Released in 1971, the record is the second of Embryo's works during their long career. A combination of fusion, rock, jazz and a powerfui force of communication, it is a work which embraces different styles and traditions. 1t is timeless. boundless music which captures one of the most creative periods in European culture. Playing alongside the original members of the band. Burchard, Hofmann and Fisher is Franz Benton, currently a very populär singer in Germany.

"We've burnt all of our jazz LP's -we have nothing to do with jazz", and they played me what was new (also for my ears at that time): Hendrix, Cream, Hapshash". Alongside other Underground musicians (many of them with a similar jazzy background), Burchard had the vision of a band with a very definite aim: "to work collectively, intuitively, and let the music evolve of its own".

The initial core of the band was made up by Burchard (drums, piano, percussion, vocals), Edgar Hofmann (sax, violin, vocats), Ralph Fisher (bass, organ, voice), ex Ten Years After member John Kelly (guitar, vocals), and several occa-sional collaborators. During their first period, stretching from 1969 to 1972, while going through constant changes of line-up, Embryo released three albums. The first of them, "Opal", is still considered their masterpiece. Featuring Lothar Meid on bass, "Opal" was released on the legendary Ohr Musik label (headmast of the progressive German rock of the moment), and featured an inventive, freaky sound with an intriguing jazzy twist. The band's follow-up was "Embryo's Rache" (1971), a surprising album which set the unique Embryo sound, "often dynamic and riffing, with ethnic touch-es and Edgar Hofmann's expressive sax, hypnotic and com-plex music". "Embryo's Rache" featured the political "Espagna Si, Franco Mo", a song that led to the cancellation of their planned 1972 Spanish tour due to pressure from the Fascist dictatorship then ruiing Spain. Over the next eight months Embryo recorded three albums, but two of them would not appear until much later, äs the band's current label, United Artists chose to release only their more "com-mercial" disk: "Father, Son, and Holy Ghosts", a record that showed a more Condensed and accesible style.

A key development in Embryo's history happened when veteran Saxophone player Charlie Mariano was introduced to the band. In Burchard's own words: "Charlie paid us a visit, stayed with us, and we had a jam. The musical communica-tion between us worked, so that äs a logical consequence we played concerts together... Of course it was a big surprise for us, because we thought Charlie Mariano was a size too big for us!". The addition of Mariano led to the release of "We Keep On" (1973) for the BASF label, a very fine album that showed Embryo in an unusual quartet format also featuring Burchard, Roman Bunka, and Dieter Miekautsch. "We Keep On" was the record that broke Embryo around the worid.

Their two following albums, "Surfin"' (1974) and "Bad Heads & Bad Cats" (1975), were fine recordings but a mite too commercial for Christian Burchard. Annoyed at what he saw äs their label's manipulating schemes, in 1976 he embarked on an extensive trip to India alongside the rest of the band. During several months, the Embryo crew travelled through the northern regions of this country, getting to know and experimenting with different local musicians. One of them was Bombay singer Shoba Gurtu, who collaborated in the recording of their following project, the controversial "Apo Calypso" (1977).

In 1978 Embryo embarked an ambitious touring performance and recording trip to the Middle East via Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. The trip lasted nearly two years and , was documented on hundreds of hours of tape. As a result of this journey, the band released "Embryo's Reise" (1979), a document on their experiences in Asia, a pioneering effort in the addition of ethnic elements into rock, and a sample of exciting live and studio recordings. After releasing the weird, worid music-inspired "Life!" (1980), the band kept wandering through Asia, the Middle East and Egypt. During 1980-1982, the Embryo tours featuring Indian musicians enjoyed tremendous success. Particularly renowned was the concert the band offered at the Opera Theatre in Beirut alongside the Yoruba Dun Dun ensemble. Amongst the albums from this period, the double LP "La Blama Sparozzi" (1982) particu-larly manages to capture the magical essence of their ethnic crossover.

After endless changes in their lineup, in 1984 Embryo recorded their first studio album in seven years: "Zack Gluck", an almost instrumental LP in which the old classic Embryo style is fused together with lots of new elements. Now touring Africa, the band became deeply involved with Nigeria's Yoruba Dun Dun Ensemble. As product of their col-laboration with this African orchestra, Embryo released two intriguing albums: "Yoruba Dun Dun Orchestra" (1985) and "Africa" (1985). Celebrating twenty years of Embryo, "Turn Peace" (1989) offered additional surprises, proving that Burchard and crew were still willing to try new ideas while still recreating the music they originally set out with. "Ibn Battuta" (1994) stepped back to the elements in "Zack Gluck", but with a much more spacey ethnic feel. Embryo is still going on strong, constantly surprising with their innova-tions, proving to be the only Krautrock band to have stuck to their ideals over 25 years whilst always moving on.