SCHMIDTCHEN, DETLEV - ANOTHER WORLD (2015 ALBUM/10 TRACKS/DIGI-PAK)

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A CDS UK exclusive, this is the 6th solo album from the ex-ELOY keyboarder and it’s a mature collection of powerful Progressive songs and instrumentals!

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First, here’s a brief piece of Detlev Schmidtchen history…
Detlev Schmidtchen began his music activities in 1970 in different bands from Hannover in Germany.
In 1971 he founded the band GETRIEBE and they became very popular around the Hannover area.
They won the first place in a local band contest where one Frank Bornemann and his group ELOY were headlining! After hearing GETRIEBE perform Bornemann became interested in Detlev because he wanted to permanently reform his band. Detlev then joined ELOY, at first playing guitar, but later he changed to keyboards, and featured on three studio releases and one ‘live’ album.
In 1980 Detlev and Jürgen Rosenthal (ex SCORPIONS / ELOY) left the band and founded the “EGO ON THE ROCKS” project, which had a short but very successful time on the German Progressive Rock scene. After the “EGO” period Detlev worked in different projects, sometimes with Manfred Wieczorke (ex ELOY, FIREHORSE & JANE). After a five-year sabbatical he worked from 1991- 1998 together with Wieczorke in different projects like: The TRICK, ANIMATER and CHOCO. As CHOCO the duo recorded together in the Nautilus studios between 1998 & 2004 and many of these recordings can now be heard on the 2014 CD: ‘Bubbles In Your Brain’, which also features the spoken words of Scotsman Neil John Douglas.
In 2005 Detlev started to record tracks for his own solo album. In September 2007 it was finally released on a very small German indie label called JKS-World. ‘The Last Planet Chapter 1- Impressions’ was followed on the same label by two further “Chapters” of the same project, then the label disappeared and with it the treasures of Detlev’s solo trilogy.
In 2011 a new Detlev Schmidtchen album: ‘Blaze The Trail’ was issued on Made In Germany records - a more widely distributed German indie label, and in 2013 he went on to record another instrumental album for new label: Torus Records entitled ‘Vanthasia’. With Torus now firmly behind him in 2014, all three parts of Detlev Schmidtchen’s ‘Last Planet’ trilogy have been re-issued in one amazing Remastered Triple CD Package!

In 2015 came: ‘Another World’. Presented in a brightly illustrated 6-Panel Digi-Pak (with a 8-Page Booklet included), like all other Detlev Schmidtchen albums, all 10 tracks are wide-scale productions with a good sense of melody and dynamics with plenty in the way of infectious hooks and panoramic soundscapes to enjoy,
As always, musically the spirit of ELOY is always around, but there is also a lot that will make you think of the ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, specifically his ‘I Robot’ period, especially in much of the instrumental passages, which seem to transcend the worlds of “Synth Music and “Progressive Rock” very easily, with firmly structured rhythms and strong melodic keyboard/synthesizer work always uppermost in the mix.

For the “Progressive Rock” fan, the music is very obviously influenced by Schmidtchen’s time with ELOY, and if you like that band, or the later related EGO ON THE ROCKS project, you should get on very well with this album.
Schmidtchen’s keyboard work is exemplary throughout; in fact he uses a lot of different keyboard sounds compared to those you’ll hear on your average keyboard based Prog album, with plenty in the way of strong synth solos and big choral backdrops. There are some really nice guitar solos to savour too, and here Schmidtchen’s isolated guitar deposits may well make you think of PINK FLOYD as well as ELOY!

Here’s a brief rundown of what to expects from ‘Another World’…
The opening instrumental: ‘In The Fog’ is full of atmosphere and features ethereal synth voices.
‘Wonderland’ is very much an ALAN PARSON’S PROJECT style track with strong rhythms, a good vocal and a strident synch-lead backing.
‘Tours’ features a curious female voice sample over a bank of ELOY-is keyboard sound textures and driving electro percussion, then deeper into the piece it delves into the sounds of ENIGMA style Gregorian voice samples.
‘Cosmic Wind’ is also a bit APP like… a good song with catchy a chorus.
‘Blast From The Past’ is a dedication to a lost friend, and again the rhythmic flow is very much rooted in the APP style of things, and there’s a spoken lyric that echoes the feel of ELOY with more fantastic keyboard work driving through the core of the track.
‘In My Dreams’ is a strong song with a good vocal and infectious chorus and, as always, fantastic keyboards!
The instrumental: ‘Africa Calling’ fades in on another APP/ELOY style electro riff overlaid by a majestic melodic synth run. The is great use of voice sampling on this highly infectious piece, with colourful inventive percussive features than runs around in your head after hearing for the first time.
‘Why’ is another fine song with a profound message and a plethora of great keyboard sounds!
The title track: ‘Another World’ is an instrumental where a deep bass line intros another APP-like instrumental that contains Gregorian monk samples and a full range of electro percussion.
The album closes with: ‘Flash’, a Prog song with a repetitive chorus with some blinding Hammond soloing in the middle section.

This is a hugely underrated German musician / songwriter who now right at the top of his game with yet another fine collection– Love it!

Also available from stock by DETLEV SCHMIDTCHEN…
BLAZE THE TRAIL (2012 Album / Digi-Pak) CD – Stock # 1530765
LAST PLANET TRILOGY (2014 Triple CD Set / Digi-Pak) 3CD – Stock # 1742298
VANTHASIA (2013 Album / Digi-Pak) CD – Stock # 1643895
BUBBLES IN YOPUR BRAIN (2014 Album with MANFRED WIECZORKE / Digi-Pak) CD – Stock # 1742297

DETLEV SCHMIDTCHEN: ANOTHER WORLD Track List:

01. In The Fog [instrumental] (2:47)
02. Wonderland (5:25)
03. Torus [instrumental] (4:45)
04. Cosmic Mind (4:13)
05. Blast From The Past (5:34)
06. In My Dreams (7:43)
07. Africa Calling [instrumental] (5:58)
08. Why (5:59)
09. Another World [instrumental] (4:54)
10. Flash (4:18)

TPT – 52:00