Yet Another German rock CD? Well that's random for you. Not that I mind, it's a good one to present from a rather underrated band. Curiously, I always got their name wrong. Even after buying this album I was sure they were called "King Pin Men". Because, you know, it makes some sense, "king pin" meaning according to the Urban Dictionary "the leader of a crime syndicate or organisation". So my eye always auto-corrected "Kin Ping Meh", because it seemed meaningless. Researching the band for some background information I found out that their name was of Chinese origin and probably derived from a German mistranslation of a medieval Chinese pornographic novel, Jin Ping Mei (金瓶梅, known in English as The Golden Lotus). Now the cover makes more sense...These guys from Mannheim, Germany never hit the big time despite being accomplished musicians. Their music was hard rock with nice guitar/organ interplay. It reminds me a lot of Atomic Rooster and, at places, of Uriah Heep. The heavy guitar and emphasis on keyboards is typical of Kraut bands of the era but thankfully the singer's vocals are devoid of any heavy German accent and there are also some pleasant vocal harmonies to lighten the overall atmosphere. Opener "Fairy Tales" is probably their best song and, at 10+ minutes, gives enough space to the guitarist and organist to stretch out. The long drums passage is mis-judged, I think, but should be a highlight of the live shows. "Sometime" is an excellent ballad with soaring organ and mellotron and "Don't You Know" a good prog song with many changes, almost ruined by the inclusion of gunfire and other effects. "Too Many People" is, for a change, a folky number with harmonica and handclaps. "Drugsen's Trip" is another "trippy" hard prog number, followed by one of the highlights, a melodic song with mellotron called "My Dove", reminiscent of Barclay James Harvest. "Everything" is a good rocker with great guitar work but silly lyrics. The last song on the original album was "My Future", a short melodic folky number with light percussion and CSNY-style vocal harmonies. Repeating the phrase "I hold my future in my hands" over and over is a nice way to close the album with a dose of healthy hippy optimism, rapidly going out of style by 1971. My edition includes 4 bonus tracks taken from concurrent singles. "Everything's My Way" is another version of the album's "Everything" and sounds better, with a more Santana-influenced sound and less of the silly refrain."Woman" a ballad with beautiful organ and harmony vocals. "Every Day" and the country-ish "Alexandra" are just OK.
**** for Fairy-Tales, Sometime, Everything's My Way
*** for Don't You Know, Too Many People ,My Dove, Drugson's Trip, Everything, My Future, Woman
** for Every Day, Alexandra
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