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For this impressive double album that follows the equally powerful "Yeti", Amon Düül II choose the evocative title of "Dance Of The Lemmings" (or "Tanz Der Lemminge" in German or "Journey into a Dream - Viaggio in un sogno" in the Italian version): Lemmings are Arctic rodents that, according to legend, would commit mass suicide during their migrations by drowning to preserve the species' numbers: whether the story is true or not, it perfectly fits as a metaphor for man's self-destructive urges. Curiously, Van Der Graaf Generator also exploited this theme in the song "Lemmings" in "Pawn Hearts". Thus, Amon Düül II continue in this album along the path of a bleak and dark imaginary filled with a sinister and apocalyptic aura.
The album ideally closes the first phase of Amon Düül II's epic: after the Dance of the Lemmings, the Minstrels of this "freak-band" will no longer be able to offer us such creative and mad visions, beginning a new phase that will lead them to release other excellent and more structured albums but devoid of the mad genius of the first period.
The album departs from the powerful sonic "maelstrom" of "Yeti", which remains one of the cornerstone albums of all '70s rock, moving towards less explosive electro-acoustic atmospheres influenced by American psychedelia that nonetheless maintain a dark fairy-tale charm. Renate Knaup temporarily leaves the group, and bassist Dave Anderson leaves to join Hawkwind, being replaced by Lothar Meid (unfortunately, the latter has just passed away). The titles are, as usual, very imaginative, like "A short stop at the transylvanian brain surgery" ( "Una breve fermata alla lobotomia transilvana" ). The cover, crafted by organist Falk-U. Rogner, maintains continuity with the potent image of the scythe-bearing death that stood out on "Yeti" and is yet another invitation for the unsuspecting listener to immerse themselves in an endless pagan "sabbath".
The first side is dominated by the two mini-suites "Syntelman's March of the Roaring Seventies" and "Restless Skylight-Transistor-Child": these are skillfully deformed psychedelic electro-acoustic collages: some at the time did not immediately grasp the complexity of the album, feeling disappointed after being enthralled by the previous records, but it is undeniable that the music in these grooves stands out for creativity compared to the great contemporary Pink Floyd of "Atom Heart Mother" and "Meddle". We then arrive at what constitutes the masterpiece of the album: the long improvised suite "Marilyn Monroe-Memorial-Church" that seems recorded in a desecrated church. Here, Amon Düül II are in a state of hypnotic "Trance", and the sounds vaguely resemble the Pink Floyd more free-form but with a greater degree of freedom, the disarticulated sounds slowly dragging towards cosmic madness abysses leading to dark worlds dominated by ruined castles. We are in the midst of a dreamlike delusion, and only the powerful rock of the subsequent "Chewingum Telegram" brings back to reality. "Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight" and "Toxicological Whispering" close this sound fresco in black with more subdued but still hypnotic tones.
Here ends the first phase of this incredible commune; subsequently, international recognition will come thanks to "Carnival in Babylon", "Wolf City" and especially with "Vive la Trance", the last noteworthy album before the unavoidable decline.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
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