Tago Mago

{{Short description|1971 album by Can}} {{Infobox album | name = Tago Mago | type = studio | artist = Can | cover = Can - Tago Mago.jpg | border = yes | alt = | released = August 1971 | recorded = November 1970–February 1971 | studio = {{ill|Can Studio|de}} (Schloss Nörvenich, West Germany) | venue = | genre = {{flatlist| *Krautrock<ref name="Allmusic"/><ref name="melody"/> *psychedelic rock<ref name="TOYM"/> *experimental rock<ref name="dum"/> *avant-funk<ref name="melody"/> }} | length = 73:27 | label = United Artists | producer = Can | prev_title = Soundtracks | prev_year = 1970 | next_title = Ege Bamyası | next_year = 1972 | misc = {{Extra album cover | header = Alternative cover | type = studio | cover = Can Tago Mago 40th anniversary.jpg | border = | alt = | caption = Original UK cover and 40th anniversary edition }} }}

'''''Tago Mago''''' is the second studio album by the German krautrock band Can, originally released as a double LP in August 1971 on United Artists Records. It was the band's first full studio album to feature vocalist Damo Suzuki after the departure of Malcolm Mooney the year prior, though Suzuki had been featured on most tracks on the 1970 compilation album ''Soundtracks''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.malcolmmooney.com/music/music.html |title=Music |publisher=Malcolm Mooney |access-date=2014-08-05 |archive-date=2014-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222162453/http://www.malcolmmooney.com/music/music.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It was recorded at the {{ill|Can Studio|de}} in the Schloss Nörvenich, a medieval castle near Cologne.

''Tago Mago'' features long-form experimental tracks blending rock improvisation, funk rhythms, and ''musique concrète'' tape editing techniques.<ref name=all>{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=can-mn0000645612|label=Can}}</ref> The album has been described as Can's best and most extreme record in sound and structure.<ref name="Secret History of Rock"/> The album has received widespread critical acclaim and is cited as an influence by various artists. Ned Raggett of ''AllMusic'' called it "not merely one of the best krautrock albums of all time, but one of the best albums ever, period."<ref name="Allmusic"/>

==Background== After Malcolm Mooney left Can in December 1969,{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=107}} Can was left without a vocalist.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stubbs|first=David|title=CAN - Tago Mago. CAN remastered - Tago Mago (CD liner notes)|date=September 2004}}</ref> While visiting Munich for a performance in early 1970, bassist Holger Czukay and drummer Jaki Liebezeit saw Kenji "Damo" Suzuki busking outside a cafe and invited him to perform with them.{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=120}}<ref name="DeRogatis">{{cite web |last=DeRogatis|first=Jim |title=Then I Saw Mushroom Head: The Story of Can |url=http://www.jimdero.com/TurnOn/CanExcerpt.htm |access-date=2008-04-04}}</ref><ref name="Holger Czukay">{{cite web |last=Czukay|first=Holger |title=A short history of The Can - discography |url=http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/hysterie2.html |access-date=2008-04-04 |website=Perfect Sound Forever |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241215153332/http://www.furious.com/perfect/hysterie2.html|archive-date=December 15, 2024}}</ref> Suzuki performed with the band at the Blow Up Club that evening, and subsequently joined the group.<ref name="Spoon Records">{{cite web | last = Smith|first=Gary | title = CAN Biography | publisher = Spoon Records | url = http://www.spoonrecords.com/history.html | access-date = 2008-04-04 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111030013407/http://www.spoonrecords.com/history.html | archive-date = 2011-10-30 }}</ref>

Early in 1968, the band had been invited to stay rent-free at the Schloss Nörvenich, a medieval castle in Nörvenich, North Rhine-Westphalia, for one year by art collector Christoph Vohwinkel, who had rented it with the idea of transforming it into an art center. ''Tago Mago'' was recorded by Czukay at the castle between November 1970 and February 1971.{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=47}}

