Search - Can :: Saw Delight

It isn't all that bad

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 08/06/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Most everything that Can has done after 1974's Soon Over Babaluma has only received mixed reactions. And 1977's Saw Delight is no exception. By this time, the band witnessed the most drastic lineup change. That is ex-Traffic members Rosko Gee on bass and Reebop Kwaku Baah on percussion coming on board. Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit and Michael Karoli are still here, as always. Holger Czukay stopped playing his bass here and began to handle wave receivers and various sounds before leaving the band for good. By the mid '70s, most Krautrock bands either broke up or moved away from their experimental space rock roots. Like Kraftwerk doing more conventional electronic pop, Tangerine Dream moving to sequencer heavy synthesizer dominated music, and Amon Düül II moving to more conventional symphonic prog rock. In Can's case, they no longer were being inventive or innovative, so what they were doing on Saw Delight sounds a whole lot like what many other bands were doing in 1977. I actually like "Don't Say No", despite the fact the band stole the rhythm of Future Days' "Moonshake", the vocals here oddly remind me a whole lot like Santana. Meaning there's a Latin-feel to that song. A lot of the rest of the album finds them exploring more disco-like rhythms, examples go to "Sunshine Day and Night" and "Fly By Night". That in itself throw many a Can fan off, particularly those used to the likes of Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi, and Future Days. Of course I bought Saw Delight not expecting another classic in the same league as their Damo Suzuki-era material, and I ended up liking it, despite the disco-tendencies of the album (I'm not a disco fan). Can has always been known for emphasizing rhythm, but Saw Delight seems to be little else than rhythm, so when I first heard it, I thought it was a bit monotonous. But I started to notice more what was going on in the background, and started to appreciate this album more. I admit it's not a classic, and newcomers who start here would get the wrong impression of the band, after all, this isn't what Can was doing in the early 1970s. To me, Saw Delight isn't bad, but I suggest you start with Tago Mago, Ege Bamyasi, and Future Days first."

Holy Rebop, Rosko!

Ron Moronson | Columbus, OH USA | 08/27/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First album wif Rosko Gee(bass) and Rebop Kwaku Baah(percussion) from Traffic. A shift in direction with more Afro/Caribbean rhythms thrown in the mix. Quite a bit more straight ahead musically than the previous records. Definitely worth a listen though. Followed by the album Out Of Reach which Can has completely disowned as a Rosko Gee solo album or whatever and removed it from the Spoon catalog. I'm a Can nut so they all have redeeming qualities as far as I'm concerned."