Ash Ra Tempel's fourth LP marked something of a pause, a recap, especially after the surprising Seven Up (which featured
Timothy Leary as a guest). The temporary return of
Klaus Schulze also greatly contributes to this feeling of summation. The album features two side-long pieces that represent literally two sides of the band, the Krautrock and
space music incarnations. "Freak 'n' Roll" is a 19-minute hard-hitting jam, with
Schulze bashing away behind the drums and
Manuel Göttsching churning some mean guitar riffs while
Harmut Enke ploughs heavy basslines. The track is actually an excerpt from a longer
improvisation and begins with a fade in that throws the listener in the middle of an already heated session. Long but hardly long-winded, this track deserves a place alongside
Can's "You Do Right" and
Faust's "Krautrock": it has the drive, the
psychedelic appeal, and the creativity of what epitomized the Krautrock style in the minds of young Englishmen and Americans for a while. The 24-minute "Jenseits" sees
Schulze at the Synthi A and the organ, weaving dreamy drones and uplifting chords for
Göttsching to doodle over.
Enke's lines are not always as relevant as one would wish, and
Rosi Mueller's soft-spoken narration seems to get in the way during the first few minutes -- in short, this is not
Ash Ra Tempel at their ethereal best, but it's still a fine exercise in late-night musical dreaming that will appeal to fans of Phaedra-era
Tangerine Dream while not misrepresenting that aspect of the group's work. And put together, those two pieces make a very fine introduction to the first few years of
Ash Ra Tempel. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide
