Backdoor Brtides

Formed in Berlin in 1968, Birth Control were known for a progressive hard rock sound fused will elements of jazz, psychedelia and Krautrock. A surreal concept work from 1976 recorded by legendary producer Conny Plank, Backdoor Possibilities arguably marked their final creative peak, combining rock, jazz and avant-garde stylings with intricate polyrhythmic textures and lyrical nods to Faust and Odysseus. This expanded double disc edition has been remastered by Zeus B. Held and features three bonus live tracks recorded in Korbach on 1 May 1977, as well as a bonus live disc taped at the famous Sartory Saal in Cologne on 24 September 1976.

Backdoor Possibilities emerges as a rather fragmented and patchy concept album about a businessman who becomes trapped in an elevator with death himself, who, in turn, tries to convince the man that life is more important than schedules and the blandness of everyday ordinance. With 14 tracks that mostly fall under the five-minute range, Birth Control's main story line loses its grasp quickly, but the music itself almost instantly takes over and blurs the band's allegorical idea, replacing it with detours of jazz- and rock-styled excursions. The album arises as an art rock piece with progressive rock penchants surrounding the perimeter, using a multitude of peculiar instruments like finger cymbals, congas, sand blocks, and sonor drums to instill the abstractness of the intentioned concept…