Amos Key

A little-known band, of whom we know nothing historically. Amos Key were one of the few early German bands to play a fiery classical rock with such creativity and invention, and even paralleled the excellence of the Italians. Much more so than fellow organ-rock pioneers Sixty Nine, Amos Key owed great debts to Bach, Beethoven and Schumann, adding a heavy Krautrock twist to a music more closely resembling Egg or The Nice, full of angst and weird psychedelic and space-rock touches.(COSMIC EGG)

I just bought the first Amos Key album on CD, and I am extremely impressed with the level of musicianship and composition. This is strong, hard-driving organ, drum and bass progressive rock absolutely in the Emerson, Lake and Palmer vein. This is an excellent find and sounds more British than most other German Prog bands I have heard. I expect to listen to this album quite a bit, and I am a bit surprised that this group has not come up in conversation more- probably as they recorded only one record. This is a mostly instrumental record, and while the vocals are not exceptional, they do fit in well with the overall feel of the record. (PROGARCHIVES)

Quite good and enjoyable “keyboard trio” album. There’s the odd classical reference (a snipped of Beethoven’s “Für Elise” opens “Dragon’s Walk”), but they aren’t bound to the classics. There’s an irreverent attitude without being a total joke, which makes this disc refreshing. All the tracks are under six minutes in length. For fans of the ELP style, these guys are great without being an out-and-out clone. (RATEYOURMUSIC)