During the sessions, Can were visited by English journalist Duncan Fallowell of ''The Spectator''. In 1970, he published the first mainstream column about the band.{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=146}}

==Production and recording== The recording process took three months to complete.{{sfn|Cope|1995|page=55}} Sessions often lasted up to 16 hours a day,<ref name=historyoftagomago>{{cite web |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/can-the-making-of-landmark-album-tago-mago |title=Can: The making of landmark album Tago Mago |last=Bell |first=Max |date=April 11, 2018 |website=Louder |access-date=December 11, 2018 |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522051921/https://www.loudersound.com/features/can-the-making-of-landmark-album-tago-mago |url-status=live }}</ref> with Czukay editing the band's long jams into structured songs.{{sfn|Cope|1995|page=57}} He used a pair of two-track tape recorders to capture the sessions,<ref name=historyoftagomago /> which limited the band. The group favored recording in the castle's entrance hall to take advantage of its natural reverberation. Czukay used only three microphones to capture the sessions, two of them shared between Suzuki and Liebezeit and the third carefully placed in the center of the studio. Because they did not have a mixing board or a separate engineer, the band gathered closer to the microphones, and tried to balance the sounds they played and the sounds of the amplifiers on the fly.{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|pages=70, 83}}<ref name=historyoftagomago /> Czukay said that "if anyone had moved, it would've destroyed the recording.{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=83}} Keyboardist Irmin Schmidt experimented with oscillators in place of typical synthesizers on "Aumgn."<ref name=historyoftagomago />

''Tago Mago'' was the first Can album to contain "in-between" recordings, for which Czukay secretly recorded the musicians jamming during pre-production sessions.<ref name="Holger Czukay"/> He also captured in-between recordings of the shouts of a child who mistakenly entered the room during recording, as well as the howling of Christoph Vohwinkel's dog.<ref name=historyoftagomago />

===Name=== According to Czukay, the album was named after Illa de Tagomago, an islet near Ibiza in the Balearic archipelago, at Liebezeit's suggestion.<ref name="Can interview">{{cite web |url=http://www.terrascope.co.uk/MyBackPages/Can.htm |title=Can interview |first=Damon|last=Krukowski |year=1998 |publisher=Ptolemaic Terrascope |access-date=2011-02-23 |archive-date=2011-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314102612/http://www.terrascope.co.uk/MyBackPages/Can.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Music== thumb|right|upright|Schloss Nörvenich, where ''Tago Mago'' was recorded ''Tago Mago'' is a double album, with the first LP more conventionally-structured and the second more experimental.<ref>{{cite book|title=Alternative rock: The best musicians and recordings |last=Thompson |first=Dave |year=2000|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=0-87930-607-6|page=60}}</ref> Roni Sarig, author of ''The Secret History of Rock,'' called the second LP "as close as [the group] ever got to avant-garde noise music".<ref name="Secret History of Rock">{{cite book |title=The secret history of rock: The most influential bands you've never heard |last=Sarig |first=Roni |year=1998 |publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications |isbn=0-8230-7669-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/secrethistoryofr00sari/page/125 125]|url=https://archive.org/details/secrethistoryofr00sari/page/125 }}</ref> The vocals have a subtler presence on ''Tago Mago'' as a result of the replacement of the dominant presence of Malcolm Mooney, the band's first vocalist, with Damo Suzuki.{{sfn|Cope|1995|page=56}} Czukay described Mooney as a "driving locomotive", stating that the band "had to follow him; couldn't stand behind him". Suzuki, by contrast, "needed a group which was pushing him."{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=73}}

