The Ache Rock Band Official Website, Denmark

ACHE album reviews

• Reviews of "De Homine Urbano" (1970) & "Green Man" (1971)
• Reviews of "Pictures from Cyclus 7" (1976), separately

Reviews of ACHE's "De Homine Urbano" & "Green Man"

ZAP NILES reviews ACHE's "Green Man" album (1971)

August 4, 2017
"4 out of 5 Stars!

To me, this long-forgotten band from Denmark sounds like what might have happened had Uriah Heep released its debut album, only instead of including Dave Byron, Jim Morrison from The Doors was the lead singer.
- - -
On this release, the band includes a splendid reworking of The Beatles “We Can Work It Out,” which alone was worth the album price."

MEGADISC.pl, Poland, have reorganized and updated their website, here presenting "De Homine Urbano", "Green Man" and "Pictures from Cyclus 7"

June 30, 2015
Click here to read the presentations/reviews, in Polish

Progarchives.com, review of "De Homine Urbano"

June 11, 2015
"The first rock ballet and pioneer prog rock at Denmark, Ache's debut is an inventive worthy album. Their sound sometimes could remind you other bands, but their ideas and organization were somehow original.
- - - A nice listen to anyone's into hammond rock as ELP [Emerson, Lake & Palmer]."
www.progarchives.com

Surfing the Odyssey Blogspot,
Drago Museveni reviews "De Homine Urbano"

April 30, 2015
" - - - `De Homine Urbano' is the debut work from vintage progressive rock related band Ache, hailing from Denmark. Originally recorded as a soundtrack to an experimental rock-opera in 1970, it should come as no surprise that the music here has numerous lengthy flowing instrumental sections, as well as little in the way of vocals to distract from that.
Split into two side long pieces, the band present a rough-around-the-edges take on symphonic prog, somewhat along the lines of early classical influenced bands such as The Nice, but never as fancy or sophisticated. Instead the band charges through a frequently heavy, wild and more reckless extended work, with just a slightly sloppier and dirtier edge to the sound, and it's all the more addictive for it.
With plenty of fuzzy organ workouts, delicate piano moments and varied ragged percussion, it's a fascinating work that reveals its strengths over repeated plays. - - - "
Drago Museveni
surfingtheodyssey.blogspot.dk

Surfing the Odyssey Blogspot,
Drago Museveni reviews "Green Man"

April 30, 2015
" - - - A great find, one of those rare examples of excellent very early prog that didn’t end up on the overexposed, overplayed list like most of the huge prog bands of that day. Highly recommended to pretty much any prog music fan. - - - "
Drago Museveni
surfingtheodyssey.blogspot.dk

BLACKMOON, Norway, review of "De Homine Urbano"

February, 2013
"Dette er et konseptuelt album i to deler av høy klasse. Symfonisk progrock ispedd det mer psykedeliske.
Danskene, med brødrene Olafsson i spissen, har levert meget god progrock på sitt debutalbum. Introen er deilig, majestetisk, passe "seig" med Peter Mellin sitt hammondorgel sentralt (og du så bra han spiller!) og glir over i en vanvittig bra og heftig gitarlyd.
Innimellom kommer sarte toner fra akustisk gitar og tangenter og ikke hissig og intenst som en sverm med hveps.
Lekende bass og solid tromming løfter også prosjektet til det det er, nemlig veldig bra. Det er dynamikk, skiftninger og så mye interessant som skjer hele platen gjennom at skatten fra 1970 helt klart fortjener å trekkes fram i lyset igjen. Booklet og lyd er begge deler gjennomført profesjonelt. - - - "

Ole Svela
8 moons of 10 possible

BLACKMOON, Norway, review of "Green Man"

