FunkFreak75 A München-based band whose lineup and sound changed and morphed with each release, this being their second despite previous incarnations with other band names. On this album they display extraordinary, top-tier Jazz-Fusion skills over the course of some truly memorable song compositions.

1. "Julia" (3:54) despite a rather chaotic opening, this song moves into a motif in the second half of the first minute in which great piano and flute play is mixed in with all the others as the band rollicks through some psychedelic funkiness. (8.875/10)

2. "20th Century Break" (5:02) great spirit and melodies built on a fun, funky (and familiar) sound and rhythmic pattern. Again, I love the way the piano drives this one but also how the horns assist the whole way along. The fourth minute features a refreshingly-unusual clavinet solo, but then we're back to the clever and melodically-mutually- supportive AREA-like multiple thematic expositions for the close. (9.33333/10)

3. "Geisha" (5:23) very solid rhythm base of piano, drums, and clavinet with electric bass seeming to go off on its own melodic journey while two flutes smooth it all out. Very Chick Corea-like though even stronger in places (that bass!) I love the fact that the pianos (2?) and clavinet are playing off one another throughout the entire song. And the groove is so infectious. Definitely a favorite of mine--a top three song, to be sure. Norbert Dömling is one interesting cat! (9.5/10)

4. "Vacuum Cleaners Dance" (5:17) another chaotic/psychedelic start that eventual irons out into another hard-driving heavy jazz-rock flute-led composition. The lead flute player performs like Thijs van Lier or Ian Anderson when they're at their craziest but, overall, I feel that this is a Mwandishi-era Herbie Hancock song played by Milanese band AREA (with Freideman Josch's flute supplanting Demetrio Stratos' vocal acrobatics). Solid and definitely entertaining. (9.125/10)

5. "Paranoidl" (4:20) a straightforward start, solid rhythm section with wild Hammond organ play throughout the somewhat-slower first half. Then the band switches into high gear with some crazy bass playing, Fender Rhodes, wah- wah rhythm guitar, and frenetic sax soloing. The song feels like something like Canterbury-infused NATIONAL HEALTH and Jazz-Rock-oriented AREA co-mingling on stage, taking turns imposing their leadership in the different motifs. The musicians are all so dialed into this one! (9.25/10)

6. "Fly Away" (7:46) after a long drawn out two-minute intro, this song congeals into, at first, a great horn-accented big- band jazz-rock but then turns to a more melodic "pop" jazz feeling sound for a few bars, but then it kind of returns/reverts to the slowly in-fading intro motif as if to restart or rebuild toward that whole-band, big-band motif. It's not until the five minute mark that any true solo gets underway--tenor saxophone--as a synth slowly fades in to counterpoint from just beneath before being faded out for Fender Rhodes and electric piano. An unusual (and pretty innovative) circle of constantly-rotating soloists ensues before they all mysteriously synch up together in the final 30 seconds! How cool! (13.75/15)

7. "Talle" (5:40) less jazzy, more proggy folk-rock, even with a saxophone occupying the lead position. The drumming in the first 90 seconds is the one thing keeping this from falling into pop-folk. Kind of a stylistic mix of something between Al Di Meola and Bob James. Also, a lot less adventurous compositionally though some of the individual performances are note-worthy: particularly the bass and multiple acoustic guitar tracks--the latter which turns electric rhythm in the slightly funkier TRAFFIC-like second half--and the flute in the third minute. (8.875/10)

Total Time: 33:22

This band is so tight! The precision synchronization of their play is quite remarkable--not to mention the proficiency of each and every band member (some on multiple instruments).

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of refined and sophisticated Jazz-Rock Fusion. A must-hear for you J-RF fans.

FunkFreak75 A reluctantly-recorded album (to satisfy contractual promises) presenting three of the members of the previous album's lineup from two years before.

