Sindelfingen "Odgipig" 1973

The Princess was written in 1973, immediately after the Odgipig album and became the band's finale piece at live performances. It represents a struggle between good and evil and includes a chase section and a royal procession at the end. Drummer Roger Thorne was forced to leave the band at the end of 1973 and was replaced by the 12 year old Matthew Letley, brother of bassist Mark; it is Matthew playing on this 1974 recording, which represents the closest Sidelfingen ever came to capturing their live sound. (Kissing Spell)

This was to my knowledge the only album released by this British group while they still existed (I've heard of a live-album called "Triangle" but I don't know anything about it). The music on "Odgipig" is progressive rock with a slight folk-influence and long, complex tracks. The songwriting is good, and there are lots of interesting parts and themes in the tracks. So then this is just good?? Well, unfortunately not! My problem with this album is the arrangements. The only additional instrument to the basic drum, bass and guitar is a glockenspiel. You can may say that this sparse instrumentation gave the band a sound of their own, but in my opinion it don't explore the full potential of the compositions. What I'm trying to say is that the songs need richer and more powerful arrangements than this. If they had added some Mellotron, Hammond-organ and a better production, then this could really have been something! Not bad, but it could have been much better. (vintageprog.com)

Personel:
Roger Woods - Oscillators and Glockenspiel
Richard Manktelow - Vocals and Guitars
Roger Thorne - Drums and Percussion
Mark Letley - Vocals, Guitars, Bass and Recorders