Amon Duul II

Guide Note

Amon Duul II is a German band with influences of Krautrock whose name has as meaning the Egyptian Sun God and a Turkish personage of fiction. Amon Duul was initially an anarchist community, but was separated in two fractions: Amon Duul I and Amon Duul II. Amon Duul I had especially political inclinations, while Amon Duul II preferred to play music. Their anarchist tendencies are clearly shown in some albums as Yeti, Tanz Der Lemming, Wolf City and Phallus Dei.

Fast Facts

1. Origin: Munich, Germany
2. Years Active: 1969 to Present
3. Record Label: Atlantic Records
4. Genre(s): Krautrock, Psychedelic, Experimental, Progressive
5. Members: Dieter Serfas, Peter Leopold, Shrat, Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz, Jolin Weinzierl, Falk Rogner, Dave Anderson
6. They won a Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Award) for their contribution to the film "San Domingo"
7. The song "Phallus Dei" had 21 minutes in length.
8. Their second album Yeti obtained Top Five success in UK.
9. Sometimes they were compared with bands as Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd

• 1969: Phallus Dei
• 1970: Yeti
• 1972: Carnival In Babylon
• 1972: Wolf City

Amon Duul II emerged from the hippie scene in Munich, but their strong interest in music, led them to go their own way. The band had two different periods: the period of improvisation was implemented in the records Phallus Dei and Yeti, which contained lengthy and improvised songs. The period of composition begins with their album Carnival in Babylon and is accentuated for Wolf City. During this phase, the group composed structured songs. In spite of their success, the group was disbanded in 1981. Nevertheless, reappeared during the 1990s with the albums Live in Tokyo and Kobe. Also, in 1999 the band re-released three of their albums: Wolf City, Yeti and Alive the Trance.

1. "I'm not interested in mere nostalgia, but Amon Duul was too good to forget." — Chris Karrer, Delerium's Psychedelic Web