CAN I listen to this?

It all started in the Fall of 1991. I was intrigued by a film called Until the End of the World that had a Christmas time release. I was reading the New York Times and was impressed by their review. I said to myself, I hope this film comes our way!!!! Then I was at the record store, like I always do, and I spotted the soundtrack to the movie. Quickly, I picked it up. I looked at the people involved. Still I have not scene the movie, but reading the review I remember the movie is set in the future.

I bought the soundtrack and quickly listened to it. It not only had a futuristic feel it literally moved me to another world. Some of the music like Neneh Cherry, Talking Heads, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds sounded futuristic. Then came the Can Song. It's title Last Night Sleep has some kind of future tone. Then upon listening to I was floored. I quickly went back to the record store. I asked for CAN. The guy at the counter looked at me like, "CAN who"???
I went home, made a phone call to a friend. I need CAN I said. He laughed at me and replied, "Old or newish, and forget about buying their stuff around here its too hard to find." He continued, "I will have to take you to NYC for that."



Well he made me a great mix. I put it in the car and listened with excitement. A 100 minute cassette full of CAN. I was in awe, and I wanted more. My mother had to go clothes shopping, I knew where she was going was near a Circuit City. I walk in and look through the CD's. I said to the man at information. "Do you have a various "C" section. He took me over the end of the letter. I passed the Cream and CCR and I landed at the end. Within two CD's of looking I found two CAN albums.

Unlimited Edition was one the other was Soundtracks. I bought them both for a total of $23.00. I quickly put them on. They were amazing and not only that they were not what I was listening to at the time. I made cassette copies of each.

Fast forward a few years. I continue to be a CAN fan. I get word from a friend that a CAN Box is coming out. This box is a 2 Hour Video and a 478 Page Book and a 2CD set of Live stuff from 1972 to 1975. I quickly pick it up for the low price of $49.00. Now it sells for more then $140.00. Fast forward even more, I see the re-issue of CAN albums and I buy them all.

Present day, I have a friend who buys this very album. I explain to her that it is one of my favorite CAN albums. If you have a chance to listen to this listen to Jaki's drumming. It it out of this world. If people ask me who my favorite drummer is, Jaki is one of mine. Enjoy the future of music that was the future back in 1972. CAN is the only the band that I can say I feel comfortable playing loud and not caring what people think or say. I can talk about them and relate to something now, and tell whoever that they have an influence on something that is around today. REM, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, U2, and Stereolab among others.

Always at least three steps ahead of contemporary popular music, Can were the leading avant-garde rock group of the '70s. From their very beginning, their music didn't conform to any commonly held notions about rock & roll -- not even those of the countercultures. Can's music can be difficult to appreciate, yet their albums offer some of the best experimental rock ever recorded. (Allmusic)