This was a German-British band led by Allan Murdoch. The story of Message is quite similar to that one of Nektar: in the early seventies they released some excellent, refined progressive rock albums, spanning from lyrical, melodic folk-rock over to heavy guitar outbursts.
Their music was supervised by the well-known Bacillus recording team of Peter Hauke (label manager, producer) and Dieter Dierks (studio owner, engineer). The crew that recorded The Dawn A New Is Coming (1972). Only the rhythm section of this group was German! Taff Freeman from Nektar contributed with vocals and mellotron on one track. Overall, it was an excellent album with the title track and "When I'm Home" being the highlights - a very obviously British melodic progressive rock.
from "A Guide to German Progressive and Electronic Rock"
1. Changes - 3:39
2. The Dawn Anew Is Coming - 8:39
3. Evil Faith And Charity - 4:00
4. Heaven Knows - 9:48
5. When I'm Home - 7:40
6. Smile (Bonus Track) - 2:14
All compositions by Message, Lyrics by Tommy McGuigan
Message
*Alan Murdoch - Guitars
*Tommy McGuigan - Vocals, Sax
*Billy Tabert - Vocals, Guitar, Spinet
*Horst Stachelhaus - Bass
*Gerhard Schaber - Drums, Vocals
With
*Taff Freeman - Vocals, Mellotron
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Superbe band and great remember, thanks 2 share with us!
ReplyDeleteApparently Bellaphon had a heart for expatriates . Besides the British from the mountain road ( nectar ) , the label also took the British- German lineup Message from Dusseldorf under contract. Nectar is then also the best comparison for the music, set before us the message on their debut . Nektar keyboardist Alan "Taff" Freeman is also heard as a guest on " The Dawn Anew Is Coming ".
ReplyDeleteMessage were one of those enigmas of the Krautrock scene, in that their origins were not only from Germany, but also from Britain. They evolved out of an early sixties Scottish rock 'n roll band called The Waysiders. When they split, guitarist Allan Murdoch returned to England and ended up playing in a band called M15 with future Nektar keyboard player Allan ' Taff ' Freeman. Due to lack of media interest, M15 moved to Germany in 1967 and eventually became Prophesy which evolved into Nektar. In the meantime, current Birth Control bassist Horst Stachelhaus had formed Message in 1968 in Düsseldorf and the two bands became close friends. Murdoch joined Message and invited along his old friend, vocalist and sax player Tom McGuigan, and that's how the British / German Message was formed. The band were similar in style to Nektar in many ways. Message combined the best of British heavy progressive styles with Krautrock innovation, and they secured a record deal with German label Bacillus and released their excellent debut album in 1972. As good as the album was, it was only when they released their second album, "From Books and Dreams", that people started to realize their worth.
In 1975, drummer Manfred von Bohr (also later to join Birth Control), replaced Gunther Klingel and the band also had a change of record label, moving to Nova Records. (The new album, "Message" (1975) also received a British release on Deca Records). Subsequent albums "Synapse" (1976) turned to the band complex sounds and created a relaxed and elegant brass / jazz rock. 1977, joined Stachelhaus and the previous drummer Manfred von Bohr Group Birth Control. Murdoch then took with changing band occupations three more LPs ("Using The Head", 1977, "Astral Journey", 1978, "Miles Of Smiles", 1980), which turned toward more and more of the mainstream (hard) rock, rather he dissolved message in 1981.
The comparison musically this album carries some allusions to that of Nektar, mostly because of the presence of Alan ''Taff'' Freeman and his mellotron on the album. This album carries a slight German underground vibe throughout with heavy rolling bass and drum overlayed with harmonic and clear guitar solos. Keyboards are used to mostly fill in the spaces and add atmospheres to the music. Alan "Taff" Freeman is also heard as a guest on " The Dawn Anew Is Coming " .
LP ''The Dawn Anew Is Coming'' From the bizarre psychedelia of Journey to the Centre of the Eye is nothing to be found on the debut of message. Rather, the group plays a more or less interesting hard rock, in the progressive or mildly psychedelic elements are sometimes interwoven . "Changes ," " When I'm coming" and " Evil Faith and Charity" are quite inconsequential , easily herbaceous Mainstrem hard rockers as they were in vogue early 70s ( even if in the middle of " When I'm coming" Mellotron is an honor ) . Due to the rare sax interjections from the music also recalls the third album by the British Black Widow. " Heaven Knows " is probably the only track where you can concede something progressive , after all, he is almost 10 minutes long and is also here to listen to Freeman on Mellotron . This is quite a nice , focused on mainstream British models Symphonic Hard Rock , but this is hardly suitable to raise the listening Progger bored out of his dozing . Even the title track, which contains some psychedelic folky elements can not change much about it.
Superb album a must in every good collection.Album"FROM BOOKS AND DDREAMS" is to me their best...
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