February, 2013
"Sist jeg så en original vinylutgave på nett stod den med ca. 1350,- i pris.
Plateselskapet lever en god innpakning til et album som for meg er enda mer inspirert av tidlig britisk progrock og med et islett av space rock, Åpningslåten er inspirert av filmen "2001 A Space Odyssey". Tittelsporet ønsker å hylle gleden og for meg gir albumet mye glede.
Vinylutgaven er ettertraktet og kan spise en god del av det du har på konto. Bandet fortsetter hovedsakelig i samme atmosfæriske landskap som sist og leverer nok et meget godt album med samme særpreg som debutalbummet."
- - -
"Bandet er litt tyngre enn det foregående i mine årer. Beste spor er etter min mening "Shadow of a Gypsy" som har lidt Uriah Heep feel, sjekk ut Hammond orgelet og gitaren (er det Queen lyd?), "Equatorial Rain" og "Green Man".
Verdt å vite? Mange spor, men allikevel i samme gate som debuten, mye mer vokal. Låten "Shadow of a Gypsy" fra albumet deres mest kjente. - - - "
Ole Svela
8 moons of 10 possible

69 FACES of ROCK.com:
Mark Kadzielawa reviews "De Homine Urbano" & "Green Man"

Early December, 2012
"Denmark's Ache is an absolutely excellent rock band."
- - -
About "De Homine Urbano":
"The result is overwhelmingly impressive. The album can be enjoyed by variety of listeners, and neither style and sound is compromised in any way. An achievement not copied to this day, although few came close."
- - -
About "Green Man":
"It really reflects the times it was made in, and it has that explosive feel. This record needs to be listen to loud in a very dark room. The band turns on elements of progressive and psychedelia, and just rocks all the way through." - - -
"Ache is certainly a band worth investigating! Even after 40+ years since these two album were released, they still pack a solid punch. Why this band never made it any bigger is beyond this writer's understanding. All of the ingredients are here. If 70s rock is your cup of tea, Ache will make you an instant fan! "
Mark Kadzielawa
Click here to read the full review

MUSIC-NEWS.com, England:
Andy Snipper reviews "De Homine Urbano" & "Green Man"

December 2, 2012
"Mellin’s Hammond work is superb and Finn Olafsson demonstrates real dexterity in his guitar playing – a lovely fluid sound full of soul and miles away from the Blues riffery of many of his contemporaries.
The vocals are fine, albeit a bit of an afterthought but it is the orchestral feel to the rock music that makes the band – they claim The Nice as influences and you can definitely hear that band’s sound signatures here although there is also the feel of The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and some of the darkness of Atomic Rooster in the music. "
- - -
"These guys were – and are – musicians of real quality and they produced two albums that are never less than interesting. Of the two I would probably go for ‘De Homine Urbano’ but they both have a place on my decks."
Andy Snipper
 4 stars out of 5
Click here to read the full review

UNIVERSUM-NOLL.com, Sweden:
Patrik Stigsson reviews "De Homine Urbano" & "Green Man"

November 22, 2012
"Vilket underbart tidsdokument. En njutning från första tonen till sista.
Ljuvlig hammondorgel, en mjuk och innerlig elektrisk gitarr, en likadan akustisk, bra trumspel och helt okej (om än inte mästerlig) sång.
Bortsett från att man rakt av stjäl en hel del från tidiga Yes, och att man dessutom hör tydliga spår av ELP, Iron Butterfly och The Nice, så är det genuina tongångar man frambringar.
Kunde med tanke på sådant hämningslöst härmande blivit pinsamt.
Är i stället synnerligen hörvärt, och årets reissue så här långt. - - - "
Patrik Stigsson
Click here to read the full review, in Swedish (scroll down)

BACKGROUND MAGAZINE, Holland:
Henri Strik & Peter Willemsen review
"De Homine Urbano" & "Green Man"

November 10, 2012
"The voices of the Olafsson brothers are both worthwhile listening to. The band also had the talent to write good songs for the album features rather melodic compositions."
- - -
"Those who love the music made by the above-mentioned bands have two pleasant sounding albums at their disposal. Hopefully Esoteric will dig up more strong releases from the Scandinavian area."
Henri Strik & Peter Willemsen
Click here to visit the website - open the menu 'CD reviews'

METALLUS.IT - Italian heavy metal & progrock website:
Riccardo Manazza reviews "De Homine Urbano" & "Green Man"

October 26, 2012
"Il risultato non ha ci pare nulla da invidiare a tante band famose dell’epoca e soprattutto l’incredibile lavoro all’organo di Peter Mellin pare quasi surreale sia da assegnare ad un giovane e non certo celebre musicista danese.

