Warthur A rough take on the bluesy hard prog that Birth Control would refine further on the subsequent Hoodoo Man - it even shares that album's style in grotesque cover art. Here, however, I feel like Birth Control's sound hasn't yet come together. Reinjhold Sobotta is OK on keyboards, but I feel like Wolfgang Neuser's performance on Hoodoo Man is superior - in fact, it was rather key to my enjoyment of that album, and I'm really feeling his absence here. This is OK if you really like the early Uriah Heep and Deep Purple style, but even then I'm not sure why you would put this album on if you had the better releases by those bands (or Hoodoo Man) to hand.

Bmiler Now this is an odd album to be having on the Ohr label. The Ohr label was much better known for all the great Krautrock on that label: Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Guru Guru, Amon Duul (not Amon Duul II), Mythos, Klaus Schulze, etc. So to have a hard rock band that's more in common with Deep Purple or Uriah Heep is sure strange company. Many Krautrock fans were obviously disappointed with Birth Control, but then this isn't Tangerine Dream's Zeit either. But for all you fans of early '70s hard rock, you can't go wrong with Operation, Birth Control's second album. Much of the '60s psychedelia of their debut album had vanished for a more rocking affair. Just check out these songs: "Stop Little Lady", "Just Before the Sun Will Rise" and "Pandemonium". The Vietnam War was raging, and was the cause of big problems in America, even the Germans were aware what was going on and they addressed it on "The Work is Done". "Let Us Do It Now" seems like a strange including. It's like if you tagged "April" at the end of Deep Purple's In Rock. This is a much more orchestrated number with psychedelic overtones. It's a nice piece still the same.

The cover was a center of controversy, showing a grasshopper eating babies, with Pope Paul VI cheering the insect on. The album cover was banned in many countries, forcing other countries to use a different cover (and sometimes calling it just Birth Control, no relation to their 1970 debut).

It's little surprise that the quickly jump ship to a much bigger label, CBS. This album has some fantastic material and I highly recommend it.