Genre: progressive
Rating: 4 stars ****
Title:  For All the Clowns
Company: Peters International
Catalog: PILPS 9017
Year: 1977
Country/State: Munich, Germany
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: US pressing
Available: 1
Catalog ID: 6278
Price: $50.00

Having undergone a series of personnel changes that saw original drummer Harry Rosenkind replaced by Holger Brandt and singer/guitarist Günther Moll step in as a replacement for Alex Pittwohn, 1976 saw Sahara returned with their sophomore LP - "For All the Clowns". Like the debut, the album didn't see a US release until 1977 when Peters International issued it domestically. Who knows why, but the US release featured revamped (and inferior) artwork and a different running order for the seven tracks. For anyone interested, the original German cover is shown below:


Ariola catalog number 89377 OT

Self-produced, musically the album found the revamped band moving away from the debut's overt progressive stance to a lighter and more varied attack. There were still plenty of progressive elements scattered throughout the collection ('For All the Clowns', 'The Source' and ''The Mountain King), but there were also some straight-ahead commercial moves like 'Flying Dancer' and 'Dream Queen'. I'd also tell you that to my ears Moll was a better singer than original vocalist Alex Pittwohn. Yeah, he seemed to be singing the all-English lyrics phonetically, but unlike Pittwohn he didn't have to continually struggle against the arrangements and I found his voice very likeable. (Interestingly, Pittwohn was credited as the band's stage sound coordinator.) Moll also deserved kudos as the featured lead guitarist. Virtually every song he played on benefited from his understated contributions.

- Starting out with a strange, almost hypnotic aura, 'For All the Clown' quickly started showing the band's broad array of out side influences including some 10cc-styled harmony vocals and more than a little from the Yes catalog of progressive excesses., Yeah, stretching out over ten minutes the song wandered around a bit, but there was plenty of pretty synthesizer work from Hennes Hering and Michael Hoffman and a couple of minutes into the song Günter Moll turned in a nice lead guitar segment. I can't really put my finger on it, but for some reason the extended title track was one of those songs that kind of snuck up and parked in your head. rating: **** stars
- Opening up with a nifty Günter Moll guitar riff 'Lying Dancer' had a far more pop-oriented flavor (there was almost a reggae lilt to the song) which probably left the band's progressive fans wondering what had happened. Personally I think the song's great and the atypical commercial edge probably explained why it was tapped as a single. rating: **** stars
- Starting out with some jarring synthesizer chords 'The Source Part I & Part II' quickly morphed into one of the album's prettiest performances with surprisingly subtle synthesizers, a simply beautiful Moll guitar solo and some first-rate harmony vocals. Unexpectedly Part 2 of the song opened up with an acoustic, almost folkish feel. Former lead guitarist Nick Woodland was featured on 12 string acoustic guitar. rating: **** stars
- The instrumental 'Prelude' found Hering opened up side two with some stark, classically-flavored piano. It didn't do a great deal for me, but merged directly into 'The Mountain King Part I & Part II'. rating: ** stars
- Opening up awash in Moog and Jethro Tull-styled flute, the thirteen plus minute 'The Mountain King Part I & Part II' included a host of genres including some jazz-rock electric keyboard flourishes, a bizarre spoken word segment, and an extended Moll fuzz guitar segment (very good). After a brief break, Part 2 started out with some Krautrock-styled moog followed by a more conventional structure highlighting some of Moll's best lead guitar.
- A dreamy ballad, the flute propelled 'Dream Queen' was a quite pretty and again very commercial, but the medieval fantasy lyrics left me cold. The song actually picked up considerably when Molls electric guitar kicked in during the second half. rating: *** stars
- Showcasing some pretty Moll acoustic 12 string guitar, the instrumental 'Fool The Fortune' sounded like something off of a Jan Akkerman solo album. (Always loved the frog and bird sound effects.) rating: *** stars

As mentioned above, the album spun off a single in the form of:



- 'Flying Dancer' b/w 'For All of the Clowns' (Ariola catalog number 16615 AT)

So, it I had to pick one of the two true Sahara albums, this is the one I'd start looking for. It may not have been as progressively-oriented as "Sunrise" (there's no side line suite this time out), but song-for-song it was far more enjoyable and the addition of a broad array of genres was a nice touch. Not always successful, but an album I enjoy hearing from time to time ....

"For All the Clown" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) For All the Clowns (Michael Hoffman - Meryl Creser) - 10:59
2.) Lying Dancer (Stefan Wissnet) - 3:23 
3.) The Source Part I & Part II (Stefan Wissnet) - 7:10 
(side 2)
1.) Prelude (instrumental) (Hennes Hering) - 1:05 
2.) The Mountain King Part I & Part II (Michael Hoffman - Meryl Creser) - 13:20 
3.) Dream Queen (Stefan Wissnet) - 5:05 
4.) Fool The Fortune (instrumental) (Michael Hoffman) - 1:19