Amon Düül II- Archangel Thunderbird (First Listen) 

Holy shit you are covering Amon Düül II.

First off happy birthday Justin! Half my age! Amon Duul II are superb - been waiting for you to do some Krautrock - more please. Krautrock is a genre from Germany in basically the 70s - very experimental. The various bands can be very different - Amon Duul II, Can, Faust, Neu, Kraftwerk on the more avant-garde side, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze electronic, and bands like Grobschnitt, Novalis in a more prog rock vein. Lots to go at and discover. Have a good day. Peter.

Oh my gosh, now you're getting into deep prog. I only bought one Amon Duul II album: "Wolf City". I liked it a lot, but never heard their other material and didn't buy it. If you listen to more Amon Duul II I suggest "Wolf City" it will be a very different experience. Creative, obtuse, interesting. Worth a listen but not something you'll put on your play list. Hypnotic and psychedelic so monitor your drugs. The hypnotic trance of "Wolf City" is effective. I also liked the last 12-14 minutes. You have wonder.... why did they sing in English? Sigur Ros doesn't make that mistake. But Amon Duul is not something you can listen to one track at a time. It was created as an uninterrupted swell of acoustic environment.

Hi. Amon Duul II (two). Brilliant album. One of the best!

Amon Düül 2 is krautrock at its finest.

I've always liked Amon Düül II but it's a long time since I've listened to them, nice that you've done one of theirs. Another great German band from that time that I like is Frumpy. The fact that a lot of British and American troops were based in Germany meant that a lot of bands played concerts and toured there which made Germany a big part of the birth of prog. I've got lots of prog CD's on the German 'Repertoire Records' label, they reissued loads prog bands albums in great packaging. Another great choice Justin.

I absolutelly love Amon Duul II. They are one of these bands one have to persist until they "clic" (that is, when you "get" them)- like Hawkwind or even Van der Graaf Generator and ... Bjork... Radiohead. I understood these bands by leaving their albuns playing over and over in the background. It took me a while to understand "OK Computer" ( that I absolutelly love) for example. When they "clic", everything gets in the right place. ( On the other hand some bands never "clic" for me, like "Dream Theater" and "Porcupine Tree"- and I tried) AND Amon Duul II is an "album" band. Each album is a trip to be listened from beginning to end. Maybe "Wolf CIty" is the best place to start , then "Tans of the Lemmings". For me, "Yeti" would come third. But I, particulary love all their discography. "Made in Germany" is an extremelly underrated wonderful gem. One gets used to their idiossincracies and dissonant cacophonies they produce. Its a very strange trip.

This is my first listen too... You were spot on with your description.

Thanks for the birthday two-fer, JP. I feel like this is elementary school, it's your birthday and you're supplying all the treats! I appreciate all you do. Have a great birthday! 🎂🤘

They made a very big impression on a friend back in those days, so there was no escaping it some days. This one survived being 'over-sold' 😉 What a good find by you. Bravely endured, and thoughtfully tackled. Thank you.

Good reaction! I am looking forward to The Knife from Trespass. I can't wait to hear your reaction to my favorite Genesis song.

So Justin: what I love doing is going back and watching your reviews that I've never seen before!! I was listening to Carpet of the Sun on my walk the other night and wondered if you have done a reaction to MY FAVORIITE RENAISSANCE SONG: MIDAS MAN!! I didn't see it anywhere but what I did see was what I think to be your BEST REACTION SO FAR!!! ASES ARE BURNIING!! ACCORDING TO YOU: THE PERFECT SONG!!! It is quite AWESOME isn't it?? But your reaction was PRICELESS!! When you turned SIDEWAYS in your chair I knew I was in for a great one!! Your musical breakdowns are so beautifully articulate!!! Very appreciated!! I hope you know that!!!! And I so much agree they are SO UNDER APPRECIATED!! DEFINITELY TOP TEN PROG BANDS!!! I'm so glad you and I have such great musical tastes in common!!! My ex- wife hated YES AND OLD- GENESIS!! She used to say: turn that sh** Off!!! Thank god my boys appreciate great musicianship!!! Lol!! Just wanted to let you know!!!! Please do Midas Man and ANNIES version of Turn of the Century with Steve Howe!! I know you told me you've heard it before but I'm sure there's quite a few who haven't!!! Don't forget all my other requests like Suzanne Vega- Last Years Troubles, GRACE DARLING by the Strawbs and so on and so on!!!! Love what you do and I hope you had a Great Birthday too!!! Peace to you and yours!! And your cool cat too!!! Lol your #1 AZ FAN!! Michael😊😊😊😊

