Ranking CAN records that I own

Besides listening to records, I enjoy watching movies. I don't enjoy watching most actor interviews during media tours for their new films, however. The one exception to this is the series of interviews the New Musical Express does with artists. While they usually begin the interview with the generic questions regarding how it was working on "X" film with "X" actor, etc, eventually the interviewer will ask the actors what their favorite albums are and what music they're listening to currently. 

I find that often an actor who might have done a dozen or so of these iterative interviews that day will suddenly perk up and give a heartfelt answer. Because they're being asked something that is unrelated to their jobs and, more often than not, pertains to something personal and emotional, actors will often open up. This is what happened to Benicio del Toro while promoting Paul Thomas Anderson's excellent film One Battle After Another. When asked what he had been listening to lately he remarked that he had just been in Berlin and spent some time listening to the German rock group CAN. Interestingly, the album he was listening to wasn't something from their "classic" period like Tago Mago or Ege Bamyasi, rather he was listening to their final album of the 70s (and final album for a while) CAN (aka Inner Space). 

Now, despite being a big, big CAN fan (and knowing the track "Aspectacle" from a Soul Jazz Deutsche Electronic Music comp), I had never heard this record. In fact, my knowledge of most records post-Future Days (after Damo Suzuki left the group and they never found a lead singer to replace him) is spotty at best. So, on Benicio del Toro's recommendation, I bought a copy of Inner Space. But where does it rank? See below!

Finally, for me there are just three bands: the Beatles, the Velvet Underground and CAN. There are of course other great bands, but these are the bands I could never live without. And yet, I don't really care for most of their music after 1973 (see above). So I should probably revise my statement: for me there are just three bands: The Beatles, the Velvet Underground and when Damo Suzuki was the lead singer of CAN. 

The Rankings

Future Days ★★★★★

I often see this one disparaged when discussing the Damo Suzuki era of Can't recordings. I mean, I don't think there is a bad recording the band did with Damo, so picking a favorite is understandably difficult but actively not liking this record is wild to me. The record opens and closes with pure sonic bliss: riding the groove, fading in and out of presence. In-between you have the burbling electronics of "Spray" and the catchy "Moonshake," which gave the great 90s band its name.

Tago Mago ★★★★★

This is the one that most people think is their best and those people aren't wrong. The first LP of this double LP set is probably the single greatest LP they released: "Paperhouse" into "Mushroom" is a crazy opening: though Damo had been on the previous LP Soundtracks, these two songs seem like a re-introduction to the most significant lead singer CAN (or perhaps any band) would ever have. The side-long "Halleluhwah" might be my favorite CAN track: an unrelenting drum pattern played by the great Jaki Liebzeit over which the rest of the band jerks its way through a funk voyage worthy of side-long James Brown jams like "Papa Don't Take No Mess." And all through it Damo yelps and mumbles and sings-ish his way through indecipherable lyrics. Unfortunately, the side-long "Aumgn" and the somewhat forgettable "Peking O" make the double record slightly inferior to Future Days. However, the whole thing ends with the epic "Bring Me Coffee or Tea." Here's an awesome video of them recording it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilk-2tXzlvE&list=RDIlk-2tXzlvE&start_radio=1 

Ege Bamyasi ★★★★★

The final stone in the triumvirate of Krautrock classics. Overall, I think this is the weakest of their best records but the highs might be higher on this record than on the other two: "Vitamin C," "Pinch" and, of course, their German #1 hit "Spoon," which automatically makes it one of the greatest songs to reach #1 on the charts ever (second only to Dylan going to #1 with "Murder Most Foul"). 

Soundtracks ★★★★

Delay ★★★★

The dominance of Damo-era CAN suggests that I might not like their first lead singer, Malcom Mooney, as much. I think Damo was given better material (also the band refined their sound most pronouncedly during their years with Damo) but Malcom Mooney is an absolutely singular talent. This is early recordings with him not released until the early 1980s. Highlights include "Thief," "Uphill" and the greatest Christmas song of all-time "Little Star of Bethlehem." 

Monster Movie ★★★★

The Lost Tapes ★★★★

An embarrassment of riches drawn from tapes deemed lost by the band. It features a lot of the jams that the band would use in their soundtrack recordings as well as live recordings and further jams with first lead singer Malcom Mooney. Five LPs worth of material is a lot, and you can really appreciate Holger Czukay's editing while listening to this set, but, CAN is one of my favorite bands (see above) and, therefore, there's no such thing as too much of your favorites. 

Unlimited Edition ★★★

You could make the argument that Malcom Mooney's best material is not on Can's debut album Monster Movie, rather both Delay and Mooney's songs on here are better than his songs on the debut (I've never been a Yoo Doo Right fan). Everything else on Unlimited Edition is good to great, with some previously unreleased Damo stuff to round it out. 

Can/Inner Space ★★★

I really don't like post-Damo Can records. In fact, as I mentioned above, I hadn't ever listened to this record before sensei recommended it on IG. And you know what? It's good! "Safe" is the best song they did post Damo and the first side in general almost reaches the hypnotic heights of the work from earlier in the decade. However, the second side has their unfortunate cover of "Can Can," which was chosen for the single and is probably the single worst thing the band recorded. Oh well.