Message — The Dawn Anew Is Coming/ From Books And Dreams

From MIG here’s a double CD release bringing together the first two albums of the English-German band Message.Their first album, 1972’s The Dawn Anew Is Coming, was more of a rock/ prog crossbred. Whereas their second 1973’s From Books And Dreams was a decidedly darker/ psychedelic affair blending elements of prog/ Kraut rock.

The two CDs are presented in a six-panel mini card gatefold- on the cover, we get a colourful/ collage mesh-up of the two album covers. And inside, on the two flaps, we get the original cover art for both. With a twelve-page glossy/ colourful inlay booklet, this includes a four-page write-up about the two albums/band, plus more artwork from the original albums.

Message were formed in Düsseldorf, Germany, in the year 1968 by bassist Horst Stachelhaus. By 1970, British guitarist Allan Murdoch and Scottish vocalist and wind player Tommy McGuigan had joined - with these three forming the core of the project, around a shifting line-up. Between 1972 and 1980, they released seven albums- which isn’t bad going.

So, on the first CD, we have their 1972 debut The Dawn Anew Is Coming. It was a five-track affair, with this reissue adding in two bonus tracks. The album blends elements of tuneful/ memorable rock. More bounding proto rock-metal, and prog. It’s fair to say it’s a fairly derivative album on the whole- as you can clearly hear influences of other bands- but Message know how to write engaging/ at times eventful songcraft, so it’s certainly listable/ enjoyable. We kick off with the shortest track on the album- just shy of four minutes of bounding ‘n’ churning blues rock of “Changers”. As we move on, we have the nearing ten minutes of “Heaven Knows” which starts with a blend of jaunty spinet & clear guitar, with the bass/ drums steadily coming into play. As it goes on, it moves between gunning/slight jazz-tinged prog rock, urgent blues-rocking moments, and mellow/drifting rock with layered sing-song vocals. The original album plays out with the just-shy-of-eight-minute “When I’m Home” which moves from churning US psych rock, to more twanging folk rock urgency, to moments of spoken word/ subdued musical backing. The Dawn Anew Is Coming is a rewarding- if somewhat derivative- debut.

Moving onto disc two, we have 1973’s From Books And Dreams. This seven-track album is a lot darker and more psychedelic in it’s feels- blending elements of prog, krautrock, and experimental rock in general. We kick off in a fine, disorienting & uneasy manner with “Sleep” with eerier knocking ‘n’ steadily rocking strip-back percussion, gloomy discordant guitar ambience, and an unsettling mix of echoed/ reverbed male spoken word/ female moans. As we move on we have “Turn Over” with its steadily bounding/ grimly circling guitar tones, moodily baying sax tones, and subtle percussive tip-tap- which is topped off with a looped/ stuck in the groove spoken word element. Third from last, we have the epic near-on-thirteen-and-a-half minutes of “Dreams And Nightmares ( Nightmare)”. It moves from almost dark/ bounding proto post-rock scaping, onto wailing vocals/ gloomy blues rock struts, through to galloping jazz prog rock workouts, and more tuneful blues rockiness. From Books And Dreams is a great second album from Message, which really sees them fully stepping into their own sound.

Before two CDs, I’d never heard of Message, so kudos to MIG for putting this out. If you enjoy where darker/ psych prog rock meets krautrock, the second album is a must, and the first album is entertaining/ engaging- if not wholly original/ distictive early ’70s record.