Per chi già non li possiede sono insomma due dischi più che consigliati."
Riccardo Manazza
 8 out of 10 
Click here to read the full review, In Italian

DMME.NET - CLASSIC ROCK AND BEYOND, Israel:
Dmitry M. Epstein reviews "De Homine Urbano"

October 18, 2012
"Grand concept en pointes: young Danes dare deliver dashing debut to dance the night away."
- - -
"Spanning across all of the original LP's first side, "De Homine Urbano", praised as a masterpiece by archdruid Julian Cope, is exactly that, and then some, as it sounds much fresher than the aforementioned prog classic as well as other art rock milestones."
- - -
"And while it's in the less heavy moments that the real melodic wonder of the piece comes to the fore, there's a fantastic Ravel-influenced part where Glenn Fischer's drums arrange a battle only to surrender to harpsichord-and-piano classical allusion and pass it back to the fugue tornado for fading away before a catchy hard rock riffs claims its glory of place."
Dmitry M. Epstein
Click here to read the full review

GAFFA.DK - the #1 online music magazine in Denmark:
Torben Holleufer reviews the two first ACHE albums

October 8, 2012

DE HOMINE URBANO:    4 stars
Link to the review page on GAFFA.DK (in Danish)

GREEN MAN:    5 stars
Link to the review page on GAFFA.DK (in Danish)

The Missing Piece presents "De Homine Urbano"

Early October, 2012
"First album from classic Danish proggers first released in 1970. First class remastered reissue from Esoteric Records. Great dark prog with touches of VdGG."
Click here to visit the web page.

The Missing Piece presents "Green Man"

Early October, 2012
"Classic Danish progalbum now taken under the wings of Esoteric Records, which means a perfect remaster, extensive booklet, and of course great music!"
Click here to visit the web page.

CD Universe presents "De Homine Urbano"

October 3, 2012
"Ache's music was a powerful Psychedelic Progressive Rock driven by Peter Mellin's powerful Hammond Organ and the fluid guitar playing of Finn Olafsson."
Click here to read the full presentation.

CD Universe presents "Green Man"

October 3, 2012
"Ache's second album, Green Man was released in June 1971 in Europe and was arguably the band's finest hour, featuring classics such as 'Equatorial Rain', 'The Invasion' and 'Shadow of a Gypsy'."
Click here to read the full presentation.

DPRP - Dutch Progressive Rock Page:
Mark Hughes reviews "De Homine Urbano" and "Green Man"

September 29, 2012

DE HOMINE URBANO:
"The original first side of the album was the music for the award winning ballet and title track of the album, De Homine Urbano ('The Urban Man'). Split into 10 sections, although the breaks between sections are not immediately evident, the nineteen and one-quarter minute piece is somewhat of a tour de force. The tightness and professionalism of the band is shown from the fact that the whole piece was recorded and mixed in a single day."
- - -
"Although written as support for a visual spectacle, De Homine Urbano stands well on its own. The various sections are seamlessly interlinked and the variety of the music is a pleasure to behold."
- - -
"Indeed, the first time I heard the two Ache albums I was sure they were a forgotten English band."

GREEN MAN:
" - - - Shadow Of A Gypsy is an excellent song, a minor key epic, with beautifully played Hammond displaying classical influences and underpinned by some fine piano work, equally well sung by Olafsson with a superbly arranged backing choir and some fine guitar work rounding things off, the song is a melancholy masterpiece."
"With an even higher profile, the band completed the recording of the album in three days in November 1970 ... "

Conclusions:
DE HOMINE URBANO: 7 out of 10
GREEN MAN: 6.5 out of 10
Mark Hughes
Click here to read the full review.

Music in Belgium's Thirionet reviews "De Homine Urbano"

September 22, 2012
"Un fabuleux retour dans le passé qui en secouera plus d'un, car ici c'est tout l'état d'esprit d'une époque mythique qui nous reviendra en pleine figure. Cet album nous offre du tout grand rock-psychédélique, du comme on en fait plus."
- - -
"Pour en terminer, je dirais simplement que cette réédition est une véritable bénédiction!"
Thirionet   5 stars of 5 possible
Click here to read the full review, in French.