1. "Miles All Along The Watchtower" (6:05) everybody jumps out of the gate bouncing along with Miles-Herbie-like pace and focus, creating a groove that presents drums, bass, and Fender Rhodes as each demanding our attention in every which way. Electric guitars and horns are there in the background but it's not until the fourth minute that the horns and guitar (and clavinet) begin to make their presences known. Great whole-band jam. (9.125/10)

2. "High Life" (4:41) a song that goes dragging, plodding along with a semi-Native American melody line until some Hatfield and the North-like female vocals from Maria Archer brighten things up. A new synth acquisition solos after Ms. Archer breaks from her second verse and thereafter on the back of the rhythm section. Very, very nice sound engineering creating a very full and rich sonic field: It's so pretty! (9/10)

3. "Morning Sun" (6:45) slow, funky attempt at more Miles Davis-like music. But unlike the band's previous album, there are no tempo changes! Cool big-room reverb gives this an extra-large feel--over which a very cool sax is played with adept muting skills (and maybe an effect or two). Meanwhile, the electric guitar and machine gun-effected drumming do their best to vie for our attention. But then everything quiets down at the end of the third minute so that guitarist Roman Bunka can play around with his wah-wah pedal. Then Christian Burchard is given the nod to solo on his vibes--which comes off as a bit odd and feeling forced (he's just a guest, after all, not part of the tightly-bound inner corps). In the sixth minute everything really quiets down as dirging sax and electric piano take us out on a mellow note. (13.25/15)

4. "Gurus For Sale" (5:15) keyboard rich (Fender Rhodes), bass-thick (heavily-treated fretless bass) RTF-like music with alto sax barely in the lead (not exactly mixed front and center). Again I am surprised at the album's compositional homogeneity after the patterns established by their previous album. Maybe, as has been suggested, they really weren't into the recording of this album. Norbert Dömling is, as ever, eminently listenable as he ventures around the totality of his fretboard under the guise of his heavily-effected bass. (8.75/10)

5. "La Plage De Patcha Menga" (5:19) now here is some j-r fuse with some heart and soul: energetic and spirited from start to finish--with special citation to conga player Ömnes and Northette-like b voxer Maria Archer. Definitely a beach that I'd hang out at! (9/10)

6. "Nothing Again" (10:02) more energetic, tightly played and interestingly-constructed jazz-rock fusion. Though the opening motif promises great dynamic things, the acoustic guitar solo in the second minute is played over a slowed down motif. Around 2:30 the band switches back into fourth gear for a nice cruise beneath the sunlight and wind of the saxophone. Great play from drummer Butze Fischer and, of course, bass player Norbert Dömling. Chaotic end to this section in the sixth minute leads into a spacey synth bridge that is gradually filled by a heavily-effected electric bass guitar solo and skeleton crew of congas, hi-hat play, and BRAIN AUGER-like three-chord repetition of Burkard Schmidl's Fender Rhodes. When Norbert's bass returns to rhythm and funk leadership, Burkard's right hand begins a very stylish and groovy solo reminding me even more of Brian Auger, but then at 9:15 everybody breaks back into the fast lane of a recapitulation of the opening motif. (18.5/20)

7. "Patscha Menga Underground" (3:40) flute-led funk from Friedemann Josch over bass and simple drum and percussion play. Sax, synth and flute carry the nearly-Oriental melody in the second minute before two airy flutes take over to carry us through the final 90 seconds. Interesting! Nice. (8.875/10)

8. "For Eri" (2:58) Burkard Schmidl's jazzy lounge piano from another era--or from a film--is joined by Norbert Dömling's sexy bass--both exploring their own intertwined melody lines as if dancing or in flight. Quite lovely--and very mature sounding. Definitely a favorite. (9.75/10)

Total Time: 44:45

A-/five stars; another minor masterpiece of peak-level First Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion (bordering on Second Wave) and another European product that no J-RF lover should miss.

FunkFreak75 The boys of silliness are back--at least two of them (wind player Friedemann Josch and keyboard maestro Burkard Schmidl). Also, the band's number is down to a quartet as they have obviously gotten more comfortable with multi- tracking.

