The Third Eye

Amon Düül II is an old-school progressive psych-rock band from Germany. In the years since their formation, they have released 15 studio albums, four live albums, 14 compilations, and two singles. Their quality of songwriting and impressive body of work has influenced countless musicians and has garnered them some lofty praise. I will add an opposing viewpoint by reviewing their Yeti album for our continuing Classic Albums Revisited column. 

About Amon Düül II and Yeti

Amon Düül II is a German rock group formed in 1968 and is considered one of the forefathers of the West German krautrock scene. 

In 2015 Yeti was chosen by Rolling Stone as the 41st greatest progressive rock album of all time, an incredible honor if you consider how many excellent prog-rock albums had been released up to that point. Noted author, music journalist, and guitarist Dan Epstein has also described it as “one of the finest records of the entire original psychedelic era.” 

British magazine The Wire hails it as “one of the cornerstones of the entire krautrock movement,” but I think this album is a little overrated and not up to the praise it has been given. 

The Songs

The first thing I picked up on in the opening track, “Burning Sister,” was the excellent bass playing. Dave Anderson has a progressive style that can be both interesting to the listener and part of the solid foundation that these songs are built. As for the rest of the track, there are some fantastic elements, but a heavily chaotic feel seems to overpower them, which I believe is due to the considerable jazz influence, a predominant fixture of this song.  

“Halluzination Guillotine” starts with a more centered and together feel, though a slight sense of chaos is peppered throughout the track. It’s funny, everyone seems to think this band is something special, and parts of what I’ve heard so far are, but these first two tracks are nothing I’d listen to after writing this review, and I was happy that it was such a brief song.

“Gulp A Sonata” is 47 seconds of experimental sounds and vocals that turned me off. Why people love this album is apparently beyond my comprehension at this point of the record. 

“Flesh-Coloured Anti-Aircraft Alarm” employs a bit of a Middle Eastern sound musically, and even a little Bob Dylan in the vocals. At just over a minute into it, I enjoyed this track, which is the first one I can truly say that about. The music is very psychedelic, like an acid trip in musical form, but I hate the higher vocals, which can be said of the first three tracks too, but when that type of singing isn’t used, I find this song to be enjoyable, though maybe a tad longer than it needed to be. The end reminded me of Aqualung-era Jethro Tull and was the best part of the track. 

The intro to “She Came Through the Chimney” is a beautiful, clean guitar with bongos and a nice bass line, instantly grabbing my attention. Things get even better as more instruments are added, as the full scope of this instrumental track becomes more evident. I like this one; it contains little chaos and is still experimental enough to satisfy hardcore psych fans.

“Archangels Thunderbird” starts with a rock attack thanks to some distorted guitar parts, yet they don’t abandon their psychedelic sound in the process. The groove and flow of this track are nice, and it employs more of a straightforward style, leaving the weird experimental sounds out for the most part. This is a cool song, in my opinion.

“Cerberus” comes next. Opening up with an acoustic guitar with blues, western, classical, and even some flamenco influences is always a smart path to take. I heard a few things that will appeal to fans of The Doors and Led Zeppelin, all of which helped me connect with this track on a level that none of the others could take me to. The wordless vocals added a nice element to the music, and I found myself loving it all the more once the guitars got distorted. This is the best track on the album, making me realize that the instrumentals are the best songs presented here. 

Following up “Cerberus” is “The Return of Ruebezahl,” a brief but excellent instrumental song. Amon Düül II throws in more of the Middle Eastern vibes that were the highlights of some of the other tracks and a psych style that works well with them. 

“Eye Shaking King” is space-psych with a few Indian influences and is another track that helps me to see why people put this album on a pedestal. The swagger and groove are displayed throughout this song, and the guitar leads are jammy and well-played. There are very few vocals, and I am thankful for that.

I knew that “Pale Gallery” was the perfect outro as soon as it began. The drums provide a mellow, bongo-esque vibe thanks to the heavy use of toms, and the sparse instrumentation gives everything a minimalist tone that ends the album perfectly.

Final Thoughts 

It is always interesting to write these articles, as it allows me to dig into the history of the psychedelic genre. It also gives me an insight into why today’s current psych artists do what they do and how they have taken the music to new levels of excellence.

Even though Amon Düül II seemed to redeem themselves towards the end of the record, I was still less than impressed with Yeti. I found things enjoyable in the first half of the album, even within the tracks I disliked, but tracks five through ten grabbed me. Even with that, I’d have to surmise that this band and the Yeti album are for the far more adventurous listeners out there.

This review was written by Tom Hanno, who has been writing reviews for the last 7 years but has been sharing his love of music for the majority of his life. Originally starting out at the now-defunct Chimera Magazine, he is currently contributing to Doomed and Stoned, The Sleeping Shaman, The Doom Charts, Tom’s Reviews, and The Third Eye. Read more of Tom’s reviews by checking out his Linktree.

This post contains affiliate links for CDandLP.com – a new and used records and vinyl website. Don’t worry; I’ve used the site before and it’s super legit! You can find Yeti on the site and many more new and used, rare records. Enjoy!