Am Piano

Rio Reiser is most likely unknown to most people reading this blog, but he was a key figure of the German left of the ‘68 generation - in an artistic sense. In the early 70s he was the co-founder and singer of Ton Steine Scherben, which was THE political band back then when it came to leftist politics. To say Ton  Steine Scherben lyrics were very political would be and understatement, at least on their first few reocrds. The lyrical focus changed on their later records, but even the more personal songs often had a political message lying underneath. The band also coined a lot of leftist catchphrases that are used at demos to this day. 

Musically the band had nothing to do with proto-punk or heavy music that was starting around back then, their music was very rock driven and they used a wide range of instruments. Some songs really test my personal tolerance for how long a song should be, but since the rest is so good, I usually make it through them. His vocal delivery could count towards pronto-punk on some songs, but that might also be a stretch for some people. 

Later on, he enjoyed a somewhat successful solo career and even had some hits in the German charts, even though he mainly wrote those songs because he was in trouble with the IRS and had to get money. Must be nice to write a hit song or tow when you need to, haha. 

On this album, Rio Reiser plays old Ton Steine Scherben songs and his own solo songs on the piano, hence the name ‘Am Piano’ (for the non-German speakers). He also covers songs form the 50s and 60s. There are better versions of him playing some of those tracks on the piano out there, but for the most part I enjoy the songs on here and they provide an interesting insight into what music influenced his as an artist.