Week of November 15, 1998
Album:
Ikarus 1971 Plus4/Millner Int.
CD Reissue: Second Battle SB032, 1995
Ikarus were one of the first German progressive jazz-rock fusion bands and had a very varied sound. The band was led by Jochen Petersen (guitar, sax, flute, clarinet, vocals), who later produced many a Brain album. The others were: Wulf Dichter Struntz (organ, piano), Manfred Schulz (guitar, vocals), Wolfgang Kracht (bass, vocals), Lorenz Kohler (vocals) and Bernd Schroder (drums, percussion). Their album comprised complex arrangements and melancholic melodies inspired by early King Crimson. Ikarus also adapted that group's talent for building up long tracks from several individually subtitled themes. Their lyrics critically scrutinised the behaviour of mankind with a particular focus on our darker sides. Nowadays the original vinyl copy of this album is very hard to get hold of, but is still the cheapest of the three albums on the Plus label.
Taken from Cosmic Dreams at Play - A guide to German Progressive and
Electronic Rock by Dag Erik Asbjørnsen, Borderline Productions, ISBN
1-899855-01-7