''Tago Mago'' draws inspiration from such sources as jazz musicians such as Miles Davis and from electronic avant-garde composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, under whom Czukay and Schmidt had studied.<ref>{{cite book|title=Electronic and computer music |last=Manning |first=Peter D. |year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated|isbn=0-19-517085-7|page=174}}</ref> The album was also inspired by the work of English occultist Aleister Crowley; it is named for Illa de Tagomago, an island that features in the Crowley legend, and the track "Aumgn" is named for Crowley's interpretation of the Hindu mantra syllable ''Om''.<ref name="TOYM">{{cite book |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |title=Turn on your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock |publisher=Hal Leonard |year=2003 |isbn=0-634-05548-8 |page=273}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Crowley|first=Aleister|title=Magick. Liber ABA. Libro quattro. Parti I-III|publisher=Astrolabio Ubaldini|year=2021|isbn=978-8834017975|pages=238–241|language=Italian}}</ref> In 2008, Czukay described the album as "an attempt in achieving a mystery musical world from light to darkness and return".<ref name="Holger Czukay"/> The group has referred to the album as their "magic record,"<ref name="TOYM"/> and the music has been described as having an "air of mystery and forbidden secrets."<ref name="DeRogatis"/>

Rob Young, Can's biographer, noticed a similarity between "Oh Yeah" and the song "Don't Turn the Light on, Leave Me Alone" from the band's 1970 compilation album album ''Soundtracks''.{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=140}} The tracks "Aumgn" and "Peking O", which feature Czukay's tape and radio experiments, have led music critics to call ''Tago Mago'' the group's "most extreme record in terms of sound and structure".<ref name="Secret History of Rock" /> "Peking O" also makes use of an Ace Tone Rhythm Ace, an early drum machine, combined with acoustic drumming.<ref>{{cite book|first=Rick|last=Moody|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQA3AQAAQBAJ&pg=PT202|title=On celestial music: And other adventures in listening|date=21 March 2012 |page=202|publisher=Hachette|isbn=978-0-316-19188-3 }}</ref>{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=148}} "Aumgn" features chanting Schmidt instead of Suzuki's vocals.{{sfn|Cope|1995|page=56}} The closing track, "Bring Me Coffee or Tea," was described by Raggett as a "fine, fun little coda to a landmark record".<ref name="Allmusic" />

==Release== ''Tago Mago'' was released as a double album, released by United Artists Records in Germany, in August 1971. The British release, with different artwork, followed in February 1972. Initially, Can planned to edit the sessions down to a single album, leaving out the more experimental material on the second disc. However, their manager, Hildegard Schmidt, liked the material on the second record, saying it "really represented this group", and insisted they should release it on a second LP. Hildegard approached United Artists and Liberty Records, telling the labels they would only allow the release of ''Tago Mago'' as a double album.{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|pages=149—150}}

The side-long track "Halleluhwah", which closes the first disc, was shortened from 18½ to 3½ minutes for release as the B-side of the non-album single "Turtles Have Short Legs", a novelty song recorded during the ''Tago Mago'' sessions and released by Liberty Records in 1971.<ref name="Metzger: Turtles">{{cite web|last=Metzger|first=Richard|title='Turtles Have Short Legs': Can's idea of a krautrock novelty song|work=DangerousMinds|date=29 August 2013|url=http://dangerousminds.net/comments/turtles_have_short_legs_cans_idea_of_a_krautrock_novelty_song|publisher=Dangerous Minds|access-date=29 April 2014|archive-date=29 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429210454/http://dangerousminds.net/comments/turtles_have_short_legs_cans_idea_of_a_krautrock_novelty_song|url-status=live}}</ref> A different, 5½-minute edit of "Halleluhwah" would later appear on the compilation ''Cannibalism'' in 1978,<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Cannibalism |type=LP liner notes |others=Can |publisher=United Artists Records |year=1978 |id=UDM 105/6}}</ref> while "Turtles Have Short Legs" remained out of print until its inclusion on ''Cannibalism 2'' in 1992.<ref name="Metzger: Turtles"/>