If you’re going to dip your toe in the waters of Kraut rock I would suggest the band Birth Control’s album titled “Operation”. Some excellent music on that album. Great Guitars, great Hammond organ, great singer, great drummer. Just great! 👍🏻😃

Hi Justin ; how amazing it is that you came to this band ! " pioneers of the West German krautrock scene " ( Amon Düül II came from the split of the musical & experimental Band : Amon Düül ( and community , if I remember well ) ; those who create A D II wanted more structured rock music ) I got their 2nd 3rd 4th & 5th album - Yeti , Tanz Der Lemminge , Carnaval InBabylon , Wolf City , shortly after their release from 1970 to 1973 . I have spend lot of time listening those vinyles when I was 16 to 20 y o ; and Renate Knaup singing . Justin , please , take an ear to : "A Tab In The Ocean" , from the band "Nektar" ( British band - Roye Albrighton R.I.P. - who recorded their first albums in Germany ) Other news : the band Wobbler is coming to the end of recording their 5th album -> " The Norwegian Symphonic Prog band Wobbler are working on the fifth album and to keep the fans up to date, they are publishing the story of making of part by part. To date, the seven videos are available on -> Lars Fredrik Frøislie‘s RU-vid: " Have a good day .

This is my favorite song by them. The music (sans vocals) sounds like it could’ve been on Soundgarten’s “Badmotorfinger.”

maybe the song takes place in a very dystopian land. When the everywhere-eye Asks you who is the emperor of the sky Take the archangel's thunderbird maybe archangel thunderbird is the sick ruler of this world and the everywhere eye is his scouts that keeps the place in order, make sure no one formulates an opinion or rebels. People are smart so when the everywhere asks who runs the place (emperor of the sky), they say the Archangel Thunderbird as to not seem suspicious. the second verse is when the main guy who wants answer starts seeking answers. Go to Edgar Allen in the tower of sleep He'll tell you a story which makes you to creep The echo of your cries is falling so deep maybe Edgar Allen represents a figure who knew what life was like and the tower of sleep is a very lazy place like a bar or retirement house. So Edgar tells main guy about life before Archangel (a story) and then main guy looks for answers (makes you to creep). The main guy comes to a point to where he can't find any answers so he cries in despair but no one cares in this world so they ignore him (echo of your cries is falling so deep). third verse takes a weird turn and this is gonna be rough. Rent a destroyer and sail to Cape Cod There lives a lion, they call him God There is no elevator to Eden, but a hole in the sky Cape Cod is probably a undiscovered place like it was prior to the pilgrims getting to America. So maybe main guy gets tired of this land and escapes. He finds a Lion (which are usually symbols of bravery and boldness) and remembers that they call him God. Maybe the lion was like Main guy and wanted answers but was banished from the land Main guy is from, so to the few people who wanted change in this dystopia, he was a God. "There is no elevator to Eden, but a hole in the sky". an elevator usually takes someone with ease up to somewhere and heaven is usually referred to being in the sky. But getting to paradise (Eden) is a near impossible task because there's a hole in the sky. Holes are usually referred down, to the ground, while in this case, it's being used to point at the sky. So in order to get to this hole in the sky, one would literally have to either built a tower, or flip gravity. Maybe that's the tower of Sleep; people who wanted to get to paradise but got lazy and the tower ended up being used to sleep in. This is all a stretch but I'm having fun damn it so leave me alone. fourth verse probably talks about the people turned into brainless sheep. In shock-corridors People are standing With their eyes in their hands If we take the first 2 lines seriously, there are people just standing in corridors that shock them, but these people don't care. They have their eyes in their hands, so they're blinding themselves to the problems around them and are being good dogs. Why are they're being shocked? Beats me but maybe the shock is suppose to remind them that they are nothing. the fifth verse, i honestly have no idea what it could mean here i go. But they don't understand Don't get that your confessional Flare into the vaulting flight of stairs Main guy tries to tell the people about this dystopia but they don't want to hear his conspiracies. a confessional is a building inside a church where one confuses their sins to a priest, so maybe that's important? I dunno, the grammar of line 2 is weird. If she had sung, "Don't get that INTO your confessional" then this would make more sense. In this world, if you're going to have secrets, keep them to yourself and never tell a soul. Maybe the flare into the vaulting flight of stairs is to keep things in order, don't get out line. (You can tell I love this song). the sixth and final verse talks about possible uprising. Baiting soldiers sleeping in melting house of wax Why is the audience not taking the insurrection-axe Thousands of windows burst open And alarm bells are broken The everywhere eyes or soldiers of Archangel are sleeping in a barracks when suddenly the population uproars (like a lion???) and sets it one fire, causing the soldiers to melt cause all they are are plastic puppets. The audience are the people just watching this and not taking any action and main guy presents this as a question as to WHY they won't help. The windows bursting opening are more people watching this uproar from the comfort of their house and the alarm bells are being broken by the revolutionaries. I know this is a very rough interpretation of this song but I tried to formulate a meaning to this. Argue or debate with me if you want, i spent an hour writing this shit good night.

