God is having a meeting with his ‘History of the musical world’ committee… “and then in the 70’s, we saw the rise of the rock epics – you know – tracks such as ‘Suppers Ready’ or ‘Close To The Edge’ - single pieces that lasted a very long time and went on to become rock classics”. “While the ulitmate on the prog side turned into ‘Topographic Oceans’, gentlemen, we must not forget the guitar-based epics too, long pieces such as Man’s ‘Spunk Rock’ or even Camel’s ‘God Of Light’ ”.
“But what about Grobschnitt?”, came a voice from the back.
“Grobschnitt?”, God replied, “who the ---- are Grobschnitt?”
“Only a band that made one of ‘the’ most underrated, yet absolute classic epics of the 1970’s”, the voice replied.
“And what would that be then”, God said inquisitively, “show me the evidence!”
“Well, sir”, the voice replied, “they did this track called ‘Solar Music’, originally in 1973, a thirty-minute studio track that later became a ‘live’ favourite for years to come – why here, I happen to have just the evidence you require.”
The voice produced two double discs, and these discs detailed the history of this epic ‘Solar Music’ piece of recorded music. God listened intently, and over the course of nearly five hours, he was thrilled by a massive hour long version of the track from a year unmarked in time; delighted in the powerhouse version that was recorded ‘live’ in ‘79; wallowed in the glories of a classic hour long version from ’78 and remained transfixed by a previously unreleased performance from ‘74, not to mention a stupendous performance from ’73.
He saw that it was good… in fact he saw that it was amazing!!
“Just listen to those guitars, those synths, the structure, the fluidity and strength of the rhythm section, the dynamics, the way the piece builds to its climaxes then relaxes only to build yet again, and all with such feel and passion – it’s incredible”, He said, “never have I heard instrumental music that transcends the prog-rock and rock/guitar music worlds and sounds so full, so accessible, so addictive, so transfixing – you have done very well!” He then declared that from henceforth, no longer would the likes of Genesis, Yes, Camel, Man and similar be sole possessors of the crown for epic tracks of all time, and said – “Let Grobschnitt’s ‘Solar Music’ be added to exclusive list of celebrated rare rock epics”.