is Saw Delight, which finds the band exploring disco, but while not bad, is rather uneven (but supposedly nowhere as bad as their following, Out of Reach). Soon Over Babaluma shows that Can kept delivering the goods even if Damo is now gone. Great stuff and highly recommended."