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Tago Mago [40th Anniversary Edition] Image
Metascore
99

Universal acclaim - based on 13 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 52 Ratings

  • Summary: This 40th Anniversary remastered edition of the 1971 krautrock classic features all of the original artwork from the UK release. It also includes a bonus CD of 50 minutes of remastered and previously unreleased material recorded in 1972. Tago Mago was recorded in Schloss Norvenich, a castleThis 40th Anniversary remastered edition of the 1971 krautrock classic features all of the original artwork from the UK release. It also includes a bonus CD of 50 minutes of remastered and previously unreleased material recorded in 1972. Tago Mago was recorded in Schloss Norvenich, a castle near Cologne owned by an eccentric art collector. It has been hailed by All Music as "One of the best albums ever, period." Expand
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Dec 9, 2011
    100
    It's a colossus of an album, the product of a band that was thinking huge, pushing itself to its limits, and devoted to breaking open its own understanding of what rock music could be.
  2. Dec 1, 2011
    100
    Arguably the most influential rock album ever recorded... everyone that matters – and many who don't – between Bowie and Radiohead cites it as an influence.
  3. Dec 1, 2011
    100
    Invoking and evoking just about all the spontaneity and scariness that you'd want from rock'n'roll, Tago Mago can offer experiences as spellbinding as the sequence that originally comprised side one ("Paperhouse", "Mushroom", "Oh Yeah"), or can be so extreme that you feel yourself under attack by maniacs.
  4. Dec 1, 2011
    90
    Can was light years ahead of their time, and the ideas they present in Tago Mago and sequential albums are still incomprehensible even in today's eclectic and varied music scene.
  5. The Wire
    Dec 6, 2011
    90
    After four decades, the album's concentrated blend of brutalism and intricacy, fluidity and fracture, sound as uncompromising as ever. [Nov 2011, p.69]
  6. Dec 1, 2011
    90
    To listen to the pioneering Tago Mago in 2011 is to hear the blueprint for much of the leftfield music of the past 40 years, and this reissue will hopefully inspire further invention for decades to come.
  7. Dec 1, 2011
    80
    Tago Mago is the messy one, where ten-minute stretches of nightmare sound effects are followed by 20 minutes of caveman groove with Damo Suzuki's caveman babble to match.

See all 13 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Apr 8, 2020
    10
    Something truly great was occurring in Germany in the early 1970's. German youths, discontented with Germany's national identity followingSomething truly great was occurring in Germany in the early 1970's. German youths, discontented with Germany's national identity following their atrocities in World War II, sought to use music to push forward a new kind of German - cerebral and cold, but also heady and open-minded. Inspired by psychedelic rock and progressive rock from England and the United States, they created a new, futuristic style of music, dubbed "krautrock" in Western print, a term which many of its artists lamented.

    Now, there were two styles of krautrock that became popular - there was early-era krautrock, spearheaded by the likes of Can, Tangerine Dream, and Faust, and a later emergent style, the kind most associated with the genre today, done by the likes of Neu! and early Kraftwerk. The early sound is associated with a kind of wanton music destruction; noisy tapes loops, scratchy, loopy guitars, grotesque overdubs straight out of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's worst nightmares. Its near opposite, the later style focused on steady rhythms which ditched snares and high-hats for the almighty kick drum, while adding layer upon layer of synth and guitar work until the original, rudimentary composition was a thing of the past, symbolizing Germany's fetish for progress. Between these two styles, a new genre emerged known as kosmische musik, where Tangerine Dream would eventually migrate to, and would pair with later krautrock to create tense, spacey orchestrations that would eventually become the style that we associate with modern film/tv soundtracks. If the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack comes to mind, then you're one step ahead of me - Tangerine Dream did the GTA V score. In fact, everyone was influenced by this stuff - David Bowie, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Slint, Brian Eno; it would probably be quicker to name artists that weren't influenced by krautrock.

    Tago Mago sort of works as a bridge to gap the two styles. The album certainly isn't shy of the slightly unnerving, devil-may-care approach to psychedelic rock that emerged at the time, but we can see elements of the genre come into the fold that would eventually become synonymous with the genre. The drumming here is steady and plotting and the instrumentation, though highly improvised, never venture so far off the beaten path as to mold into new tracks themselves. It's noisy, but far from harsh and discordant. It's a pleasant experience that enlightens rather than alienates, and it's not difficult to see why Can's contemporaries fell in love with this record so much. This, of course, can not be said for the penultimate tracks Aumgn and Peking O, a frenetic mental breakdown that will make you rethink everything you said about Revolution 9 being "too much."

    Only now, some many years later, out of pure happenstance, do I now realize what "Can" means in this context. I always thought they were talking about a tin can or something. Now I get that it, of course, a kind of positive affirmation. Do you want to you? Yes, you Can. You just need to be clever enough and to have enough chutzpah.
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  2. Dec 14, 2011
    10
    An absolute masterpiece. Definitely one of my favorite albums of all time. Probably in my top 10, actually. Can has several incredibleAn absolute masterpiece. Definitely one of my favorite albums of all time. Probably in my top 10, actually. Can has several incredible albums, but this one combines everything I love about them into one wonderful collection. Expand
  3. Dec 24, 2011
    10
    I was very encouraged to find this site. I wanted to thank you for this special read. I definitely savored every little bit of it.

    Heathrow Minicab
  4. Jan 21, 2012
    10
    This is a landmark album that has influenced whole generations of musicians. I discovered this band five years ago and they became one of myThis is a landmark album that has influenced whole generations of musicians. I discovered this band five years ago and they became one of my all time favourites. Collapse
  5. Jan 5, 2012
    8
    This album is quite good, mixing several styles their sound is kinda hard to pin down. Overall it is very jammy, funky, and experimental,This album is quite good, mixing several styles their sound is kinda hard to pin down. Overall it is very jammy, funky, and experimental, although the second half of the album with live songs such as "spoon" hasn't withstood the test of time, reminding me a bit too much of my teenage years when I was high on shrooms with a guitar and a mic and way too much effects on the vocals. Expand