==Reception and legacy== {{Music ratings | MC = 99/100<ref name=mc>{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/tago-mago-40th-anniversary-edition/can |title=Tago Mago [40th Anniversary Edition] - Can |work=Metacritic |access-date=2013-09-26 |archive-date=2021-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711151132/https://www.metacritic.com/music/tago-mago-40th-anniversary-edition/can |url-status=live }}</ref> | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref name="Allmusic"/> | rev2 = ''Drowned in Sound'' | rev2score = 10/10<ref>{{cite web|url=https://drownedinsound.com/releases/16673/reviews/4144107|title=Tago Mago 40th Anniversary Edition|first=Dan|last=Lucas|website=Drowned in Sound|date=24 November 2011|access-date=25 August 2020|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183507/https://drownedinsound.com/releases/16673/reviews/4144107|url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev3 = ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' | rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|year=2011|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|chapter=Can|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-0857125958|edition=5th}}</ref> |rev4=''The Great Rock Discography'' |rev4score=8/10<ref name="Strong">{{cite book|author=Martin C. Strong|chapter=Can|title=The Great Rock Discography|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr0000stro|publisher=Mojo Books|edition=5th|pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr0000stro/page/146/mode/2up 147]—[https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr0000stro/page/148/mode/2up 149]|date=2000|isbn=1-84195-017-3}}</ref> | rev5 = ''Pitchfork'' | rev5Score = 9.3/10 (2004)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11698-monster-moviesoundtrackstago-magoege-bamyasi/ |title=Album review: Can: Monster Movie / Soundtracks / Tago Mago / Ege Bamyasi |last=Leone|first=Dominique|author-link=Dominique Leone |date=10 November 2004 |work=Pitchfork Media |access-date=5 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120108033614/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11698-monster-moviesoundtrackstago-magoege-bamyasi/ |archive-date=8 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br/>10/10 (2011; 40th Anniversary Edition)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16075-tago-mago-40th-anniversary-edition/ |title=Can: Tago Mago [40th Anniversary Edition] | Album Reviews | Pitchfork |first=Douglas |date=9 December 2011 |last=Wolk |work=pitchfork.com |access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184445/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16075-tago-mago-40th-anniversary-edition/ |url-status=live }}</ref> | rev6 = ''Record Collector'' | rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/tago-mago|title=Can - Tago Mago|website=Record Collector|access-date=25 August 2020|archive-date=5 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205224525/http://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/tago-mago|url-status=live}}</ref> | rev7 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' | rev7Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book | first= Nathan|last1=Brackett | first2= Christian David|last2=Hoard| title = The new Rolling Stone album guide | publisher = Simon & Schuster | page = [https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/n147 134] | location = New York | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-7432-0169-8 | url = https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac | url-access= registration }}</ref> | rev8=''Spin Alternative Record Guide'' | rev8score=9/10<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Can |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |edition=1st |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8}}</ref> | rev9 = ''Stylus Magazine'' | rev9Score = B<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/can/tago-mago-ege-bamyasi.htm |title=Can - Tago Mago / Ege Bamyasi |last=Ramsay|first=J T. |date=7 January 2005 |work=Stylus |access-date=5 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027132347/http://stylusmagazine.com/reviews/can/tago-mago-ege-bamyasi.htm |archive-date=27 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | rev10 = ''Uncut'' | rev10Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/can/reviews/15259 |title=Can - Tago Mago R1971 review |first=David |last=Cavanagh |work=Uncut|access-date=3 January 2012 |archive-date=5 May 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505123157/http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/can/reviews/15259 |url-status=dead }}</ref> }}

''Tago Mago'' has been critically acclaimed, and is credited with pioneering various modern musical styles. Raggett called ''Tago Mago'' a "rarity of the early '70s, a double album without a wasted note."<ref name="Allmusic">{{cite web |last=Raggett|first=Ned |title = Tago Mago | publisher = Allmusic Guide | url = {{AllMusic|class=album|id=r3217|pure_url=yes}} | access-date = 2008-04-04 }}</ref> Many critics, particularly in the United Kingdom, were eager to praise the album, and by the end of 1971 Can had played their first show in the country.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Dave |title=Eurock: European rock and the second culture |publisher=Eurorock |year=2000 |isbn=0-9723098-0-2 |page=33}}</ref><ref name="Mute">{{cite web | title = Biography | publisher = Mute Records | url = http://www.mute.com/artists/publicArtistLoad.do?id=3248&forward=longBio | access-date = 2008-04-04 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081220040104/http://www.mute.com/artists/publicArtistLoad.do?id=3248&forward=longBio | archive-date = 2008-12-20 }}</ref>

