You CAN visit the main Can page... Seriously, just click this link! Delay.................................. Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 Of course, I'm not completely weird. I like this album but also note that it's prone to giving me extreme headaches if I'm not careful enough. Apparently, Can's record company wasn't being careful enough when they listened to this album, because they rejected it when it was presented to them in 1968. It was originally called Prepared to Meet Thy Pnoom, and it wasn't until 1981 when it was released. Anyway, you're going to have to be a huge Velvet Underground fan if you are ever going to like this album. It has that same sort of artsy-garage type feel to it. It's sloppy all around, but interesting and ways that I couldn't quite pinpoint at first. In may ways, this is even more "out there" than the Velvet Underground, although that statement is definitely arguable. This album comes out of the beginnings of the Kraut-rock movement (it's OK for me to say "Kraut" --- I'm 25 percent German, and that's how we talk to each other), and Can proved to be one of the pivotal innovators for the genre. Naturally, this album wasn't innovative because nobody heard it until 1981. I'm talking about some of the albums they would release in the early '70s. Weird stuff. But let's talk more about Delay 1968. This is basically top art-garage music that you're going to hear. One of its downfalls is also one of its strengths --- the sloppiness. You might also think it's lazy at first glance. Well, maybe it was, but not when you hear tracks like "Butterfly" that seems rather repetitive, but it has constantly changing instrumental rhythms. "Nineteen Century Man" is one of the best, most rockingest numbers on here with the best examples of their guitar. Easily the best actual composition is "Thief," which has a genuinely usual chord progression that generates some momentum. (They're so repetitive, but when they have something like that, well the possibilities are endless...) The closing track "Little Star of Bethlehem" is probably the most accessible and pleasant of the album, but they hardly let the listener off easily. I also have to note that listening to that bass-line reminds me a bit of the Talking Heads!!! "Man Named Joe" annoys the hell out of me, and I know that it's supposed to be a joke. Germans are very funny people. Most of the time in ways that they only think is funny. Anyway. And there's "Uphill" that's the only track that genuinely strikes me as being too monotonous. Just note that Can is only for the strong-of-heart. This is an interesting archival release that's basically a must for everyone who enjoys their far more technical (and non-garagey) work in Future Days and Tago Mago. Maybe you won't just like it out of curiosity or completists' sake, but you'll also probably enjoy it. Overall Album Score: 8.5 out of 10 (This is an enjoyable bit of early Kraut-rock. Certainly worth it to the fans.) Average Song Score: 8.6 (Weird, funny and sloppy Kraut-rock. Nothing else needs to be said.) Album Tilt: 8.5 (I enjoyed this --- maybe more than I should have.) Artist Rating: 8.5 (Though its primary purpose was to be an artistic endeavor, I'm a tad hesitant to praise it for that --- after all, this is SLOPPY!! Apologies if that comes off as bigoted.) Track Reviews Butterfly 9/10 I hate to say, the way I'm going to describe these tracks, you're probably not going to want to hear it. This album definitely isn't for everybody. The chord progressions in are very simple and so is the instrumentation. And this whole track is absolutely hypnotizing. That's one of the things Kraut-rock aimed to accomplish, and they really had an excellent grasp on how to do it. Those choppy and sloppy guitar chords lend and the drums change just enough to keep my brain hypnotized and never feel too much like the whole thing is getting stale. That certainly helps, because this track extends past eight minutes. You'd think it's very simple if you're not paying that close attention, but if you listen closely, there are so many variations here on the same idea. New instruments come in and out all the time. And those drums are always changing. The lyrics seem to consist of a drugged-up singer screaming "dying butterfly" or other variations of that. Sometimes he's whispering that under his breath... This track is very strange. But amusing, and something that would probably make the right audience rather gleeful. Pnoom 8.5/10 This made me laugh out loud the first time I heard it. It consists of a rather jazzy beat, and we hear some bicycle horns coming out of both sides of my headphones at seemingly random times. It's strange and accessible, and it intrigues me. But not thirty seconds into it, there's a stumble and the whole thing stops. Why must they tease me? Nineteen Century Man 9/10 Here is another funny song. More of that rock music that's in left field!!! (Hey, you have to like it for that. Seriously.) The guitar is more involved here than it was in "Butterfly" and that contributes it its enjoyment. He's sloppy and sometimes even out of tune. But no matter. It's the spirit that counts. There's also a very light organ player that we hear. The singer just belts out lyrics that sounds like he made them up on the spot. (He reminds me of a Wesley Willis, except he's intentionally mental.) Thief 9.5/10 They're writing real chord progressions now. The guitar is playing something that's catchy in an almost pop-rock way. Naturally, the whole thing comes off as weird. The instrumentation is weird, and it trudges along in a too-calm pace. It picks up dramatics as it moves along (as it should) so my brain gets even more engaged. But I'm not mentioning the first thing the listener is going to notice about this; the lead singer sounds like he spent too much of the previous album screaming, and now his voice is completely hoarse! Man Named Joe 7.5/10 This sounds like it has some jazzy influences here. But the first thing that's going to strike you about it is the singing, which gets pretty annoying here to be honest. It sounds like he's doing a bad Edith Bunker impersonation. And then somebody's coming in with those bicycle horns we heard in "Pnoom." I had to take off my headphones, because I couldn't take it. I am a mere mortal! Uphill 8/10 More along the same lines as "Butterfly," except it's not quite as interesting. The drum doesn't change up as much, and I guess that's part of why it gets a littler staler. Though the guitar certainly changes its rhythm throughout. Again, they try to capture you by being hypnotizing, but this time the effort grows a little staler. The guitar is definitely a treat to listen to for people who love that art. Little Star of Bethlehem 9/10 This is a little bit easier for my poor ears to take. The lyrics seem more complex although maybe I'm only better able to notice them a little easier, because this is less noisy. The repetitive groove played by the bass and the drums are enjoyable here even though they basically just repeat the same thing over and over again. The especially weird thing they do here is insert strange sound-effects that sound like a cross between whale noises and a full scale orchestra. This is the most pleasant track of the album, but maybe that's not what you want to hear from them! You CAN e-mail me your comments here!

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He's watching you --- OK, that's probably not true.