X (Klaus Schulze album)
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X is the title of Klaus Schulze's 1978 album. It was his tenth solo album.
On X Schulze attempted to execute a concept album of six "musical biographies" evoking contemporary or historical intellectuals with an influence on Schulze, but the Middle-Eastern flavor of the sinuous Moog synthesizer lead line in Nietzsche and the propulsive sequencer-driven rock of Herbert have a dubious connection to the subjects, so as tone poems they fail. But the work is often cited as Schulze' masterpiece from the classic era of Berlin School.
For two of the tracks, Friedemann Bach and Ludwig II. von Bayern (as well as the first few minutes of Heinrich von Kliest) Schulze recorded a modest string orchestra and looped them on tape. He had done this in 1972 on his first solo LP, Irrlicht, but this time he did not filter the orchestra beyond recognition. The mixture of classical music and unearthly electronic sounds gives X a much more organic sound than anything Schulze' contemporaries were doing at the time, such as Jean-Michel Jarre's Equinoxe. On following releases Klaus Schulze employed a cello, particularly on Dune.
Disk 1
- 24:50 Friedrich Nietzsche - Evokes dawn as it gathers itself together and finally gets underway in one direction like a train. Drums enter lightly over Mellotron chorus, and Schulze solos with a tone and melody that sounds vaguely Egyptian.
- 26:04 Georg Trakl - Uses an ingenious tape loop of a bass line for a skeleton which is gradually fleshed out with real drums, dulcimer-like spikes, and a meditative wandering lead. The reissue in 2005 restored 21 minutes of material to this track which was not present on the original version. Presented with the limited running time of vinyl, Schulze made the bold decision to trim the original track and move it to the first disk in order to include von Kliest in its entirety.
- 10:51 Frank Herbert - A furious four-note bass figure rises and falls with intensity as drummer Harald Grosskopf keeps up relentlessly for nearly eleven minutes. Schulze solos with reined-in keyboard improvisations that counterpoint the rage of the underlying rhythm.
- 18:00 Friedemann Bach - Featuring violins and a cello, this is a pioneering example of dark ambient and the scariest, most melancholy selection on "X." Laden with ominous effects, it signals the transition of the work to a more contemplative sound.
Disk 2
- 28:39 Ludwig II. von Bayern - Electronic music meets classical. The first ten minutes of this track, which states the basic theme, was included on Essential (1972-1993), a Schulze greatest hits compilation. In the middle section the string orchestra idles hypnotically while subtle changes happen around it. The last ten minutes are a reprise of the basic Wagnerian theme, but with heavy drumming and even heavier electronic effects.
- 29:32 Heinrich von Kleist - Begins as a calmer version of "Bach" and ends as a more stately version of "Von Bayern," with a chaotic electronic nightmare in-between. Other than the intro with violins and the climax with drums, this track is exclusively electronic and uses a great deal of Mellotron choir pushed way forward in the mix.
- 21:32 Objet d'Louis - A previously unreleased live version of "Ludwig II. von Bayern" added as a bonus track to the 2005 reissue. Some fans find this to be a poor choice, as there is no new source material and the piece has some issues with audio quality.
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