Music in Belgium's Thirionet reviews "Green Man"

September 23, 2012
"Ce sera bien sûr à nous de le vérifier, tout en sachant que le premier volet de cette résurrection musicale fit l'effet d'une bombe psychédélique et progressive!"
- - -
Plus varié, parfois déroutant et peut-étre plus accessible que "De Homine Urbano", cet opus comportera une fois de plus de vrais moments de bonheur pour l'amoureux fou de psychédélisme et de progressif de la grande époque."
Thirionet   4.5 stars of 5 possible
Click here to read the full review, in French.

Keys and Chord's Alfons Maes reviews "De Homine Urbano"

September 21, 2012
"Strong progressive sounds produced by heavy keyboardsplay and some exciting guitar riffs but sadly enough the band soon disappeared into oblivion ... "
Alfons Maes
Click here to read the full review, in Dutch.

Keys and Chord's Alfons Maes reviews "Green Man"

September 24, 2012
"Ache's 'Green Man' is another fine album of this Danish progressive outfit but this album is more commercial than their debut ... "
Alfons Maes
Click here to read the full review, in Dutch.

Progplanet.com: Tonny Larsen reviews "De Homine Urbano"

September 18, 2012
"Finally my Danish fellow countrymen ACHE, get the attention they deserve!"
- - - "Actually this music holds up today!! Check it out!!"
Tonny Larsen
Click here to read the full review.

Progplanet.com: Tonny Larsen reviews "Green Man"

September 22, 2012
"Still that magic Hammond organ, that fluid guitar on the solid base of bass and drums all over the album, It is a must hear for any Danish prog history collector (as is the former album) and since these would cost a small fortune on vinyl, why don't you go get these fine re-mastered cd's, they're great and they're at fair prices."
Tonny Larsen
Click here to read the full review.

LASERSEDGE recommends "De Homine Urbano"

September, 2012
"High quality music through and through - an easy recommendation."
Click here to read the full recommendation.

LASERSEDGE recommends "Green Man"

September, 2012
"Nothing was really compromised. Vocals spring up more often but still all in all extremely high quality proto-prog and an easy recommendation."
Click here to read the full recommendation.

Vinyl Antiquity: Blake Mitchner reviews "Green Man"

July 30, 2012
"ACHE's GREEN MAN A DARK EUROPEAN MASTERPIECE
WHICH CAME TO ME FROM EUROPE ITSELF"

"GREEN MAN is one of the most impressive and exciting psych into prog crossover albums ever made, a masterpiece that belongs in every even half-serious collection ..."
""Shadow Of A Gypsy" is by contrast a very beautiful song that conjures up a late 60s vibe and some particularly inventive lyrics and instrumental work."
"I would strongly urge you to find this album - it won't be easy and it may be a little bit pricey - but it's worth it as this is a very creative record by a band who broke every rule ever made in the book of rock.
Rock on Ache and keep on digging deeper cos when you do the music is some of the best ever recorded. "
Blake Mitchner
Click here to read the full review.

Danish prog-rock website "Natskyggevej" reviews ACHE

Quoting the Savage Hippie, Natskyggevej, June 13, 2012,
"Green Man is a real masterpiece."
"The organs sounds really really great, and so does every other instrument and every note strummed by Ache on this forgotten gem!"
"The group really topped their first record
with the release of Green Man."
Click here to read the full review.

Bordel do Rock, Brazil, reviews ACHE albums

January 20, 2012
"A great pity that they didn't last long, but still essential for any progressive fan."
Click here to read the full review, in Portuguese.

AvaxHome: Alfredo Catalani reviews "Green Man"

September 23, 2011
" - - - Green Man" è una bellissima perla di straordinaria bellezza.
Dominio del B3, imperiosa chitarra elettrica, assalti fulminanti di ritmi in continuo cambiamento, atmosfere a tratti psichedeliche e - perla tra le perle - "We can work it out" dei Beatles, un pezzo di circa 8 minuti che vale tutto il disco.
Bellissimo sound atmosferico, che ti porta dritto dritto al '68, musica che oggi non esiste più, tranne che sui dischi di allora."
Alfredo Catalani
Click here to read the full review, in Italian.