Julian Cope wrote in ''Krautrocksampler'' that ''Tago Mago'' "sounds only like itself, like no-one before or after" and described the lyrics as delving "below into the Unconscious."{{sfn|Cope|1995|page=55}} ''Dummy'' called it "a genre-defining work of psychedelic, experimental rock music."<ref name="dum">{{cite web |title=Can's ground-breaking album 'Tago Mago' is getting a re-release. |url=http://www.dummymag.com/news/can-tago-mago-gets-re-release |access-date=6 March 2017 |website=Dummy Mag |archive-date=11 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711044437/http://www.dummymag.com/news/can-tago-mago-gets-re-release/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Melody Maker'' critic Simon Reynolds described it as "shamanic avant-funk."<ref name="melody">{{cite news |last1=Reynolds |first1=Simon |author-link=Simon Reynolds|date=1995 |title=Krautrock reissues |work=Melody Maker |url=http://reynoldsretro.blogspot.com/2013/03/krautrock-melody-maker-july-1996-by.html |access-date=5 March 2017 |archive-date=25 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425000000/http://reynoldsretro.blogspot.com/2013/03/krautrock-melody-maker-july-1996-by.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a mixed review, Michael Watts of ''Melody Maker'' praised ''Tago Mago'' for its "strange, alien quality" as contrasted with the "placidity and unadventurousness" of Pink Floyd's recent ''Meddle'', while lamenting the lack of "any deep sense of the spirit of rock and roll in the music. It's music of the head, and not the heart."{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|page=151}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Michael|last=Watts|author-link=Michael Watts (journalist)|title=Tago Mago review|magazine=Melody Maker|date=29 January 1972}}</ref>

=== Influence === Various artists have cited ''Tago Mago'' as an influence on their work. John Lydon of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. called it "stunning" in his autobiography ''Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs''.<ref name="John Lydon">{{cite book |title=Rotten: No Irish, no blacks, no dogs |last=Lydon |first=John |year=1995 |publisher=Picador |isbn=0-312-11883-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/rottennoirishnob00lydo/page/81 81] |url=https://archive.org/details/rottennoirishnob00lydo/page/81 }}</ref> Bobby Gillespie of the Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream said of the album: "The music was like nothing I'd ever heard before, not American, not rock & roll but mysterious and European."<ref>{{cite book|last=Gillespie|first=Bobby|title=Can - Tago Mago. Can remastered - Tago Mago (CD liner notes)|date=September 2004}}</ref> Mark Hollis of Talk Talk called ''Tago Mago'' "an extremely important album" and an inspiration for Talk Talk's 1991 album ''Laughing Stock''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stubbs|first=David|date=February 1998|title=Talking liberties|publisher=Vox}}</ref> Marc Bolan of T. Rex listed Suzuki's freeform lyricism as an inspiration.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bolan|first=Marc|title=Interview by Russell Harty|publisher=London Weekend Television|date=July 23, 1972}}</ref> Journalist Nick Kent likened the music of Siouxsie and the Banshees on their debut album ''The Scream'' to the "ingenuity of ''Tago Mago''",<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kent |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Kent |date=26 August 1978 |title=Bansheed! What's in an image? |journal=NME}}</ref> and the band's bassist Steven Severin has expressed admiration for the album.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://louderthanwar.com/steve-severin-top-10-albums-number-7/ |title=Steven Severin top 10 albums|date=2 November 2014 |publisher=Louderthanwar.com|access-date=2024-06-06}}</ref> Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke of Radiohead have both cited the album as an early influence.<ref name="Radiohead">{{cite book |title=OK Computer |series=33 1/3 series |last=Griffiths |first=Dai |year=2004 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |isbn=0-8264-1663-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/okcomputer0000grif/page/43 43–44] |url=https://archive.org/details/okcomputer0000grif/page/43 }}</ref>

