Die Grüne Reise - The Green Journey

One of Germany's rock pioneers, Achim Reichel founded the beat-era Rattles, Germany's answer to the Beatles, with Herbert Hildebrandt in 1960. Military service drew Reichel from the band, but upon discharge he continued his musical career with the pop group Wonderland. However at the start of the '70s, his interests in Eastern philosophies coincided with the burgeoning progressive trend. Teaming with lyricist Frank Dostal, first up was the just plain weird Wonderland Band. The story really begins in 1971 with Die Grüne Reise (The Green Journey), the first album under Reichel's new moniker, A.R. & Machines. Billed as a "soundtrack to the intended motion picture", the album is certainly a trip. Reichel recorded the album by himself, adding voice, percussion and electronic effects (Dostal provided the lyrics). Of course "Machines" refers to the tape recorders that made up Reichel's signature "echo-guitar". He layers guitar line over guitar line into a very hypnotic effect, and effectively predates just about everyone that came after (Fripp, Göttsching, Schickert, etc.). "Schönes Babylon" for example is truly resplendent; it's a completely different take on the kosmische. There's also a hippie vibe throughout the record that could be seen as strength ("I'll Be Your Singer") or not ("Come On, People"). Yet twangy, mantric and certainly psychedelic, the album is Reichel's own progressive twist on rock-n-roll, culminating in the whacked-out "Truth and Probability", where Reichel now layers his voice through the tape machines! The album saw release on Polydor, as did the following year's double-album opus, Echo. Produced again by Reichel, the album enlisted the services of Conny Plank as engineer, and a host of guest musicians. With the "Machines" hypnotic echo-guitar in full force, it's mostly augmented with acoustic guitar and tabla rhythms, and Reichel's deep baritone croon, however Lucifer Friends' Peter Hecht's orchestration is sublime. It's an unprecedented set, certainly one of the most massively amazing albums of the era. Reichel then setup his own Zebra imprint with Polydor, releasing a variety of artists, including Kin Ping Meh, Ougenweide and Randy Pie. He would release a few more A.R. & Machines albums, including the excellent IV in 1973; however by mid-decade Reichel's involvement with the progressive would be limited to that of a producer and label head, as his (very successful) solo career would pursue more commercial grounds.