(Symphonic Progressive) Stern Meissen - Reise Zum Mittelpunkt Des Menschen - 1980, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

SCM's (or rather SM's, as they had dropped the "Combo" from their name by then) fourth, Reise zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen (Journey to the Centre of Man) is my favourite. It relies even more on keyboards, which have a more electronic feel to them than on their previous work. It's a concept album about ... er ... a journey to the centre of man, whatever that may mean. Listening to the lyrics is not going to help elucidate the strange title I'm afraid, even if you understand German. How about this bit, for instance: "Menschenzeit im Tropfsteinkleid, bizarr und starr, was lebend war" ("People's time in stalactite dress, bizarre and rigid, what was alive"). Never mind those lyrics, though: the music is excellent.

"Reise Zum Mittelpunkt Des Menschen" is one of the two SCM's concept albums (the other one is "Weisses Gold"). The music on both albums has a countinuous flow supported by leitmotivs. The longest track "Hinwendung" shows a lot of ELP instrumental bombast but in a more original manner than TRIUMVIRAT (it's closer to SFF). While I like the symphonic dual keyboard playing the sounds gets cold and plastic over time. "Weisses Gold" album sounds much warmer but "Reise Zum Mittelpunkt Des Menschen" is more complex, especially the gloomy "Romanze". This track shows band's compositional skills in extended tonality. In spite of the title don't expect any romantic sounds in this one. At the end of the track is also a short but remarkable piano solo. The vocals are used very sparsely on this album in difference with "Weisses Gold". To sum it up: "Reise" and "Weisses Gold" are the only worthwille SCM's albums you should get. Others are not on the same musical level as these two. I prefer "Weisses Gold" but it's a matter of taste. Both albums are recommended!

01 - Allein.flac
02 - Hinwendung.flac
03 - Romanze.flac
04 - Innenwelt.flac
05 - Menschenzeit.flac
art
flac-Reise zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen.CUE
flac-Stern Meissen - Reise zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen.m3u
Reise zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen.CUE
Reise zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen.log
Stern Meissen - Reise zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen.m3u
tau.txt
art\front-back.jpg
art\front.jpg
art\tray-back.jpg

EAC extraction logfile from 10. June 2007, 10:44 for CD
Stern Meissen / Reise zum Mittelpunkt des Menschen
Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-4167B Adapter: 1 ID: 1
Read mode : Secure with NO C2, accurate stream, disable cache
Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines
44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
Other options :
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Track 1
Filename J:\Torrents-up\Stern Meissen - Reise Zum Mittelpunkt Des Menschen (1980) [FLAC]\01 - Allein.wav
Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00
Peak level 97.4 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 05EBD8A7
Copy CRC 05EBD8A7
Copy OK
Track 2
Filename J:\Torrents-up\Stern Meissen - Reise Zum Mittelpunkt Des Menschen (1980) [FLAC]\02 - Hinwendung.wav
Peak level 98.3 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C4416B63
Copy CRC C4416B63
Copy OK
Track 3
Filename J:\Torrents-up\Stern Meissen - Reise Zum Mittelpunkt Des Menschen (1980) [FLAC]\03 - Romanze.wav
Peak level 97.4 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C5599E84
Copy CRC C5599E84
Copy OK
Track 4
Filename J:\Torrents-up\Stern Meissen - Reise Zum Mittelpunkt Des Menschen (1980) [FLAC]\04 - Innenwelt.wav
Peak level 99.0 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 8DA77277
Copy CRC 8DA77277
Copy OK
Track 5
Filename J:\Torrents-up\Stern Meissen - Reise Zum Mittelpunkt Des Menschen (1980) [FLAC]\05 - Menschenzeit.wav
Peak level 98.2 %
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A8AE44F0
Copy CRC A8AE44F0
Copy OK
No errors occured
End of status report

2166245349 39577148 01 - Allein.wav
187968570 143142764 02 - Hinwendung.wav
654394130 91111820 03 - Romanze.wav
17146503 72375788 04 - Innenwelt.wav
3500630625 66008924 05 - Menschenzeit.wav
auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright (c) 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.
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Processing file: [01 - Allein.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [02 - Hinwendung.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [03 - Romanze.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [04 - Innenwelt.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 100%
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Processing file: [05 - Menschenzeit.wav]
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This track looks like CDDA with probability 99%
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Final Conclusion:
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These tracks looks like CDDA with probability 100%