Several artists have covered songs from ''Tago Mago'' or recorded songs based on those from the album. The Flaming Lips' song "Take Meta Mars", from their 1990 album ''In a Priest Driven Ambulance'', began as an attempt to cover "Mushroom"; however, as the band members had only heard "Mushroom" once and did not possess a copy of it, "Take Meta Mars" is only similar-sounding and not a proper cover.<ref>{{cite book|author=Coyne, Wayne|date=1990|title=Album notes for ''In a Priest Driven Ambulance'' by The Flaming Lips, [CD booklet]|publisher=Restless Records}}</ref> The Jesus and Mary Chain have covered "Mushroom" live in Nuremberg in 1986, which was first released on the double-7"-single version of "April Skies" and<ref>{{cite magazine|title=New singles|magazine=Music Week|page=12|date=18 April 1987}}</ref> and was later reissued on the CD version of ''Barbed Wire Kisses''.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Mapping the vast influence of Holger Czukay, alchemist of krautrock legends Can|date=September 6, 2017|first=Michaelangelo|last=Matos|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/09/06/548955213/mapping-the-vast-influence-of-holger-czukay-alchemist-of-krautrock-legends-can|magazine=NPR Music}}</ref> The Fall recorded "I Am Damo Suzuki", based on the ''Tago Mago'' track "Oh Yeah", for their 1985 album ''This Nation's Saving Grace''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/the-fall-this-nation-s-saving-grace-review/|magazine=The Quietus|title=The Fall – This Nation's Saving Grace (omnibus edition)|first=Mick|last=Middles|date=26 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251002233028/https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/the-fall-this-nation-s-saving-grace-review/|archive-date=2025-10-02}}</ref> Remixes of "Oh Yeah" and "Halleluhwah" by various artists are included on the 1997 Can remix album ''Sacrilege''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Absolute Sound|location=United States|publisher=Four Seasons Litho.|date=1997|issue=111–115|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Absolute_Sound/CTE9AQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=%22Oh%20sacrilege|page=105}}</ref>{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|pp=298–299}}

=== Accolades === ''Tago Mago'' is listed in the 2005 book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,'' which states: "Even after 30 years ''Tago Mago'' sounds refreshingly contemporary and gloriously extreme."<ref name="1001 Albums">{{cite book|last=Shade|first=Chris|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die|publisher=Quintet Publishing Limited|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7333-2120-7|page=235}}</ref>

In February 1972, ''Sounds'' magazine published the readers' poll on German music, where Can was voted second-best group; ''Tago Mago'' second-best album; Damo Suzuki second-best vocalist; Holger Czukay and Irmin Schmidt has been placed at seventh and fifteenth places in the "Musician of the Year" category, with Holger also taking fourth-best instrumentalist. The song "Halleluwah" reached the fourth placement as a "track of the year", behind Kraftwerk's "Ruckzuck", Tangerine Dream's "Alpha Centauri", and Et Cetera's "Raga".{{sfn|Young|Schmidt|2018|pages=165—166}}

