Fossilium Catalogus ii Plantae 72

Amon Düül was a German art commune whose members began producing improvisational psychedelic rock music during the late '60s. The group's members released several albums, mostly recorded during a single extended jam session. Concurrently, some of the commune's more musically inclined members formed the longer-lasting Amon Düül II, who made their debut with 1969's Phallus Dei and continued releasing ambitious efforts such as 1971's Tanz der Lemminge and the more pop-minded Made in Germany (1975). Both acts proved to be a major influence on generations of experimental rock musicians to come and are regarded as pioneers of the Krautrock style.

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.

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.

Sonny Boy Williamson was, in many ways, the ultimate blues legend. By the time of his death in 1965, he had been around long enough to have played with Robert Johnson at the start of his career and Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Robbie Robertson at the end of it. In between, he drank a lot of whiskey, hobo'ed around the country, had a successful radio show for 15 years, toured Europe to great acclaim, and simply wrote, played, and sang some of the greatest blues ever etched into Black phonograph records. His delivery was sly, evil and world-weary, while his harp-playing was full of short, rhythmic bursts one minute and powerful, impassioned blowing the next. His songs were chock-full of mordant wit, with largely autobiographical lyrics that hold up to the scrutiny of the printed page. Though he took his name from another well-known harmonica player, no one really sounded like him.

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.