1. "Space Guerilla" (10:48) a three-part suite in which the second movement is full of experimental keyboard work, while only the final super-fast, super-fun section is really high quality Jazz-Rock Fusion. (18/20)

2. "Guitar For Sale" (7:57) a murky, funky vehicle for some superb Al Di Meola/Jan Hammer-like guitar synth and/or synth play from keyboardist Burkard Schmidl (who is also providing the rich electric piano chords in the rhythm section beneath). My big question is: Is that really a guitar doing the soloing over the first three minutes or a synth mimicking a guitar? Great sound and mix with the bass and drums sticking right out there with Burky's axe-like keyboard. At 3:50 everybody dials down their volumes for a delicate passage over which flute, piano (Possibly a very nice electric piano-- which would be unusual for 1978 but, knowing German ingenuity, could be possible), and tuned percussion solo (mostly piano), carrying forward the same descending chord progression from the first half. Great "guitar" soloing in the first half, solid Jarrett-like piano solo in the second half. Odd, though to have it expressed like this in a two-part song. (13.5/15)

3. "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (2:50) obviously a tribute to recently-deceased Indiana-born American sax and flute player of the same name. Multiple tracks of layers of flutes imbedded with multiple tracks of percussive voicings. Interesting. (4.5/5)

4. "Fuzzy, Don't Go To The Disco" (3:21) like an étude in funk. Can a Jean-Luc Ponty violin play funk? Can Burkard adapt to the clavinet. Can flute and sax accents supplant a brass section? etc. (8.75/10)

5. "Hoffmannstropfen" (6:04) another very mathematical and stringently-constrained construct that sounds like a study/practice session in funk mastery. Though I'll give them props for going further than Thijs Van Lier's FOCUS ever went. (8.75/10)

6. "Cose Dola" (5:17) a song whose music shows the band approaching, almost encroaching upon the new style taking over Jazz-Rock Fusion: commercially-driven Smooth Jazz. Competent but rather dull. (8.666667/10)

7. "For Flü" (6:57) piano and flute playing some frantic melodies at first together, then harmonically, at break-neck speeds. Then synth (synth guitar?) takes the rhythm section along a more Eastern European direction before flute rejoins to mirror Burkard's breathtaking melody lines. A quiet section in the third minute is filled with only solo piano and sonorous kazoo-like vocalese before flute rejoins. The two speed up, insidiously, until 4:35 when the rest of the band (the rhythm section) rejoins to support the crazy-fast drive through the Carpathian Mountains. Burkard rejoins a synth in place of his piano to duke it out with Friedemann's flute. Very impressive performances from the two remaining holdovers from the band's two previous albums. (13.5/15)

8. "King Garlic" (6:40) piano, electric bass, and simple yet-solid drumming present a powerful presence despite still retaining a bit of the lounge musicians' sound. I'm very much reminded of ANNETTE PEACOCK's "Real and Defined Androgens" from her X Dreams albums from this same year: the sound and structure and chords and drumming are so similar! Did one borrow from the other? I'd like to know since Annette's song is definitely one of my favorite songs of hers (and Bill Bruford's). (9/10)

Total Time: 49:54

The engineering of the sound on this album definitely shows a new era and new attitudes toward high-end and compression. (I don't like it.) The drums and bass feel muted and dull while the keyboards are so bright. Also, I hear much more effort going into the musicians attempts to "master" American funk.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of very solid Jazz-Rock Fusion. Highly recommended.

Igor91 The following is a review that I originally published on the sister website of Jazz Music Archives, Progarchives, on 1/15/17:

Missus Beastly's "Bremen 1974" is, in my opinion, their best release. This may be hard to believe, considering that it is a live recording from 1974 that was not released until almost 30 years after their final studio album. But this is an incredible, jammy, jazzrock recording that should get more attention.

I'm not really a huge fan of Missus Beastly's other releases, including their wildly different debut, but this one really grabs me. It's loose, yet tight at the same time, and is the only recording of splendid guitarist Eddy Marron's participation in the band. His excellent guitar work soars on this release and leaves one to wonder what the band's subsequent releases may have sounded like if he had stayed on. The album features 3 long, jam-heavy tracks, each one different from the other. The songs incorporate jazzrock, ethnic flourishes, psychedelia, and funk into a masterful live performance. Highly recommended for fans of German jazzrock from that era! 4 stars.

Warthur The cover art is better this time - whimsical and cartoonish being a big step up from the nightmarish grotesqueness of their previous studio album's cover - but that's the only real improvement over the preceding album. Missus Beastly's 1974 studio album (and Bremen 1974 from the same period) showcased a smoking hot cutting edge fusion band at their prime; two years down the line, it seemed the band had fell behind a little, performing with a rather undistinctive and anonymous sound which resembles most other fusion dabblers from the era. Still probably worth a listen if the preceding album bowled you over, but be aware that this one probably won't repeat the trick.