Killer track

All their early albums are great, though I highly recommend Wolf City and Viva La Trance. The track Mozambique is sinister AF.

I love Amon Duul 2 - they are fantastic - but definitely at the hippy end of Krautrock - Or Rock Kosmische (Cosmic Rock) as it was known in Germany. Their lead singer was also a violinist - which you can hear on this track - but it is hard to distinguish from the lead. You need a deeper dive into their world IMO. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Between Amon Duul and Amon Duul II there are about 29 albums that have wormed their way into my collection. They definitely grow on you...

As obscure as this group probably is to most - I borrowed this album off a friend back in the mid-70's . Yes - its very psychedelic throughout - was pretty good what we called 'head music' . Parts of it remind me a lot of Syd Barret days of Pink Floyd , especially Saucerful of Secrets . Good example would be the track Yeti Talks to Yogi . Personally the track on this album that I played the most - with or without 'assistance' back then , was Eye Shaking King Perhaps its time to return to more U.K. - feel as though you're a little overdue to experience more of their virtuosity .

I had to go spelunking into the 1-off section of my CD collection see if I had any of their music; nope, nearest was Anekdoten which is a Swedish rock band. Thanks for the exposure to them, you don't hear a lot of women singing in this kind of music.

wow this one was a long time ago.. you really should give a try to the Wolf City album as a lot of the comments here have suggested. The titular track is iconic, my personal favourite is Jail-House Frog, but the entire album has an incredible soundscape you might enjoy.

Hadn't heard that before. You gotta love some crunchy guitar driven krautrock.

Aaah, Amon Düül II, a guilty pleasure of my youth. In there with Hawkwind and early Magma.

Try the Krautrock Band GROBSCHNITT!. Rockpommel's Land :) There were loads of great Krautrock Bands out there. Jane, Birth Control, Can, Grobschnitt, Faust, Embryo, Guru Guru, Kraan, Popol Vuh...

