(Review from gnosis2000.net)

Saffran were five musicians from Munich, whose sole album was recorded in 1975. “Blue in Ashes” was never released at its time, having been rejected by the Brain label. So this is an anthology of their works from 1974 and 1975, which shows the gamut of the band’s work from novelty funk jazz to full bodied progressive rock.

The opening duo of musical doozies answer that question many people have: What would a Krautrock version of Steely Dan sound like? Following this we get that old chestnut ‘Eleanor Rigby’ with the Saffran flavor — imagine Otis from The Andy Griffith Show singing opera loaded on Paulaner. Things get really interesting when the funky clavinet starts out the track ‘Heavy Maggie’. Sure Embryo had Jimmy Jackson in the band, but Saffran had Herbie Hancock’s “Headhunters” on LP!

Then comes track five, the 8 minute ‘Uzahrade Saffranu’. These guys are good – flashes of brilliance in fact. The Gentle Giant and Genesis influences come out, the band catches onto some serious progressions. Guitar, organ, bass and drums all in glorious unison. And the tripped out narration at the beginning is in English while at the end it’s in Czech (and sounding oddly like Sergius Golowin)! The 10 minute, flute/sax lead ‘For You’ follows and is the crowning progressive achievement on the album.

“Doris” is a pleasant, quiet number — followed by “Floating” in white boy funk wrapping up the album.

The band’s rare 7″ tracks are included as a bonus. ‘Die Jungen Dinger’ (sung in German) and ‘January’ (picked up a little Santana here) was released as a single at its time. 6 minutes each, these tracks are more representative of their progressive side.

Line-up:
- Wolfgang Gohringer / guitar
- Rainer Wagner / vocals, saxophone, guitar
- Hilmar Binder / drums
- Gunther Hasinger / bass, flute
- Hans Glinka / keyboards

Track List:
01. Blue In Ashes – 3:47
02. On Your Funeral Pile – 3:49
03. Eleanor Rigby – 3:26
04. Heavy Maggie – 4:03
05. Uzahrade Saffranu – 8:01
06. For You – 9:52
07. Doris – 3:17
08. Floating – 5:01
09. Die Jungen Dinger (Bonus Single) – 6:25
10. January (Bonus Single) – 5:50

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