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Alcatraz (4)Vampire State Building

Genre:

Jazz, Rock

Style:

Krautrock, Prog Rock, Psychedelic Rock

Year:

Tracklist

Simple Headphone Mind11:56
Your Chance Of A Lifetime5:05
Where The Wild Things Are3:03
Vampire State Building13:10
Piss Off3:16

Credits (11)

Versions

Filter by
    4 versions
    Image, In Your Collection, Wantlist, or Inventory
    Version DetailsData Quality
    Cover of Vampire State Building, 1972, VinylVampire State Building
    LP, Album, Stereo
    Philips – 6305 128Germany1972Germany1972
    Recently Edited
    Cover of Vampire State Building, 2002-07-07, CDVampire State Building
    CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered
    Long Hair – LHC00014, Long Hair – LHC14Germany2002Germany2002
    Recently Edited
    Cover of Vampire State Building, 2012, VinylVampire State Building
    LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered
    Long Hair – LHC122Germany2012Germany2012
    Cover of Vampire State Building, 2017, CDVampire State Building
    CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Unofficial Release
    Long Hair (2) – LHC00014, Long Hair (2) – LHC14Russia2017Russia2017
    New Submission

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    Reviews

    • izzy6's avatar
      izzy6
      If anyone has a spare for sale, let me know.
      • _DeepThinker's avatar
        _DeepThinker
        Simple Headphone Mind was originally written by Karl Jenkins. It was released in 1970 on Nucleus Elastic Rock LP by the title Torrid Zone. It's quite strange that you can't find the Jenkins credit from this release.
        • bsk33rpm's avatar
          bsk33rpm
          unbelievable krautrock lp. many don't know about this record but if you like hard jazz rock prog this is a MUST.
          • Rabenteuer
            The first track is almost identical to "Torrid Zone" by Nucleus from the album Elastic Rock.

            Anyway, this version is much better with fuzzy guitars and a great drummer!!!
            • Hadox's avatar
              Hadox
              This album goes all in and is groovier than a mother. 5 stars.
              • ultimathulerecords's avatar
                In the annals of Krautrock, Alcatraz's debut was one of the great unknown classics. A sizzling hybrid of many influences all wrapped-up into a unique style of their own. One part Faust (it is recorded at Wümme by Faust's engineer after all), one part Frumpy, Nosferatu, Out Of Focus, Xhol Caravan, and lots that is their own. There's also a jazz standard adaptation thrown-in (also heard adapted by Nucleus on their Elastic Rock album - so coincidental it's spooky), powerful white blues, and some of the strongest hooks and grooves you could ever wish for, plus tons of sizzling solos, great vocals, and more. What's not to like? Or indeed be totally stunned by!
                As awesome a CD reissue as this is, it is weird that the opening track "Simple Headphone Mind" is 1:56 shorter than on the original LP issue. Why? The label say "by the band's request". But, what do you miss? Nothing actually. This 1:56 is a direct repeat musical verse/chorus of the 1:56 before. Must have been there for a reason, and casually its omission isn't so obvious. Anyway, you get a 5 star album, plus a great bonus track.
                • sambsonwayfinder's avatar
                  Catalog under WTF?!

                  The opening piece is mainly a mellow instrumental flute vehicle with a swinging backbeat, which alternately turns into electrified Blues!? Then there's the eventually chaotic sax solo. Umm, not that catchy, but really strange.

                  The second tune "Your Change Of A Lifetime" is a ploddingly maudlin martial drum and piano thing with screaming Blues guitar and then strangely tripped out vocals?! There's a guitar solo in which the drums double up (though still slow), and then it fades into a bizarre bleeping and blooping Krautrock meets Sun Ra layout (at 3:18), for about 35 seconds. This drops into a smokin British Blooze rock-out before fading out.

                  "Where The Wild Thing Are" may be the most cohesive piece here, in that you've got a chunked and funked up Deep Purple-ish guitar and syncopated sax chugging along for about a minute, before a swinging Jazzy build up which goes back to the original rhythm with the guitar soloing to the end!?

                  The title tune is a kinda mellow Jazz Funk thing for about a minute, before a trippy synth and sax play over an almost Bolero rhythm?! At 2 minutes the electric guitar and some seriously mind blowing synth swoop in, which disappears in a flash about 45 seconds later for a Jazz drum solo for about two and a half minutes. A new section starts, made of a ghostly wind synthesizer and a twee guitar lick, which leads to a most excellent section starting around 6:15 of effected flute and cymbals for about a minute. This grows back into a trippy lounge thing with vocals, and eventual flute and guitar solos until 11:55, at which time we inexplicably return to the original Jazz Funk thing?!

                  "Piss Off" is a shredding guitar, and a cave recording of bleating free-jazz sax trading measures while the drummer just throws down a comped together backbeat. This breaks down into an overblown solo guitar at 2:24 (a la Hendrix).

                  "Change Will Come", the final bonus song, is truly way freakin out there! A lounge meets Prog intro which soon drops into a Mexican two-step, which becomes Cream with the later ghost of ZZ Top. At about 1:15 it becomes a double-timed scatfest, followed by some Prog changes, and then a Texas Blues meets free Jazz improv?! At 2:25 this shifts gears into a fast Elvis-in-a-Vegas-lounge thing with Sun Ra-ish keyboard accompaniment! At 3:25 it becomes a smooth Jazz sax for about 20 seconds before hitting a boogie bridge that leads to a sax and drum build-up that drives to a frenzied 50's spy theme accompanied by buried Metal guitar. At 5:30 a fluttering keyboard enters and a Prog meets Country breakdown, before the burlesque ending. Gulp, huh!?!

                  Yeah that's the ultra-WTF!? bit. One could say Alcatraz is the predecessor to Mr. Bungle, Naked City & Secret Chiefs 3 without batting an eyelash by the end. Nuff said.

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                  • Avg Rating:4.36 / 5
                  • Ratings:132
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