Neuschwanstein (band)

Thomas Neuroth and Kaus Mayer met during their school years in Völklingen in 1971{{Cite AV media notes |title=Alice in Wonderland |title-link= |last=Weiler |first=Roger |url=https://www.discogs.com/de/master/562912-Neuschwanstein-Alice-In-Wonderland/image/SW1hZ2U6OTI4MjMzNw==|date=2008 |access-date=2022-12-15 |pages=12 |type=Booklet |publisher=Musea Records |location=Metz}} and quickly realised that they had common musical interests. They both had a solid background in music and appreciated the structures and lyricism of classical music combined with rock elements. Inspired by Rick Wakeman and King Crimson, the two decided, together with some other school friends, to form a band, which they named Neuschwanstein.{{cite book |last1=Helm |first1=Roland |last2=Küntzer |first2=Norbert |year=2011 |title=Saar Rock History - Volume 1 & 2 |language=de |publisher=H. Raueiser GmbH |location= Saarbrücken |isbn=978-3-87661-037-5}}

{{quote box|quote="The name should be German and sound romantic. I also don't want to rule out that I wanted the 'Neu' from my name in it." |source= — Thomas Neuroth, Saarbrücker Zeitung, 2018{{cite web |author=Tobias Kessler |title=Die Rückkehr der saarländischen Band Neuschwanstein |url=https://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/nachrichten/kultur/dass-es-nicht-einfach-wird-wusste-ich_aid-22596799 |website=Saarbrücker Zeitung |date=11 May 2018|access-date=28 December 2021 |language=de}} |width=20%|align=left|style=padding:8px;}}

This band name was no coincidence, as this castle, built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, represents the romantic era in its most impressive form.

At first, they made do with cover versions from the standard Anglo-Saxon rock genre, especially Rick Wakeman songs. Very impressed by his Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Neuschwanstein decided to compose a long piece of instrumental music as well and worked on the musical adaptation of the famous Lewis Carroll novel Alice in Wonderland.

File:Neuschwanstein-Live-1977.jpg

The premiere of this 40-minute piece of music took place in 1974 at a local secondary school. In 1975, Neuschwanstein used it to win a band competition at the Saarland State Theatre in Saarbrücken.

{{quote box|quote="We want to make music that is in contrast to the usual music styles, such as rock, jazz or the like. Of course, we let ourselves be influenced, but no more or less than any other musician who listens to a lot of music himself. With Neuschwanstein, there is no emphasis on improvisation. We see ourselves less as creative performers and more as creative constructors. Improvisations are mostly emotionally conditioned and do not always guarantee an optimum. Without copying Genesis or Wakeman, we want to present the audience with more than just a song, but a pleasure for the ear and the eye."|source= — Thomas Neuroth, Saarland music magazine GUCKLOCH, 12/76 |width=50%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

The new guitarist Roger Weiler, who had joined the band earlier, significantly shaped Neuschwanstein's sound with his playing. In April 1976, Neuschwanstein booked a small recording studio in Saarbrücken-Güdingen to record Alice in Wonderland on tape. The original master tapes are lost, but a cassette copy existed, which 32 years later, in 2008, was released on CD for the first time in restored form by the French record company Musea.{{cite web|title=NEUSCHWANSTEIN - Alice In Wonderland |url=http://www.musearecords.com/boutique/anglais/index.php?ficheprod=1&artiste=NEUSCHWANSTEIN&refp=33927 |website=Musea Records |access-date=15 December 2022}}

In 2022, Cherry Red Records released a reissue of the album. The recordings have been extensively restored and the original German lyrics have been replaced by English ones. The new lyrics are spoken by Sonja Kristina, lead singer of Curved Air.{{cite web|title=Neuschwanstein: Alice In Wonderland ft. Sonja Kristina |url=https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/neuschwanstein-alice-in-wonderland-ft-sonja-kristina/ |website=Cherry Red Records |access-date=15 October 2022}}

The label itself describes the album as "The only album in the 'Narrated Rock' genre to be unavailable in English until now."

In 1976, there was another new addition, in the form of French singer Frédéric Joos,{{Cite AV media notes |title=Alice in Wonderland |title-link= |last=Grosse |first=Francis |editor=Hans-Juergen Merkel |url=https://www.discogs.com/de/release/25266709-Neuschwanstein-Narration-By-Sonja-Kristina-Alice-In-Wonderland/image/SW1hZ2U6ODc4NTQ5MDU=|date=2022-11-14 |access-date=2022-12-16 |pages=12 |type=Booklet |publisher=Explore Rights Management |location=Newcastle Upon Tyne}} whose vocals were strongly reminiscent of Peter Gabriel, but also had similarities with The Strawbs' singer Dave Cousins.

