Triumvirat-Spartacus (1975)

Triumvirat was the German response to the movement that The Nice and later Emerson, Lake and Palmer imposed on Britain and the rock world in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
With an identical configuration (bass, drums and keyboards), and due to their identical sound fully identified with the EL&P sound guidelines, this group was formed in the early 70s in the German city of Cologne under the leadership of keyboardist and voice Jurgen Fritz, author and producer in addition to all the group's albums.
The band was completed by Helmut Köller (bass, guitars and vocals) and Hans Bathelt (drums).
At the end of 1971 the English label Harvest, specialized in progressive groups of EMI, offered them a contract and published their first album "Mediterranean Tales" (1972).
In this first work the band shows a power and a more than acceptable sufficiency, that without reaching the levels of EL&P they leave their virtuosity well established, in songs like the suite "Across the Water", an excellent song where Fritz demonstrates his skills with keyboards.
With this album, the band manages to be present in continuous tours of Europe that catapult them to the Olympus of the great progressive bands of the 70s.
In 1974 the second album "Illusions on a Double Dimple" (1974) would appear, which places them in the American and English rankings.
In this second album, the band opted for more conventional themes in terms of their timing and a greater emphasis on the voices as demonstrated by the songs "Lucky Girl" or "Flashback", but it also contained instrumental themes typical of their virtuoso style such as "Double" or "Last Dance".
Later the group embarks on a great tour that would include the United States where they heel Fleetwood Mac and reap a triumphant tour.
"Spartacus" (1975), his next album, means his best work and ultimately one of the best progressive rock albums of the 70s considered by many one of the masterpieces of the genre.
In part this album recovered the pompous essence of the first album, but with an impeccable production and prodigious compositions such as the rhythmic "The Capitol of Power" or the splendid "The Sweetest Sound of Liberty" and "The Hazy Shades of Dawn".
The album manages to reach the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and definitely confirms the band.
But from here on Triumvirat enters a descending line partly due to the continuous changes produced in it.