Atlantis — The Complete Vertigo Studio Recordings 1972-1975

In 1972, Hamburg-based progressive rock band Frumpy split after two years and three albums together. The group splintered with singer Inga Rumpf, keyboard player Jean- Jacques Kravetz and bassist Karl-Heinz Schott forming Atlantis, alongside guitarist Frank Diez and drummer Curt Cress. The band released their debut self-titled album on Vertigo Records in 1972, which was followed by 1973's It’s Getting Better, 1974's Ooh, Baby and their last album, 1975's Get on Board. 

This CD set brings all four studio albums together across two discs, while there are plans to release their live album separately at some point in the future.  Anyway, disc one kicks off with the band’s debut self-titled album, recorded in an old church with engineer John Burns, while Free were recording in the next room. Opening track "Get Up" is an up-tempo prog/ funk banger that is the perfect way to kick things off. Inga Rumpf’s raw, soulful voice lies at the centre of everything here, and boy does it sound good. "Big Brother" is up next, and after a proggy opening, we head into classic 70s rock territory, albeit with catchy eclectic prog vibes giving it a fresh twist on the more typical hard rock of the time. "Rock N Roll Preacher" is a bluesy rock tune, not unlike the stuff that Free were famous for, whilst "Maybe It’s Useless" takes us into solid rock ballad territory. "Let’s Get on the Road Again" picks up the pace with some pretty cool funk rock featuring conga player "Reebop Kwaku Bash" and some fine guitar playing from Frank Diez. "Living At the End of Time" has a cool southern rock vibe to it, that reminds me of Lynyrd Skynyrd at their most country. The first album is brought to a close with "Words of Love", a song that starts out sounding like an acoustic ballad before kicking things up a notch around the midpoint, when the song really comes to life. Overall, this is a solid start to disc one, however, the second album, It’s Getting Better, is up next. 

Opener, "It’s Getting Better" is a solid funk rock tune that sees the band step further into that sort of arena. Funky guitar rhythms and lashings of wah wah signalled a huge shift in the band’s style, as they step further towards the funk rock, whereas "Drifting Winds" is a big epic ballad which allows vocalist Inga Rumpf to show us exactly what he can do. Rumpf sounds excellent throughout this record, just as he had on the band’s debut album. "Days of Giving" is a funky number that wouldn’t sound out of place on a James Brown album from that same era. "Changed It All" takes things back down a notch or two and is one of the album’s quieter tracks for the first few minutes before exploding into life around a minute and a half in. "Fighter of Truth" reminds me once again of Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Black Crowes at their peak. "A Simple Song" is pretty much what you would expect: a fairly straightforward ballad that starts off acoustically and gradually builds up over time. "Woman’s Sorrow" brings the album to a close with another up-tempo Black Crowes-style boogie. 

Disc two kicks off with album number three, Ooh, Baby and the opening track "Brother". It’s an up-tempo rocker, with some nice lead guitar work, but you definitely notice the band has developed a far more commercial sound. "Son of A Bitch’s Son" follows in a similar vein, while "Waiting and Longing" take things down a notch or two. It’s a country-tinged ballad that continues in the more commercial vein of the other tracks. "Mr Bigshot" is up next, and it’s a funky number that you could mistake for Wild Cherry. "The Way I Choose" is a rockier number that sounds very much of its time, while the title track is pretty much a disco number. It’s not awful, but it’s the weakest song so far. "Smiling People" is a funky banger that reminds me, to an extent of Mark 3 Deep Purple or early Whitesnake, you can almost hear Coverdale singing it. The next track is "New York City", which seems to cover most bases, it has a funky disco vibe, but at the same time, it’s pretty laid back. After that, we have "Godfather", which comes out of the traps with a Who-style riff. This might be my favourite on this album, coming off more like the material on the first two albums, it’s heavier and rocks harder than the other tracks on this album. "Leave It To The Devil" is a funky number with guitars that could be from an early   Doobies record, and the album closer, "Good Friends", is a solid 70s rock track.

Album four, Get on Board, opens with the funky title track, Inga Rumpf’s vocals sound good on this one, but we can hear the band are heading away from their rock roots and further into 70s funk/soul territory, much like the Doobie Brothers did. "Change My Mind" is a decent soft rock number, whilst "The Man" is a bit of an outlier here with some good, solid funky rock riffery to elevate it above most of the other tracks. "Let Me Stay For A While" is the obligatory ballad, it’s perfectly fine for what it is, but we’ve grown accustomed to more from this band. "Keep The Music Going On" is another Doobies like track that doesn’t offend at all, but doesn’t rival the music on their first two records. "Chartbuster" is one of the album’s high points, it’s a solid rocker that does exactly what you want it to do. "The Captain and The Ship" is up next and is yet another solid rocker that stands out here as one of the better tracks on the album. The next song, "If I Couldn’t Sing" is a solid track but doesn’t quite stand up to the two that preceded it. It does have a good chorus, though. "Tried to Climb A Mountain" is a poppy number, it’s a pretty pleasant listen, but it doesn’t blow my mind. The album and CD set is brought to a close with "Mainline Florida", a solid country rock song that is enjoyable enough without ever rivalling the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Overall, I think it only fair to say that the first two albums are the real stand outs here and sound closer in style and feel to the Frumpy albums, however the third and particularly the fourth album are not without their high points, songs like "Smiling People", "Godfather", "The Man", "Chartbuster", and "Captain and the Ship" are pretty good 70s rockers, but in general those two records are definitely the lesser of the four. However, I do feel it is really nice to have a complete set of the band’s studio recordings for Vertigo Records, and it’s interesting to hear how they developed from the band they were when they started out, Frumpy, to what they became by 1975. If you like good funky 70s rock with a proggy twist, then you’ll probably love the first disc, if you like a bit of Doobie Brothers style rock/soul then there is probably quite a bit on disc two for you. If, like me, you enjoy both of those things, there should be enough across these two discs to make them a worthwhile purchase.