Freedom to Music
Posts tagged Curt Cress
Orange Peel – Orange Peel (1970) (@256)
17 Apr 2010
(Review from progarchives.com)
Formed in 1968, “Orange Peel” is one of the first heavy progressive german act. They spearheaded the Krautrock movement with Faust and Amon Düül II by adding powerful organ playing to raw psychedelic rock.
Their selftitled album offers crazy frenzied guitar work, heavy organ whisps and tons of nice heavy keys, mind altering music and instrumentation, with great drum and bass interplay.
Orange Peel disbanded immediately after in 1970. Most members pursued their careers with another progressive bands.
Line-up:
- Peter Bischof / Vocals, Percussion
- Curt Cress / Drums, Percussion
- Leslie Link / Guitar
- Heini Mohn / Bass
- Ralph Wiltheiß / Organ
Track List:
01. You Can’t Change Them All – 18:14
02. Faces That I Used to Know – 3:11
03. Tobacco Road – 7:16
04. We Still Try to Change – 10:03
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Triumvirat – Pompeii (1977) (@256)
19 Feb 2010
(Review from progarchives.com)
After “Old Loves Die Hard”, Hans Bathelt left the band too, leaving Fritz as the only original member. Famous session drummer Curt Cress joined in. A new bassist was also introduced.
This is another conceptual album about Roman history, this time not about gladiators and wars but about the natural cataclysm and volcanic explosion in Pompeii.
The album starts very promising with the Earthquake that has a very similar sound and atmosphere as Spartacus, great changes, and strong keyboard solos. Other highlights include “Viva Pompeii”, “The Rich Man and the Carpenter” and “Dance on the Volcano”.
“Pompeii” is generally considered as the start of the downward slope for Triumvirat. Fritz’s songwriting (and Barry Palmer’s interpretation) starts to fail to generate the same excitement it used to do on their previous works.
Line-up:
- Curt Cress / drums, percussion
- Jurgen Fritz / keyboards, percussion
- Barry Palmer / lead vocals
- Dieter Petereit / bass
Track List:
01. The Earthquake 62 A.D. – 6:21
02. Journey of a Fallen Angel – 6:16
03. Viva Pompeii – 4:18
04. The Time of Your Life – 4:37
05. The Rich Man and the Carpenter – 5:59
06. Dance on the Vulcano – 3:32
07. Vesuvius 79 A.D. – 6:33
08. The Hymn – 7:17
09. The Hymn (Bonus Single Edit) – 4:13
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Scorpions – Pure Instinct (1996) (@256)
12 Apr 2008
(Review from wikipedia, allmusic)
Prior to recording their 13th studio album, 1996′s Pure Instinct, drummer Herman Rarebell left the band to set up a recording label. One of the most famous session drummers in German rock history, Curt Cress took charge of the drumsticks for the album before Kentucky-born James Kottak took over permanently.
After getting the listener’s attention with the rowdy “Wild Child” and dramatic “But the Best for You”; Pure Instinct mellows out and displays the Scorpions’ maturity in composing and songwriting from such ballads as “Does Anyone Know”, “Soul Behind the Face” and “When You Came into My Life”.
The album speaks with certain emotions the Scorpions haven’t expressed for many years, which is especially absent from the album Face the Heat. While it may not be as much a rock album as many fans would have hoped for, it is still an album that can be worthwhile.
Line-up:
* Klaus Meine – Vocals
* Rudolf Schenker – Guitars
* Matthias Jabs – Guitars
* Curt Cress – Drums
* Ralph Rieckermann – Bass
Track List:
01. Wild Child – 4:17
02. But The Best For You – 5:20
03. Does Anyone Know – 5:57
04. Stone In My Shoe – 4:38
05. Soul Behind The Face – 4:00
06. Oh Girl (I Wanna Be With You) – 3:50
07. When You Came Into My Life – 5:13
08. Where The River Flows – 4:10
09. Time Will Call Your Name – 3:24
10. You And I – 6:16
11. Are You The One – 3:11
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Passport – Cross-Collateral (1975) (@256)
11 Feb 2008
(Review from progarchives.com)
Passport was never in the same Fusion league as the Mahavishnu Orchestra or electric Miles Davis, but the group nevertheless managed to carve their own distinctive niche in an overcrowded market: no small accomplishment at the time.
A jittery opening sequencer pattern (in what sounds like a hellishly complex time signature) suddenly gels into the easy space-jazz swing of “Homunculus”, with Klaus Doldinger’s saxophone dancing gracefully around a sparkling electric piano solo. The 13+ minute title track sure covers a lot of territory, working almost like a beginner’s guide medley to the music of Passport.
In quick succession it moves from a kinetic start/stop introduction (featuring some primitive electronic percussion triggers) to a brief but lively drum solo by the incomparable Curt Cress, and from there into a relentless mid-tempo rocking section. A blast of rare high-amp electric guitar signals another change of pace, matching equal parts power and finesse before another saxophone freak-out reprise of the opening jam ends the track as it began: stopping on a dime.
Flipping the album over to Side Two doesn’t offer any immediate relief, throwing the unwary listener headlong into the full-throttle punch of “Jadoo”: three minutes of pure adrenalin guaranteed to raise your blood pressure a few notches. Kristian Schultze’s distorted electric piano solo is totally haywire, and the whole thing is propelled by the monster beat of Cress, again proving (and not for the first time) that he was one of the most dynamic and creative drummers of the decade.
The rest of the album is almost a let-down after “Jadoo”: three tracks of pleasant instrumental music, played with Doldinger’s trademark melodic funk and flair, but still sounding tame after all the preceding fireworks. In retrospect, maybe the running order could have been rearranged to better effect.
Passport was a band that was never about to change the world, but they did make it a more pleasant place to live for a while. This album would be an ideal introduction for newcomers, as easy as anywhere else in their long discography, but why not start at the top?
Line-up:
- Curt Cress / drums, electronic percussion
- Klaus Doldinger / soprano & tenor saxes, Moog, electric piano, Mellotron
- Wolfgang Schmid / bass, guitar
- Kristian Schulze / electric piano, organ
Track List:
01. Homunculus (6:17)
02. Cross-collateral (13:33)
03. Jadoo (3:08)
04. Will-O’the-Wisp (6:25)
05. Albatros song (5:25)
06. Damals (4:47)
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