Search - Birthcontrol :: Hoodoo Man

Easily their best!

M. Harris | BRIGHTON, EAST SUSSEX United Kingdom | 01/30/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My first introduction to the band was them doing an atrocious version of 'light my fire' on the 'who is there?' album (unreleased on c.d) vocals were never the bands strong point, but as a decent heavy rock band they were pretty good. This is an improvement on the excellant 'operation' due to the lack of brass. It is down to the basic four man line up and is all the better for it. At times a little Uriah heep 'get down to your fate' and 'buy' but that's no bad thing. The standout is the jazzy 'suicide' which is the best thing they ever recorded. 'Gamma ray' is a classic with great wah-wah/vocal interplay and the only downside is the title track overstaying its welcome. If you like this then get 'operation' and the progressive 'plastic people' A fine example of early seventies kraut/rock."

Certainly Birth Control's finest early album

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 07/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"1972's Hoodoo Man found Birth Control recording for CBS, which obviously helped them get even better exposure than when they were on Ohr. Their previous album Operation was on Ohr and it certainly seemed like the odd album on that label, given that label was dishing out stuff like Tangerine Dream's Zeit, and at the same time, Operation, which was like a German Deep Purple with prog trappings and not typical for the label. The band, in my opinion, released an even better album with their CBS debut, the album being reviewed here. They got themselves a new keyboard player, Wolfgang Neuser, who included Hammond organ, Hohner Pianet, and even some synthesizer. I really dig his organ playing, where you hear the clicking sounds of the organ. I really think this is one of the finest example of hard rock with prog rock trappings. "Buy!" starts off almost in Black Sabbath territory with heavy guitar work from Bruno Frenzo, but then you get those progressive passages, and a great synth solo. Vocal duties are from Bruno Frenzo and drummer Bernd Noske. "Suicide" is a wonderful jazzy piece with lots of great Hammond organ and electric piano. "Get Down to Your Fate" continues showing the hard rock side of the band, with equally heavy organ and guitar work. "Gamma Ray" was the hit on the album, apparently didn't become a hit until 1975, and for some reason was popular at discotheques in Germany. It's a rather extended piece with an extended percussion solo, and nice organ work. Still the song doesn't sound particularly disco (this was 1972, after all). The title track is by far the most progressive thing on the album, especially the classical influences and pipe organ. "Kaulstoss" is a short instrumental piece, influenced by Celtic music, done Birth Control style, with Wolfgang Neuser playing a famous Scottish song on his synthesizer. Although a certain George MacKnickerick is credited to bagpipes on this album, there are no bagpipes to be found. I really love how both guitar and organ gets equal billing, often together, throughout the album, I never heard an album with such guitar/organ interplay as this album, so both fans of the guitar and the organ will be equally satisfied.



I found Birth Control to be rather underrated. Prog rock fans find them too hard rock for their liking (for the more traditional prog rock fan, go for 1975's Plastic People or 1976's Backdoor Possibilities to hear Birth Control at their most progressive, least hard rocking side), and Krautrock fans used to stuff like Can, Neu, Faust, and the likes would not find much of interest here. But to me, I really think Birth Control made some great albums, and Hoodoo Man is a great album to start if you don't know this band."