File:Neuschwanstein-1978.tif

Between 1974 and 1978, Neuschwanstein was still only a locally known group, occasionally hired as an opening act for bands like Novalis and Lucifer's Friend.{{cite web |author=Juergen Meurer |title=Neuschwanstein – Interview zum neuen Album "Fine Art" |url=https://www.betreutesproggen.de/2017/02/neuschwanstein-im-interview-zum-neuen-album-fine-art/ |website=BetreutesProggen.de |date=11 February 2017|access-date=12 December 2022 |language=de}}

This was to change abruptly in 1978. Due to a friendship of their manager and Herman Rarebell, the drummer of the Scorpions, the band was able to book a studio in Cologne to record an album under the direction of Dieter Dierks, producer of the Scorpions.{{Cite AV media notes |title=Battlement |title-link= |last=Grosse |first=Francis |url=https://www.discogs.com/de/release/13886110-Neuschwanstein-Battlement/image/SW1hZ2U6NDExMDgyNTk=|date=1992 |access-date=2022-12-15 |pages=12 |type=Booklet |publisher=Musea Records |location=Metz}} This album, Battlement, was first released by a small local label called Racket Records. In 1992 Musea re-released the album in a new mix by guitarist Roger Weiler, including a bonus track which was not available before. For Musea it became one of the most successful productions of this French label and sold worldwide.{{cite web|title=MUSEA >> RELEASES >> CATALOGUE >> NEUSCHWANSTEIN: Battlement |url=http://www.musearecords.com/ext_re_new_catselect.php?np=1448 |website=Musea Records |access-date=28 December 2021}}

Battlement, however, was to remain Neuschwanstein's only production with this line-up. Due to professional changes and other interests, as well as general feelings of discouragement, the group disbanded just one year later, in 1980.

{{blockquote|text=

{{lang|fr|Le manque de succès, l'avènement de la new wave et le mépris général pour le progressif décourageront la plupart des membres du groupe, qui finira par éclater en 1980, mais il reste cet album tout à fait digne de respect pour témoigner de ce qui aurait pu être… Et c'en est frustrant.}}

Lack of success, the rise of New Wave and general disdain for progressives discouraged most members of the band, which eventually broke up in 1980, but this thoroughly respectable album remains as a testament to what might have been.... And that's frustrating.

|multiline=yes

|author=Marc Moingeon

|title=Neuschwanstein : Battlement (1979 - cd - parue dans le Koid9 no. 62)

{{Cite web |url=http://www.koid9.net/_ancien_site/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=1097 |title=Neuschwanstein : Battlement |work=KoiD9 - magazine rock & progressif |date=July 2007 |access-date=30 January 2022}}}}

In 2016, after a break of 37 years, a new album by Neuschwanstein, Fine Art,{{cite web |title= NEUSCHWANSTEIN - FINE ART |url=https://www.longbowrecords.de/neuschwa-en.html |website=LongBow Records|access-date=29 December 2021}} was released. Basically, Fine Art is a "one-man project" by the only original member of Neuschwanstein, Thomas Neuroth. With the help of numerous musician friends, Neuroth created a remarkable album that hardly sounds like Neuschwanstein's original music - despite intensive use of flute - nor like their earlier role models such as Genesis, but much more like the combination of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, classical, romantic and progressive hard-rocking complexity that occurs in the form of a suite.{{cite web |title=CHRONIQUE / REVIEW - NEUSCHWANSTEIN - FINE ART |url=https://fredsimoneau.wixsite.com/profilprogarchives2/neuschwanstein-fine-art-review |website=Prog Rock Reviews |access-date=29 December 2021}}

{{Gallery

|title=Members of Neuschwanstein photographed during the early "Alice in Wonderland" era

|width=160 | height=170

|align=center

|footer=

|File:Neuschwanstein-Guitar.tif

|Roger Weiler playing double-necked guitar

|alt1=Roger Weiler playing double-necked guitar

|File:Neuschwanstein-Bass.tif

|Uli Limpert (bass) reciting text passages from Alice in Wonderland

|alt2=Uli Limpert (bass) reciting text passages from Alice in Wonderland

|File:Neuschwanstein-Drum.tif

|Hans Peter Schwarz playing drums

|alt3=Hans Peter Schwarz playing drums

|File:Neuschwanstein-Flute.tif

|Klaus Mayer playing flute

|alt4=Klaus Mayer playing flute

}}

• 1979: Battlement (re-released as remix CD by Musea, 1992)
• 2008: Alice in Wonderland (CD release from tape recordings 1976 by Musea)
• 2016: Fine Art
• 2022: Alice in Wonderland feat. Sonja Kristina (re-released by Cherry Red Records)

{{cite book |last1=Helm |first1=Roland |last2= Küntzer |first2= Norbert |year=2011 |title=Saar Rock History - Volume 1 & 2 |publisher=H. Raueiser GmbH |location= Saarbrücken |isbn=978-3-87661-037-5}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{discogs artist|artist=Neuschwanstein}}
• {{MusicBrainz artist|mbid=74254f6e-6e6a-4a8a-bffc-04ac9472519c|name=Neuschwanstein}}
• {{AllMusic | id= neuschwanstein-mn0001513596 | title= Neuschwanstein}}

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Category:1971 establishments in West Germany

Category:1980 disestablishments in West Germany

Category:German progressive rock groups

Category:Musical groups established in 1971

Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1980