Nice, doing some krautrock here, yeah! I've actually never listened to Amon Düül II even though I know they're one of the biggest krautrock bands. Pretty cool. I like the mood. Krautrock's like a specific type of garage rock/jam bands that sometimes gets proggy, sometimes proto-electronica, sometimes ambient. Most doesn't exactly hold my attention but it can make for some really chill music to have in the background since they get into really unique moods even if repetitive. They really like the "less is more" aesthetic, and dense, like you said. I'm sure there's some krautrock connoisseurs here and it'd be worth exploring a few choice tracks. I'd definitely be happy to explore more myself if you do more. But totally understand if it doesn't seem like your thing. HOWEVER, one of my favorite bands of all time is a krautrock band I would highly recommend if you up for being /totally/ weirded out: Faust - either one of their first two albums, but the first is the most most amazing. Their debut self-titled album is like literally nothing else ever, brilliantly defies the distinction between music and not-music (and I normally don't have patience for pure noise-type stuff). It's like a musical story (listen to it in the dark!). Their second album "So Far" is more song based, but it's almost like a parody of music and also a truly unrepeatable series of musical inspirations. Edit: Oh, and I just noticed - Happy birthday, JP! Hope you do something fun :)

I hope you'll one day listen to their album "Wolf City". It's one of my all time favorites albums. From this album also listen to "Soap Shop Rock". It's a killer song.

Good track to showcase the band is "Green Bubble Raincoated Man" of the album WOLF CITY, excellent. You are in my territory now Justin, nearer the edge.

Happy birthday Justin. Have I mentioned Nektar?

Now we're talking. The dank stuff.

Yeti is one of my alltime favorite Albums. You really really really should listen to the whole Album. The Songs feels way different if you listen to the album and it comes on

You take me back to my youth with this band. I more or less liked them but there were other Krautrock bands that I liked more. Now we’re in the Krautrock genre, I can recommend the band Grobschnitt. The albums Rockpommels Land, Solar Music Live, are classics. Can with the album Saw Delight

70s prog? Wow that sounded like some current garage bands ,especially the guitars ,who stray into the psych end of things. I’m thinking of Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall or King Gizzard. I enjoyed that!

If you're interested in Kraut Rock, you should try The Can - something off their Monster Movie album but I suggest you don't start with a long track!

1970 and it sounds more punk than punk.

Thanks for the newbie! Edgy, nice opening with the drums, he or she is the star of the cut for me. Not much on the vocals. Happy Bday young Man! Have you done any Atomic Rooster? If not, I dare you to try Death Walks Behind You. Carl Palmer on drums, before ELP.

Surprised you have encountered Krautrock yet, I assumed that someone would have recommended it you already. You're in for quite the musical journey. If someone hasn't mentioned Agitation Free, you should definitely check them out. I'd recommend "You Play for Us Today" of their first album or "Laila" off their second.

Can't believe you found Amon Duul Singer out Geddys Geddy Lee lol Prefer some of their wholly instrumental stuff Worth exploring them and more "krautrock" as mentioned below Density is a good descriptor for it Others in the genre for ya would be CAN and on the keyboard/synth side....Tangerine Dream Enjoy

I recall having Amon Düül II's 1973 album Utopia long ago, and never noticed it missing from my collection, perhaps because of all its repetitious jazz themes. The only album track I might have found interesting is "Deutsch Nepal", perhaps because I was studying German at the time.

Hablas español soy fan de Amon Duull

My English teacher admitted to being their road manager, it was probably true, but really, not a band on our radar in 1978, time is very compressed when you're young so it seemed a decade before, where as it was probably only 4 or 5 years before. All we knew was the band liked Lemmings.

The singer sounds like Geddy Lee :)

I love AD as far as I remember they were a kind of loose musicians collective from Germany? Unless my memory deceives me (if you can remember you weren't there lol😂)Yep, the seventies are a bit vague😚...

If you are doing Krautrock you have to listen to Can. I'd start with Future Days. Amazing song. Can are a essential listen.

Also, if you enjoyed Amon, you should check out the other amazing great European/German bands from that time. Geru Geru, Faust, CAN, NEU!, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream (i might be wrong but i believe that Tangerine Dream wrote the soundtrack to GTA 5), Popol Vuh, Cluster.

Don't know much about this band but a mate of mine was heavily into them, he played me some stuff once although I loved the instrumentation never went head over the hills on the vocals although what I heard sounded vocaly very different from this one, this sound very Geddy Lee on vocals but I'm not sure if I like it or not maybe more listens, only German bands I really listen to is Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Rammstein all worth a listen.

you should listen to amon düül 2's "kismet" often sampled by rappers

I was wondering the same thing, male of female. I like the vocals when he went high, sounded whiny but in a good way. Overall, I have to agree with your assessment of the song, not a bad song, not a great song, somewhere in the middle.