Music From The Other Side of the Room -
Zachary Nathanson's prog & symphonic rock blogspot:

June 6, 2011
"Originally released on the Philips label in 1970, De Homine Urbano was their concept to write a ballet rock instrumental and it works fine magically. The music was dark, evil, hidden, and sinister that would have filled the theatre to a shocking surprise at the end, combining with dooming guitar sounds and venomous organ sounds, it would have made Ache's musical composition pieces set to a horror score, but the passages and time signatures that would have listeners say, "How the hell did they do that?!"
"These albums stood the test of time and gave the beast a chance to run free and go buck wild. Obscure Prog at its finest."
Zachary Nathanson
Click here to read the full review.

AvaxHome: John Baltese reviews ACHE's two first albums

May 14, 2011
"The musicians are very good and it´s a joy listening to them play. Finn Olafsson´s guitar solos have to be mentioned as they are great but I also enjoy Glen Fischer´s drum playing a lot."
- - -
"The production from the in Denmark famous Johnny Reimar is very good and it brings out the best in the music."
John Baltese
Click here to read the full review.

Prog Possession Blogspot, SE, reviews ACHE's two first albums

25. marts 2011
"Här kommer två mycket högklassiga album från den danska gruppen Ache. De Homine Urbano består av två långa fullsidesspår medan Green Man är mer uppdelat. Ändå är den musikaliska stilen ungefär densamma. Det rör sig om proggressiv rock och psykedelia där hammondorgelns vibrationer länge ekar i minnet. Det finns en melankoli och ett vemod som berör en djupt samtidigt som man imponeras av medlemmarnas skicklighet."
Link to the web page Prog Possession Blogspot

c/o Amazon.com, UK: Johnny Davis reviews ACHE albums

December 31, 2010
"Classic Danish psychedelic masterpiece!
Legendary Danish psychedelic killer.
Their 1970 and 1971's two album on one CD."
- - -
"This is unique and top quality progressive legacy on early 1970's.
First official release with digitally remastered on 2000.
Highly recommended!"
Johnny Davis   5 stars of 5 possible
Click here to read the full review.

SAM1957/aquarmartin.blogspot reviews ACHE albums

March 19, 2010
"Hoy ponemos un 2 en 1, maravilloso doble álbum del rock progresivo de este excelente grupo danés."
Click here to see visit the blogspot page - in Portuguese.

Fifty Greatest Prog Albums Ever Made - Part II
Timothy Ready reviews ACHE albums

December 22, 2009
"Ache - De Homine Urbano (1970) and Green Man (1971)
I've made my thoughts known on Denmark elsewhere in this blog; but to encapsulate, for a nation of approximately 4 million people to have produced the amount of great music the Copenhagen scene is responsible for is incredible.
- - -
Ache, however, is one of the best; both of these records are excellent, and have enough native quality to make the Copenhagen scene its own thing . . .
- - -
Epic arrangements and long-form Spacyness, this is a true bridge between the Psychedelic and Progressive Rock eras."
Timothy Ready
Click here to read the full review.

Sound Voyager Blogspot: Sergei Uvaroff reviews ACHE albums

September 8, 2009
"????: ?????????? "???????" ???????, ????????? ????????????? ??????????? ?????? ???????? ???????????. ?????????, ???????
???????."
Sergei Uvaroff
Click here to read the full review, in Russian.

CDandLP.com, Hungary, presents "De Homine Urbano"

07/05/2009
"On the whole this elaborate album is really quite excellent, both in musical style and delivery, way ahead of it's time!
Ache were creating a sound that others would later find fame with eg Procol Harum / Deep Purple / Uriah Heep etc.

Brothers Finn and Torsten Olafsson (Guitars / bass and vocals) Peter Mellin (Keyboards) Glenn Fischer (Drums and percussion) are all superb musicians and at the time of release this LP sold surprisingly few copies so if prog/psych rock is your music-of-choice now is a chance to own this stunning albums."
Click here to read the full review.

