Ttiumvirat

Formed in 1969 in Cologne, Germany – Progressive Rock ELP sound-a-like trio TRIUMVIRAT were very popular throughout the 70’s, releasing seven studio albums: MEDITERRANEAN TALES (1972), ILLUSIONS ON A DOUBLE DIMPLE (1974), SPARTACUS (1975), OLD LOVES DIE HARD (1976), POMPEII (1977),  ‘A LA CARTE (1978) and ‘RUSSIAN ROULETTE (1980), before they disbanded in 1980.

A 17-track compilation CD was also released by EMI Germany in 2012

TRIUMVIRAT were signed to German EMI’s Progressive imprint HARVEST, and despite being often accused as being ELP clones, Prog-Rock fans (especially NICE / ELP die-hards) took them to their hearts, loving the powerful, melodic brand of “Emerson”-esque keyboard-driven, semi-instrumental music they created, especially the terrific keyboard arrangements of virtuoso ivories man Jürgen Fritz, whose Hammond work was nothing short of astounding!

With Fritz always at the helm TRIUMVIRAT went through several personnel changes from album to album, but retained their core style throughout. The musicians always owned up to their main influence being The NICE, but their pristine arrangements and total respect for melody marked the difference.

TRIUMVIRAT , like ELP, mixed extended epics with shorter pieces, and they too often ended their longer works with monumental instrumental crescendos that were thrilling and dramatic in the extreme!

A common visual thread throughout all TRIUMVIRAT releases was the white rat, which in later releases appeared just in profile before disappearing altogether for the last two, less popular releases: ‘A La Carte’ (1978) and ‘Russian Roulette’ (1980.

Keyboardist Jürgen Fritz tried to revive TRIUMVIRAT in 1999 and they recorded a new album entitled: ‘Website Story’, but this has so far remained unreleased.

Love them or loathe them, it cannot be denied that TRIUMVIRAT can be considered an icon of seventies European Prog movement. That is why the majority of their albums still remain available on CD in Germany in 2018, and so we feel they rightfully deserve their place in the CDS Symphonic Prog Rock Hall Of Fame, and reminding you that we carry their albums in stock at CDS Towers as a matter of course.