{| class="wikitable" |+Accolades for ''Tago Mago'' !Publication/Source !Accolade !Year !Rank |- |''Pitchfork'' |"Top 100 Albums of the 1970s" |2004 |29<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/|access-date=2020-11-26|website=Pitchfork|date=23 June 2004|language=en|archive-date=2021-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827201421/https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/|url-status=live}}</ref>  |- | rowspan="2" |''NME'' |"NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" |2013 |409<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-10-21|title=The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 500-401|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-500-401-1426363|access-date=2020-11-26|website=NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs {{!}} NME.COM|language=en-GB|archive-date=2024-02-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204201524/https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-500-401-1426363|url-status=live}}</ref> |- |"Some of the Greatest Double LPs Ever Issued" |1991 |21<ref>{{Cite web|title=NME lists|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_d&d.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060301053748/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_d&d.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 1, 2006|access-date=2020-11-26|website=www.rocklistmusic.co.uk}}</ref>  |- |''Mojo'' |"The 100 Records That Changed the World" |2007 |62<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=The 100 Records That Changed the World|url=https://scribd.com/document/616205564/Mojo-100-Records-That-Changed-the-World-2007-07|access-date=2025-12-10|website=Mojo|via=scribd|page=70}}</ref> |- |''The Guardian'' |"1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die" |2007 | -<ref>{{Cite web|author=|date=2007-11-17|title=Artists beginning with C (part 1)|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/17/1000tohearbeforeyoudie2|access-date=2020-11-26|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> |- |Tom Moon |"1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die" |2008 | -<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moon |first1=Tom |title=1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die |date=2008 |publisher=Workman Publishing Company |location=New York |isbn=9780761139638 |page=140}}</ref> |}

==Track listing==

{{track listing | headline = Side one | all_writing = Can (Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Jaki Liebezeit, Irmin Schmidt and Damo Suzuki). | title1 = Paperhouse | length1 = 7:28 | title2 = Mushroom | length2 = 4:03 | title3 = Oh Yeah | length3 = 7:23 }} {{track listing | headline = Side two | title4 = Halleluhwah | length4 = 18:32 }} {{track listing | headline = Side three | title5 = Aumgn | length5 = 17:37 }} {{track listing | headline = Side four | title6 = Peking O | length6 = 11:37 | title7 = Bring Me Coffee or Tea | length7 = 6:47 | total_length = 73:27 }} {{track listing | headline = 40th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks | title8 = Mushroom | note8=Live 1972 | length8 = 8:42 | title9 = Spoon | note9=Live 1972 | length9 = 29:55 | title10 = Halleluhwah | note10=Live 1972 | length10 = 9:12 | total_length = 47:49 }}

==Personnel== *Damo Suzuki – vocals *Holger Czukay – bass guitar, engineering, editing *Michael Karoli – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, violin *Jaki Liebezeit – drums, double bass, piano *Irmin Schmidt – Farfisa organ and electric piano,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doyle |first=Tom |date=July 2012 |title=Finding The Lost Can Tapes: Jono Padmore, Irmin Schmidt & Daniel Miller |url=https://www.soundonsound.com/people/finding-lost-can-tapes-jono-padmore-irmin-schmidt-daniel-miller |access-date=2024-02-19 |website=Sound on Sound}}</ref> electronics, vocals <small>(5)</small>

===Production=== *U. Eichberger – original artwork & design *Andreas Torkler – design (2004 rerelease)

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources=== *{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Rob |last2=Schmidt |first2=Irmin |author-link2=Irmin Schmidt |title=All Gates Open: The Story of Can |year=2018 |edition=e-book |publisher=Faber and Faber |location=London |isbn=978-0-571-31151-4}} * {{cite book |title=Krautrocksampler |last=Cope |first=Julian |author-link=Julian Cope |year=1995 |publisher=Head Heritage|isbn=0-9526719-1-3}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book |title=Tago Mago: Permission to Dream |last= Warner |first= Alan |author-link=Alan Warner (novelist) |year= 2015 |publisher= Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-6289-2108-3}}

==External links== *{{Official website|1=http://www.spoonrecords.com}} *{{MusicBrainz release|mbid=35dc6d9e-c93d-4c12-863d-269cd1076ff2}} *{{Discogs release|id=226132|name=Tago Mago (LP)}} *{{Discogs release|id=359040|name=Tago Mago (Remastered SACD)}}

Category:1971 albums Category:Can (band) albums Category:United Artists Records albums