The experimental rock band Can was formed in Cologne, West Germany, in 1968 by Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt, Michael Karoli, and Jaki Liebezeit. The group was a pioneering force in the krautrock scene, known for blending genres. Future Days is the fourth studio album by the German band, released by United Artists in late 1973. The album employed significantly more complex production than any other album in the Can discography, and explored a more ambient–influenced sound. It was the group’s final album to feature vocalist Damo Suzuki, who left the band within a few months after its release.
Prog Archives review: “There is no other album like Future Days. This is how I define subtle, atmospheric music that still retains true musical energy. Bel Air is simply one of the best clumps of sound to ever find its way onto record: at turns both soothing and menacing, it captures musical “electricity” like nothing else I have ever heard. Jaki Liebezeit, to me, is more a force of nature than a mere drummer — his relentless pounding and crashing speaks to my ears like some sort of mystical morse code. The rest of the band, meanwhile, forms a kind of shimmering fog that ebbs and flows around his rhythms. Guitars, keyboards, bass… these distinctions don’t really apply in the usual sense here, because all elements have telepathically coalesced into a single organism that can speak freely. Whereas the English bands give us structure and solos, Can gives us organic musical energy flowing freely from the source.”
