Reception and Influence
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Pitchfork Media | (9.3/10.0) |
| Stylus | (B) |
| Pitchfork Media | 40th Anniversary Edition: (10/10) |
| Uncut | (favorable) |
Tago Mago has been critically well received 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." In the book Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music, Pascal Bussy described the double LP as "hugely influential". The album is listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in which it stated, "Even after 30 years Tago Mago sounds refreshingly contemporary and gloriously extreme." Many critics, particularly in the UK, were eager to praise the album, and by the end of 1971 Can played their first show in the UK.
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 biography, Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs. Bobby Gillespie of Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream said "The music was like nothing I'd ever heard before, not American, not rock & roll but mysterious and European." Mark Hollis of Talk Talk called Tago Mago "an extremely important album". Marc Bolan listed Suzuki's freeform lyricism as an inspiration. Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke of Radiohead cite the album as an early influence.
There have been attempts by several artists to play cover versions of songs from Tago Mago. The Flaming Lips album In a Priest Driven Ambulance contains a song called "Take Meta Mars", which was an attempt at covering the song "Mushroom". However, the band members had only heard the song once and didn't have a copy of it at the time, so the song is only similar-sounding and not a proper cover. The Jesus and Mary Chain have covered the song more faithfully to the original; it was performed live and included on the CD version of Barbed Wire Kisses. British band The Fall recorded a song indebted to the Tago Mago track "Oh Yeah" entitled "I Am Damo Suzuki," named after the Can singer, on their seminal 1985 LP This Nation's Saving Grace.
Remix versions of several Tago Mago tracks by various artists are included on the album Sacrilege.
Read more about this topic: Tago Mago
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