Progarchives.com: Ivan Melgar M reviews "De Homine Urbano"

May 17, 2009
"There's nothing static in the track, everything is in perpetual motion, the radical changes come one after the other without rest, the band seems to have horror of silent spaces, covering every instant with music, when not the piano or guitar, you can clearly listen the bass or drums playing restless, like a sonic wall that hits you from start to end, simply wonderful expression of musicality.
But the closing section is exceptional, totally experimental for a band in the 70's an uncontrolled cacophony with a Baroque background, this guys were years ahead most musicians from the era, something strange for 1970 Prog of Scandinavia."
- - -
"From this point we get complexity, experimentation, pomp, excesses, everything that makes Prog so special, but is better to listen it than to read whatever I can say, because it's unique, so this is as far as I will go to avoid spoiling the experience.
Four solid stars for a very ambitious album that deserves more attention."
Click here to see the full review, and more.
Ivan Melgar M  4 stars out of 5
(Special Collaborator Symphonic Prog Specialist)

Progarchives.com: Erik Neuteboom, the Hammond organ,
and ACHE

November 22, 2007
"The Hammond Organ - - - Part Three - - -
Chapter 9:
MY FAVORITE HAMMOND ORGAN DRENCHED ALBUMS

ACHE - De Homine Urbano + Green Man
- - -
The music is based upon splendid keyboardplay (many floods of Hammond organ) and some fiery electric guitar.
- - -
If you listen to this CD, it's incredible that the magnificent keyboardplay is delivered by an unknown Danish musician."
Erik Neuteboom
(Prog reviewer)
Click here to see the full review.

Progarchives.com: ClemofNazareth reviews "Green Man"

August 29, 2007
"Well if you keep turning over rocks it’s inevitable that every once and a while you’ll find something worth keeping underneath some of them. That’s the case with Ache, a surprisingly underexposed proto/heavy prog Danish band whose existence dates back nearly forty years. These guys may be well known to their fans, but like the saying goes – ‘if you’ve never heard it it’s new to you’."
- - -
"A great find, one of those rare examples of excellent very early prog that didn't end up on the overexposed, overplayed list like most of the huge prog bands of that day. Highly recommended to pretty much any prog music fan."
ClemofNazareth  4 stars out of 5
(Special Collaborator Prog Folk Researcher)
Click here to see the full review.

The Prognotfrog Blogspot: Tommy Schönenberg reviews ACHE's "De Homine Urbano"

June 17, 2006
"This is great early prog." - - - " ... the overall good songwriting makes "De Homine Urbano" a worthwhile album from the early 70's scene of Scandinavian progressive rock."
Tommy Schönenberg
Click here to see the full review.

Progressive Rock Online reviews ACHE's two first albums

August 23, 2005
"'70??????????????????Heavy?organ?????????????????/???????????????????Progressive Rock????????????"
Click here to see the full review, in Japanese.

A Dag Erik Asbjørnsen review of ACHE's "De Homine Urbano"
on Alex Gitlin's Music Site

November, 2004
". . . the album [De Homine Urbano] is excellent and recommended for those who enjoy the instrumental excesses so typical of the period."
Dag Erik Asbjørnsen
Click here to visit the web page.

New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock:
Gil Keltch reviews ACHE's "De Homine Urbano" and "Green Man"

August 20, 2004
"The two albums presented on this CD offers the listener an opportunity to learn how Prog evolved out of Psychedelia through constant jamming and experimentation."
- - -
"This is Psychedelic Heavy Prog at its very best and is highly recommended."
Gil Keltch
Click here to read the full review.

Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage: "Danskrocksampler"

May 2004

Quoting Julian Cope reviewing ACHE in his Danskrocksampler of 2004,
" ... there is a psychedelic violence and power to Ache."
Click here to read the full review essay.

LA CAJA DE MUSICA, Spain, reviews
"De Homine Urbano" & "Green Man"

January, 2004
"Es dificil decir cual disco es mejor! Los dos son fantasticos!"
- - -
"De Homine Urbano" es considerado por la critica como el mejor album del grupo, dadas sus cualidades compositivas. Y en este "Green Man" viene a ser un plus extra excelente.
Ache, rock progresivo seminal de Dinamarca, algo poco comun de ese pais europeo, se puede decir.
Un CD y un par de LP's muy recomendables, rescatados y relanzados en el 2000 desde Alemania. Un CD historico y una banda 'legendaria' del rock progresivo escandinavo."
Jorge Padilla L
Click here to read the full review.

