Ego on the Rocks -

Ego on the Rocks was a German space-rock duo formed by ex-Eloy members Detlev Schmidtchen and Jürgen Rosenthal. They released the 1981 album Acid in Wounderland on Jupiter Records.

Members: Detlev Schmidtchen (vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass), Jürgen Rosenthal (drums)

Background

Ego on the Rocks launched in 1980 after keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen and drummer Jürgen Rosenthal completed their tenures in Eloy, which both joined for the 1976 album Dawn and stayed for the 1977–79 efforts Ocean and Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes. Rosenthal played earlier on the 1974 second Scorpions album Fly to the Rainbow. Schmidtchen cut a prior EP in the jazz-rock combo Getriebe.

Acid in Wounderland

Ego on the Rocks released the album Acid in Wounderland in 1981 on Juptiter.

The album centers on a layered interplay between keyboardist Detlev Schmidtchen and drummer Jürgen Rosenthal, with Schmidtchen alternating between synthetic swells, sequenced pulses, and sustained organ lines over Rosenthal’s dynamic patterns and phrased cymbal accents. Schmidtchen overlays sharp-toned solos from his Firebird and Stratocaster across arranged segments, while Rosenthal builds structural tension with percussive tape edits and textual fragments. Schmidtchen’s Rickenbacker lines act as an underpin for shifting sections, grounding the multi-tiered passages in a steady low-end framework.

Acid in Wounderland unfolds in a series of self-contained yet cross-linked pieces, alternating between clipped electronic patterns and dramatized recitations. “7 to 7 or 999 to 99 Hope” sets the structure with phased transitions between sequenced motifs, staggered drums, and interspersed audio fragments. “Godbluff” narrows the focus to pulse-based rhythm layers and percussive keyboard textures, with periodic surges from filtered synth pads. “Hazard” integrates clipped guitar phrasings with tight-pattern drumming, while “Civilization Song 1” gradually shifts into a broader tonal field with layered synth washes and sharper guitar accents.

“Asylum” pivots toward steadier verse-chorus form but retains the album’s displaced vocal layering and abrupt synth detours. Schmidtchen sequences dense analog keyboard lines across nearly every track, balancing mechanical rhythms against Rosenthal’s more freeform accents and assembled vocal interludes. The album favors static harmonic grounding and steady pacing over dynamic shifts, building tension through repetition, recitation, and spatial diffusion.

A1. “7 to 7 or 999 to 99 Hope” (6:13)
A2. “Un (all) gemeine Bestürzung” (5:02)
A3. “Erected Error” (4:22)
A4. “Mystic + 1 + 9 + 8 + 0” (4:54)

B1. “Asylum” (4:56)
B2. “Hazard” (4:28)
B3. “Godbluff” (5:26)
B4. “Civilization Song 1” (6:18)

Sessions took place between June and September 1980 with all arrangements, recording, and production handled by the duo. Wooden Réne engineered the sessions and co-mixed the material with Rosenthal and Schmidtchen.

Jürgen Rosenthal – Drums, Percussion, Tapes, Voice, Lyrics, Cover design
Detlev Schmidtchen – Solina Strings, Arp, Moog, Roland Promars Compuphonic Synthesizer, Roland Digital Sequencer Cq 100, Yamaha Cp 70, Hohner Organ, Lead Vocals, Gibson Firebird and Fender Stratocaster Guitars, Rickenbacker Bass, Composer

The album’s cover concept and lyrics stem from Rosenthal, while all instrumental and compositional duties trace back to Schmidtchen’s multi-tracked setups.

Discography: