Kraan were a German prog band that hardly did anything in the U.S., but filled statiums in Europe in the 70s. This, their debut, is one of their best.
Like Traffic, early Kraan specialized in long jams and featured a sax plugged into a wha-wha peddal. But that is where the Traffic analogy ends. Kraan's jams shifted in and out of different time signautres, had very distinct parts to them. The solos were long and probative, but these guys never were content to pick a few chords and play. In this repect, they were like Henry Cow, using long and complex structures as a means to improvise. But Kraan gets you dancing as well as thinking.
And could they improvise. The bass player did extended runs and quicksilver moves on his Rickenbaker, making even the most complex work seem completely natural, and the drummer was light and flexable, but could turn on a dime.
This album is filled with this type of musicianship. The songs may be long, but they are anything but boring.
Kraan eventually became more song oriented, and a little commercial, though they never lost their playing expertise. But if you want to hear far above average musiciasn playing far above average art-rock, this is a great place to start.