Original language: German
On the occasion of their 25th anniversary, the Munich-based Lukas Tower Band, led by guitarist Wolfgang Fastenmeier and vocalist Angela Maier, produced the CD “Albedo,” a collection of older and newer tracks. Apart from this album and “After Long Years” from 2004, it seems there is little else in their discography. However, the band’s origins – or rather, the seed of the current band – date back to 1979. The actual starting point, however, was in 1984, when they practiced in the Lukas Church in Munich, which explains the somewhat peculiar band name.
The ten tracks, some up to ten minutes long, are primarily musical adaptations of 19th-century English (Alfred Tennyson, William Blake, George Byron, Charles Causley) and Irish (2 x Thomas Moore, including She Is Far From the Land) poetry. The eight-piece formation embraces the sounds of the 1970s – a bit of Jethro Tull (perhaps in the German Galahad version), a touch of Cochise. The usual rock setup is complemented by accordion, flute, and violin. The folk influence is particularly evident in the two instrumental medleys: the first consists of the popular Irish “Morrison’s Jig” and two compositions by Fastenmeier. The second begins with 2 x Fastenmeier and then includes the slip-jig “A Fig for a Kiss” (9/8 time) and the “High Reel” from the Horslips repertoire.
At the end, entirely different tones are struck, namely oriental ones. This fits less with the eight preceding tracks but aligns with the CD cover featuring sand dunes. The full album package includes the lyrics as a PDF file, as well as video sequences from the 25th Anniversary Concert in April 2010 at the Kulturhaus München-Neuperlach, a photo gallery, a PowerPoint presentation about the band’s history, and an interview with band veteran Wolfgang Fastenmeier.
© Walkin’ T:-)M