Search - Klaus Schulze :: X

X
Klaus Schulze
X
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, New Age, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (4) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (2) - Disc #2

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 »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Klaus Schulze
Title: X
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Import [Generic]
Release Date: 3/9/2004
Album Type: Import
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, New Age, Pop, Rock
Styles: Electronica, Progressive, Progressive Rock
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 042283362727

Synopsis

Album Description
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.

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CD Reviews

Wow!
RKL | Asheville, NC | 04/30/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."