A Ii. Vilaghaboru Kepekben

Several years after the original art rock supergroup Colosseum disbanded, drummer Jon Hiseman formed Colosseum II, a more jazz fusion-oriented outfit featuring guitarist Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy) and keyboardist Don Airey. Their eclectic debut, Strange New Flesh, shows some impressive chops from all involved, with an emphasis on Moore's soulful guitar leads. Vocalist Mike Starr, while not an immensely engaging singer, does a nice job keeping up with Hiseman and bass player Neil Murray. Highlights include the technically showy but blissfully irreverent ode to Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moog," a nice version of Joni Mitchell's "Down to You," and the funky "Gemini and Leo."

Electric Light Orchestra Part II was formed in 1988 by drummer Bev Bevan, a founding member of the original ELO, the successful progressive pop group led by frontman Jeff Lynne from 1971 into the mid-1980s. After Lynne officially dissolved the band, Bevan assembled a new line-up including vocalist Neil Lockwood, keyboardist Eric Troyer and bassist Pete Haycock to tour under the Electric Light Orchestra banner; Lynne soon filed suit against the group, the resulting settlement appending the "Part II" tag to any new albums or live performances. One Night is a live album recorded and released by ELO Part II. The concert was recorded on 18-19 March 1995 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia while the band was on tour. It was called One Night since ELO Part II was in Australia only for one night. The album's official release was UK, 1996 2 CD and US, May 20, 1997 1 CD. This album contains a lot of ELO's greatest hits performed live. This release are taken from the same 1995 show.

Released in 1974, Amon Düül II's Hijack is not frequently (if ever) regarded as one of their better albums. In fact, author Ingmar Schrober gives it a few scant sentences in Tanz der Lemmings, his biography of the band published in 1979. For the most part, this critical dismissal is accurate - fans and critics seem to agree for once - most of what's here is unfocused, very polished, meandering psych prog that goes nowhere. But Hijack is significant in the band's history, and perhaps for posterity as well, for three reasons. The first of these is that the recording of this album signalled a short-lived reunion of sorts for most of the members of the original Amon Düül - vocalist Renate Knaup-Kroetenschwanz, guitarist/vocalist Chris Karrer, guitarist John Weinzierl, drummer Peter Leopold…

By 1976, Amon Düül II had transitioned from a highly experimental unit to an almost traditional pop-rock act, with lyrics sung in English and a decidedly (and unexpectedly) rockist approach to songwriting. New members Stefan Zauner (keys) and Klaus Ebert (guitar and bass) contributed the majority of the songs, adding to the stark newness of the sound. While this album has its share of exciting moments, it is not a typical Amon Duul album, and will probably be best enjoyed by completists.

The second album by Amon Düül II, 1970's Yeti, is their first masterpiece, one of the defining early albums of Krautrock. A double album on vinyl, Yeti consists of a set of structured songs and a second disc of improvisations. It's testament to the group's fluidity and improvisational grace that the two albums don't actually sound that different from each other, and that the improvisational disc may actually be even better than the composed disc. The first disc opens with "Soap Shop Rock," a 12-minute suite that recalls King Crimson's early work in the way it switches easily between lyrical, contemplative passages and a more violent, charging sound, and continues through a series of six more songs in the two- to six-minute range, from the ominous, threatening "Archangels Thunderbird" (featuring a great doomy vocal by mono-named female singer Renate) to the delicate, almost folky acoustic tune "Cerberus"…

Made In Germany was a real musical transformation for Amon Düül II. If you took this album, and ADII's first album "Phallus Dei" and played them both for an unknowing listener, they would never even suspect it was the same band! The songs like "Ludwig" have an almost Beatlesesque quality to them (albeit on much more drugs). Ambitious vocal harmony arrangements, pristine production values, orchestral flourishes… Amon Duul? Anyway, this album is a masterwork of a completely different sort than their earlier releases, so naturally many fans will not still be onboard at this point. Short, vaguely Floydian spacy instrumental breaks replace the full-on sonic assaults of yore, and the main feature is… songs. Beautiful, sometimes achingly melancholic, sometimes witty and humorous, always honed like a gem; this is top-notch songwriting without ever losing ADII's keen eye for ambition.

"Utopia" is a studio project by Olaf Kübler and Lothar Meid. Because it featured several regular members of AMON DÜÜL II (including Chris Karrer and John Weinzierl), it has usually been regarded as part of the DÜÜL discography, and, indeed, the CD reissue credits the album to AMON DÜÜL II…