Blackwater Park

One of several German bands fronted by British singers to emerge in the early '70s (see also Epitaph and Lucifer's Friend, for starters), Blackwater Park were based in Berlin and consisted of vocalist/guitarist Richard Routledge, guitarist Michael Fechner, bassist Andreas Scholz, and drummer Norbert Kagelmann. Also, much like many of their contemporaries during these early years of Krautrock — as Germany's daring, post-psych musical movement would soon be tagged — Blackwater Park combined elements from multiple extant and budding rock subgenres to construct their complex sound: hard rock, blues-rock, jazz-rock, acid rock, prog rock, and even proto-metal. Unfortunately, the group's one and only album, Dirt Box, released in 1972, failed to advance the band's career beyond its preliminary stages, and it wasn't long before Blackwater Park had quietly called it quits. But, as has often been the case with these obscure Teutonic bands, the cult of Dirt Box gradually grew over the years, and by the start of the new millennium, its occasional CD reissues were being eagerly snapped up by '70s hard prog collectors.