This year, Every Sunday Evening, Album Rock WXYG, The GOAT has featured a full album at 8:00 PM from the halcyon musical days of 1975. 1975 was one of the top Years in Album Rock history. Another year of tough choices every week. So many great ones to choose from. This Sunday, December 28th will mark our last salute to all the great albums that debuted in 1975. Next Sunday we will be moving on to another amazing year of ALBUM ROCK EXCELLENCE, 1976.
We hope you’ll tune in at 8:00 PM, Sunday, December 28th for our LAST featured album from 1975 with “Spartacus”, the third album by the German group Triumvirat.
It is a concept album based on Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator who led the 3rd slave uprising in 73–71 BC. The lyrics were written by Hans Bathelt, with contributions by Jürgen Fritz. It was originally released in 1975 on the EMI label, and later distributed in the U.S. by Capitol. It debuted in the Top 30 on the Billboard album charts.
After this album, Helmut Köllen left the band to start a solo career. Two years later, he died of carbon monoxide poisoning when he was in his car, in the garage, listening to his own compositions on the car's cassette player.
“Spartacus” is progressively strong, like 1973's “Illusion on a Double Dimple album”, it stands as another of this German outfit's best releases. Based on the famous Roman gladiator who led the rebellion against his homeland, the music supports the album's concept quite solidly, with the better tracks coming in the form of the sporadic "School of Instant Pain" and the nine- minute "March to the Eternal City," which gathers a menacing conglomeration of bass guitar riffs and pointed keyboard work. The music becomes effectively motivational toward the concept at the proper times, enabling the band's idea to remain fresh and colorful as the music is played out. Jurgen Fritz's Hammond organ and Moog intervention gives Spartacus a genuine progressive air, culminating as it should on the final track. Although Triumvirat's staunch, stern notes and articulate keyboard meandering can easily be compared to Emerson, Lake and Palmer's style, it's balanced quite impressively with Helmut Kollen's electric and acoustic guitar work. This album has an edge over 1976's “Old Loves Die Hard” because the synthesizers are put to better use, while the overall sound and flow of Spartacus contains greater instrumental animation.
This is Sensational keyboard driven progressive rock very much in the same vein as ELP. (But, More Melodic and Less Bombastic) TRIUMVIRAT deliver many excellent progressive moments here and the songs are super well constructed. "Spartacus" is a great place to start, if you aren’t familiar with Triumvirat.
Tune In and Turn On Sunday, December 28th, and every Sunday evening at 8:00 PM for The GOAT'S "The Long Play with Al Neff”.
