KRAUTROCK TOP#36 : JANE, Age of madness (1978)

Ah! JANE! Let's say that it's "Guilty pleasures part II" (after WALLENSTEIN).
JANE is known as a heavy krautrock band and gained its reputation playing rather straight 70s hard space rock at the beginning of the decade. Their fans probably consider this period their best (I don't, and I think you won't) and could easily speak about them better than I do.
In the mid-seventies, synths (and space) became more important in their music, until this incredible album that was one of my last shocks when I discovered it. We're lucky that they absolutely ignored punk music almost 2 years after it appeared!
What will you hear then? It's definitely krautrock, but a decadent version of it. Don't forget it's been released in the "Animals / The Wall" era of PINK FLOYD, it's not far from it but it's much better (I don't like anything P.F has released after 1974), and if one single album of space rock should be kept in your collection it's certainly this one. Unlike P.F, JANE didn't play prog anymore in this time, so it sounds more "intimate" (if it means anything speaking of space rock). Some tracks are so slow they seem to played at "slow motion" (is it the right word?), and are probably the best things to hear on your MP3 walking in the huge avenues of Berlin, I guess (and have tried!). Some tunes contains really dreamy and catchy melodies, maybe even too catchy (those you keep in mind for hours). Some tracks - the retro futurist "Memory Symphony" and "Auroville" - are my favourite space rock songs, and reminds me this french cartoon "Time Master". At last, another comparison would be our french AIR - "Meadow" could have been played by AIR in 2001, no?
Obviously it's not politically "krautly" correct as FAUST, NEU etc..., but let's be honest : it's much more exciting than most of their recordings!
And it's here.
(P.S : don't stop after the 1st track, it's the worst. Unfortunately its reprise ends the album too...)