Klaus Schulze
Irrlicht

Between the 60s and 70s in Germany, some of the most intriguing musical experiments in the history of rock developed. One of these, and perhaps the most important, was what became known as "cosmic music."
Klaus Schulze, together with Tangerine Dream (with whom he played until 1970), was the leading figure of this movement.
His debut album, "Irrlicht" (with its extraordinary cover), undoubtedly represents the masterpiece of this genre.
However, this definition risks being reductive, as "Irrlicht" is indeed one of the greatest works in rock history.

First of all, it is necessary to clarify a point: this album is not for everyone. To understand it, appreciate it, and fall in love with it, one needs a visionary mind. Here, the word "song" doesn't exist; this music is imagery.
Total darkness, eyes closed, volume strictly high... play. The journey begins. The ascensional flight into the universe takes shape in synth drones that dangerously sway in the void. Here, there is no silence; there is a void. A cosmic void traversed by crumbs of sound that plunge into the atmosphere, dragging a tail of echo.
The sensation is one of total space-time annulment. The synth continues to sway like an asteroid at the mercy of gravitational laws, persistently drawing you into the void until a spectral organ starts to resonate, intoning its titanic lament.
The evocative power becomes, at this point, impressive, the strength of the Teutonic consciousness is right in front of you, in all its existential malaise. Its voice is desperate, going beyond daily sadness, beyond the melancholy of a sunset, its quest rises to a higher, metaphysical level.
Its search questions the perspective of our vision through an estrangement from reality.
We are at the highest degree of a musical work, that is, having a philosophical project behind it.

After this space run, the sound is sucked in as if by a black hole, it implodes... it is the end of "Ebene." Fragments of what was soar in the void until one hears the arrival of a hypnotic magma... but by now, the stellar explosion has occurred, what can be seen are only debris... sinister noises... and while you are searching for what once was, without realizing it, that magma takes over you, your head starts to hurt, you want to escape this nightmare, but you can't, an invisible force holds you until, exhausted, you are thrust out again.
And you realize it was just a silver disc... just a silver disc... could it really be just a silver disc?