Progarchives.com reviews ACHE

No date
Quoting Erik Neuteboom, Procarchives.com,
"Why this artist must be listed in www.progarchives.com:
This is very inspired and powerful Hammond organ driven early progrock."
Click here to read the full review.

Progressive Rock - Syn-phonic, USA:
Greg Walker reviews ACHE

No date
"The very best Danish prog band to emerge out of the seventies."
Greg Walker
Click here to visit the web page.

Reviews of ACHE's "Pictures from Cyclus 7"

Surfing the Odyssey Blogspot,
Drago Museveni reviews "Pictures from Cyclus 7"

April 30, 2015
"Released in 1976 5 years after their second album Green Man and with a completely revised line up, Pictures From Cyclus 7 was not only Ache's best album, but the best Danish prog album period. I have heard quite a few bands from Denmark, Norway, et all and been hugely let down trying to find something along this album's lines of melodic disciplined progressive pop/rock with no self indulgence whatsoever.
Ache had made two high quality if inconsistent psychedelic/progressive records in the form of De Homine Urbano and Green Man, but this line up of 6 musicians + lyricist Bo Lillesoe made what is the unbeatable album from the Nordic Realm.
The music is best described as "cosmic" progressive pop/rock - a cross hybrid of late 60s pop influences (the vocals), dark psychedelia (the guitars, lyrics, some vocals, some keyboards), and symphonic prog (Procol Harum/Genesis influence - particularly Procol H.).
The lyrics are really sinister while the music is fairly subdued, extremely melodic, and one could even say lushly symphonic with liberal use of synthesizer, organ, and mellotron. The group were not aiming for an "Anglo" sound, but instead for something uniquelly dark and as freezing as a Danish winter, with some UK influences much in the background.
- - -
Everything any MUSIC fan could want is here - flawless musicianship, great vocals, a fab production, and most importantly great songs.
- - -
If you are looking for the best Danish record for progressive rock this is the album to do it, and it blows hyper expensive doggerell like Old Man And The Sea out of the water!
I would even go so far as to say that at this point in time Ache were a world class band who could stand up to anybody from anywhere."
Drago Museveni
surfingtheodyssey.blogspot.dk

Vinyl Antiquity: Review by Blake Mitchner

September 29, 2011
"In fact, I'd go all out and say that Ache's 1976 masterpiece Pictures From Cyclus 7 may be the most brilliant progressive album ever to be recorded by a band from Northern Europe."
- - -
"Pictures From Cyclus 7 is a pretty dark and impenetrable concept album, but it is here that all similarities with their earlier work end. Instead of long psychedelic guitar and organ solos the sound is a heavy yet very melodic progressive rock/pop with lyrics from Bo Lillesoe and a dark moody vibe full of expressionistic imagery and some pretty creepy moments that manage to not dissuade from the highly melodic lush music on this brilliant album."
- - -
"Pictures From Cyclus 7 by Ache is a masterpiece, about the best progressive album in the world certainly the best from Denmark."
Blake Mitchner
Click here to read the full review.

November 17, 2006
"Ache had made two high quality if inconsistent psychedelic/progressive records in the form of De Homine Urbano and Green Man, but this line up of 6 musicians + lyricist Bo Lillesoe made what is the unbeatable album from the Nordic Realm."
- - -
"I would even go so far as to say that at this point in time Ache were a world class band who could stand up to anybody from anywhere"
bristolstc   5 stars of 5 possible
Click here to read the full review.

November 2004
"“Pictures From Cyclus 7” is a nice surprise, and a drastic departure from the first two LPs (which were done in the typical for the era hard-psych style, with guitars fuzzed out and turned to 11, concocting bone-crunching, skull-crushing riffs to the slow-burning drone of the just as distorted Hammond organ). In contrast, it is a gentle, melodic and fragile symphonic rock effort resembling a lot of the German prog bands which were creating in the same genre around that time period (the mid-70s): Novalis, Hoelderlin, Satin Whale, Pell Mell, et.al. A must for all symph-prog fans!"
Alex Gitlin
Click here to go to the web page.