Sommerabend

Artist: Novalis
Label: Repertoire
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 4009910707920
ASIN: B0000086BF

Release Date: 2002-11-27

Sommerabend

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Tracks:

Aufbruch
Wundersche
Sommerabend/Wetterleuchten/Am Strand/Der Traum/Ein Neuer Tag/Ins Licht

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Album Description

1998 reissue on Repertoire of album by the romantic acousticGerman rock group, originally released on Brain Records in 1976. Contains all eight original tracks, including 'Aufbruch' and the six part title suite.

Customer Reviews:

A German summer evening dream.......2005-03-08

On the recommendation of my record dealer I bought this album--and wasn't sorry I did it one bit. If you like symphonic progressive rock, you have found your niche with Sommerabend (summer dream), a dreamy piece of German prog. Note: this is not Krautrock; that genre usually involves a spacier, more freak-outish musical theme (Amon Duul II and Ash Ra Tempel). Admittedly this is more guitar-driven and less keyboard dominated than one would expect for symphonic prog. Interestingly the titles tell a lot about what is going on: the first song is "Aufbruch" or `break-up', and it's the most aggressive of the tracks on this album. I love the synth/keyboard work throughout; it's very evocative of the early-mid seventies Pink Floyd. On "Wunderschatze" or `wonderful treasure' the tempo becomes folkier and more celestial in parts, but there is still room for some fine electic-guitar work in the song's middle. The title track has five parts: "Wetterleuchten" or `sheet lighting', "Am Strand" or `on the street', "Der Traum" or `the dream', "En neuer Tag" or `a new day', and "Ins Licht" or `in the light'. Finally, I also liked the fairy-like cover for this album-a perfect companion to the overall atmosphere conjured up by this fine band.

Pretty good German prog rock.......2003-10-27

Novalis was one of many symph bands to surface in Germany, like Eloy, Grobschnitt, Ramses, etc. They took their name from an 18th century poet whose pen name was Novalis. Sommerabend, released in 1976 on the green Brain label (one of the last titles on the green label, as 1976 was the year Brain turned to the more familiar orange label). This was their third album and often considered their high point. One thing worth noting is nothing on this album will blow you away. The music is pretty tame, no heavy aggressive passages, or Gentle Giant-like quirkiness here. What you have is a more laid-back version of the Eloy sound. The major difference here is the band chose to sing in German, which benefits them greatly (figuring out that singing in English on their 1973 debut, Banished Bridge didn't quite work out). So while people like Frank Bornemann from Eloy and Stefan Danielak (Wildschwein) of Grobschnitt frequently get criticized for their heavily accented English vocals, the two guys handing the vocals on Novalis on this album (that is guitarist Detlef Job and bassists Heino Schünzel) had totally avoided the criticisms of their English-singing counterparts. The opening cut, "Aufbruch" is the album's only instrumental cut. It's the album's shortest piece at over 9 minutes (there are only three cuts on this album). Nice organ and guitar work, the cut also features the occasional electronic effects. "Wunderschätze" features lyrics written from Novalis (the poet), but as I don't know German, it's hard telling what the poetry is about. Then the album closes with the side-length title track. For the most part, the music sticks in that Pink Floyd-like mid-tempo, with lots of spacy Roland string synths. It's only the fourth movement, "Ein Neuer Tag" that the tempo picks up with an energetic rocker, and is the only part of the title track where Lutz Rahn didn't use the string synths. But for the string synth passages, I find them quite pleasant, as I have always been a fan of the string synth. Nice album, but because it's a "play it safe" prog album, it doesn't reach the very top of my prog favorites, but it's still quite a worthwhile album.

Nice, very nice.......2003-10-03

Listening a couple of minutes to a prog-rock cd in a record shop cannot yield the final verdict. But I found that liking a cd at first exposure is usually sufficient (though not necessary) for keep on liking it. I liked Sommerabend at first exposure and now even more. I also listened to Novalis' Brandung but the sparkle didn't spring. As to German prog, Sommerabend and Popol Vuh's Aguirre/In the Gardens of Pharao top the list so far. As to German Heavy metal, its Axel Rudi Pell. Check him out! I didn't know myself that Heavy metal can actually be melodic.

Prog by numbers.......2003-06-21

It's worth digging a bit deeper into German prog, leave this one to the side unless you've already heard the band. There's nothing actually "wrong" with this release, rather, it's a tad too polite and doesn't really develop into anything memorable. The drumming is fairly sub-standard for the genre and the keyboards are very dated, even for prog fans. Recalls Pink Floyd spaciness at times, but never really finds its own voice.

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