Lady Jane (1975) – Heavy Prog & Krautrock Masterpiece 🎸

Tom Ozric
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Jane's well composed heavy-prog was never accompanied by great vocalists, as this album, 'Lady', can attest to. The music here is very, very good indeed, but lead vocalist Gottfried Janko sounds kind of like a gruff blues singer who's hit 'rock bottom' - but man, he surely makes up for it with his driving keyboard work, particularly on the Hammond Organ. He also uses a synthesizer to good effect. This time around all tracks were composed by lead guitarist Klaus Hess (who also sings lead on 'Music Machine'), and this actually shows - the songs sound more focused and tight, and quite 'complete'. The tracks are enthusiastically performed, many tempo changes, interesting arrangements and addictive melodies. The only thing they've done wrong here was give Gottfried a microphone, but the more you listen to the album, the less 'offensive' his voice is - it almosts sounds like he sports some sort of profound innocence - he can be really passionate.
Top marks go to : 'Music Machine', 'Lord Love' (Gott's vocals actually work perfectly in this tune) and 'Midnight Mover' - the latter being a classic space-rock ramble, with swooping synths and hard-core jammin'. Once the taste has been acquired for the vox, the entire affair is an excellent listen. After this album, Jane released a fine slew of excellent albums, reminiscent of Floyd and Eloy (comparisons are inevitable - apologies to those who disagree).

Songs / Tracks Listing
1. Waiting For The Sunshine (3:25)
2. Scratches On Your Back (3:37)
3. Music Machine (6:05)
4. Make Me Feel Better (4:10)
5. (Wishdream) Lady (3:51)
6. Lord Love (5:12)
7. Midnight Mover (8:33)
8. Silver Knickers (But You Are All Right) (5:01)
9. So, So Long (4:31)

Line-up / Musicians
- Klaus Hess / electric & acoustic guitars, vocals (3)
- Gottfried Janko / organ, synth, electric piano, vocals
- Martin Hesse / bass
- Peter Panka / drums, vocals (5)

Releases information
Artwork: Kerstin Davies