WELCOME TO LPCDREISSUES
Customers who bought this also bought:
On The Rocks was the third album by German group Arktis and marked a considerable change from the exploratory psychedelic rock of their earlier recordings. Following a major change of personnel, singer Karin Töppig and drummer Harry Kottek continued with guitarist Manni Dick, keyboard player Axel Maurer and bassist Bernd Kolf.
The revised line-up developed a more direct mixture of progressive rock and hard rock, characterised by strong female vocals, prominent electric guitar and a firmer, more conventional song structure. Although the shorter tracks move towards melodic mid-1970s rock, the musicians retain the improvisational energy and instrumental weight associated with the German underground.
“Dangerous Love” opens the album with forceful guitar and Karin Töppig’s commanding vocals. “Since You’ve Been Gone” and “Never Come Back” combine melodic vocal sections with extended lead-guitar passages, while “Please, Call Me” introduces keyboards more prominently into the group’s heavy rock sound.
The centrepiece is the twenty-minute “Loneliness.” Beginning with a spacious and restrained atmosphere, the composition develops through long instrumental sections, changes of intensity and extensive guitar and keyboard improvisation. It is the clearest connection between the concise hard-rock songs on this album and the more expansive approach of the earlier Arktis recordings.
The original album was privately released in a very small edition and largely disappeared into collectors’ circles. This Garden of Delights CD adds “Y.T.T.,” an additional recording from the same period, and includes historical documentation of the group and its changing line-ups.
Track Listing