Hmmm.... not sure abt singing, but it sorta worked. Some more?

Dance of the Lemmings is my favourite album. Amazing band, only second to Hawkwind and Gong

Amon Duul what does it mean

You can always find something nice to say about anything, which is quite charming. My only positive thought was 'at least it was over quickly'. But the next video that popped up was them playing live, which was far more compelling (especially when there were no vocals going on). Good drummer, too.

Listen to Vive le trance for a different Amon dull sound

Nearest thing to "Pronk" that I've heard since Cardiacs.

Please, check out "Darkness: Flowers Must Die" by Ash Ra Tempel, another great German band from the Seventies.

quiero saber que quiere Decir Amon Duul

Que uniere decir Amon Duul

Hey Justin My Man!! Krautrock!! Very intersting!! This sounded like a garage band version of some Jefferson Airplane right?? Funny you mention the lyrics! I couldn't even figure out what she was singing!! Lol! Let alone what the words meant! In my opinion: something similar to yours: it wasn't horrible but it sure wasnt that good either!! Just wierd!! Time to get back to some REAL QUALITY PIECES DONT YOU THINK??LOL

Amon Duul II tend to do a lot of lengthy jams. I doubt you’d find much that you’d like from them to be honest. I like long jams so I enjoy Amon Duul II music. It’s perhaps an acquired taste at best and a complete NO at worst. Only you can decide. Good luck. 😃👍🏻

First listen for me, not too bad but unfortunately the singers voice is terribly grating to me. But thanks for the exposure to some new music!

Weird Kräutrock

Que quiere decir Amon Duull

Renate Knaup's vocal take on this song is so crazy. To me it's the most distinctive thing about it. It's like she's trying to get as close as she can to sending the melody off a cliff, without totally losing her grip on it. Brings a lot of tension to the recording. This is probably my favorite track by a band that has never really clicked with me. Prog gets a lot of flack for being long-winded and self-indulgent, but the thing I appreciate about bands like Yes and Genesis and King Crimson is that I feel like they really, deeply want to hold my attention through their whole 20-minute epic and they're using every trick in the book to do so. Amon Düül II, though, really does feel to me long-winded and self-indulgent in the way those other bands are accused of. They're a bunch of weirdos who live together in a commune, and they're not going to make any special effort to see to it that I, the listener, will be entertained all the way through their latest 2-LP jam session.

Germanic rock, hmm. Interestinck, but fuzzy. Can’t say I know nuthing... love Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. These guys and gal in Amon were fairly good for 1970, I was entertained. Archangel Thunderbird seems a mashup of myths and religious legends tossed in the musical blender. Didn’t really like the vocals... sorry Lady Geddy, but it was fun first listening with the birthday boy. Too bad you didn’t dig it more. Oh well, worth a try. Tangerine Dream, Stratosphear album is excellent along with the movie soundtrack Sorcerer (which was my introduction to the band, watching the intense scenes). Kraftwerk, Autobahn and The Model. Enjoy your day, be safe, Peace and Germanic Rock Music

This time German prog, next time maybe Finnish? You know what song. 😃🙋‍♂️

There was a radio program on a long time called "Rock Around the World". Amon Duul ( I think Amon Duul II was a second incarnation ) was featured in an episode. Liked a lot of what I heard, but couldn't get a hold of anything since they were a German band. Then when I finally did find something.......wasn't really anything I liked.

I'd heard of them but never heard them. I also like the instrumental sound and the drums, but I'm super picky about vocals and can live without her efforts on this one. I think the lyrics are also improvised and seem to reference Edgar Allan Poe at one point, so maybe some kind of bad trip, angels and demons thing going on, but your guess is as good as mine.

Well .. someone has to do it and say the F-Word .... FRUMPY! "Duty" or "How the Gypsy was born"

speak Spanish friend

Amon Duul what does it mean