Second Movement-Blind Man´s Mirror (1976)

Second Movement were one of those strange and obscure cult bands of the early 70s who refused to completely abandon the psychedelia of the 60s and the hard rock of the early 70s, but who were always influenced by the pompous and complex sound of baroque keyboards and symphonic structures. Their beginnings, dating back to 1971 in Coburg, Germany, are often labeled as Krautrock. The music of their first mini-LP is characterized by a distinct symphonic style in its two songs, "Fool's Dance" and "Rainbow". This was followed by a full album, which they attribute to the progressive genre, titled "Blind Man's Mirror", with a repertoire of tracks exceeding nine minutes in length. The backbone of the band is formed by the excellent keyboardist Siggi Zeidler and the singer Harald Kesselhack, whose vocal timbre is reminiscent of Greg Lake (with a lower register). And last but not least, Thomas Möck's brilliant acoustic guitar solos create mystical atmospheres and flamenco flashbacks interwoven with frenetic, distorted electric guitar passages all of them simply exceptional musicians. “Blind Man’s Mirrors” opens with “Strange Shore”, a stunning introduction where Manni Greiner (bass) and Matthias Helk (drums) take the lead, with a lush development of guitar solos and passages of jazz and ambient sounds a perfect blend of genres, styles, and moods. The following track, “Blind Man’s Mirror”, is a 12-minute mini-epic that begins with the entire band playing a fluid musical section featuring lush keyboards, frenetic percussion, and acoustic guitar 12 minutes of pure prog rock with clear symphonic tendencies. “Shanghai” is a festival of sounds with heavy guitars combined with lush keyboard passages clearly inspired by Rick Wakeman. “Back in Town” is another long song (9.05 minutes), but for the first time they fully embrace a pure symphonic style. This extraordinary album closes with the mysterious “Different Autumn”, the icing on the cake, which ranges from medieval folk sections to vibrant and heavy passages, all enhanced by a baroque organ that keeps them firmly in symphonic territory. It's worth noting that only 700 copies of this album were pressed, and it was followed in 1981 by their second album, “Movements”, which represented a subtle stylistic shift, shedding the symphonic progressive elements to adopt a more conventional 80s prog sound, but with equally brilliant results.