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All Gates Open: The Story of Can

Rob Young,

Irmin Schmidt

4.29 · Rating details · 212 ratings · 26 reviews

All Gates Open presents the definitive story of arguably the most influential and revered avant-garde band of the late twentieth century: CAN. It consists of two books.

In Book One, Rob Young gives us the full biography of a band that emerged at the vanguard of what would come to be called the Krautrock scene in late sixties Cologne. With Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay - t All Gates Open presents the definitive story of arguably the most influential and revered avant-garde band of the late twentieth century: CAN. It consists of two books.

In Book One, Rob Young gives us the full biography of a band that emerged at the vanguard of what would come to be called the Krautrock scene in late sixties Cologne. With Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay - two classically trained students of Stockhausen - at the heart of the band, CAN's studio and live performances burned an incendiary trail through the decade that followed: and left a legacy that is still reverberating today in hip hop, post rock, ambient, and countless other genres. Rob Young's account draws on unique interviews with all founding members of CAN, as well as their vocalists, friends and music industry associates. And he revisits the music, which is still deliriously innovative and unclassifiable more than four decades on. All Gates Open is a portrait of a group who worked with visionary intensity and belief, outside the system and inside their own inner space.

Book Two, Can Kiosk, has been assembled by Irmin Schmidt, founding member and guiding spirit of the band, as a 'collage - a technique long associated with CAN's approach to recording. There is an oral history of the band drawing on interviews that Irmin made with musicians who see CAN as an influence - such as Bobby Gillespie, Geoff Barrow, Daniel Miller, and many others. There are also interviews with artists and filmmakers like Wim Wenders and John Malkovitch, where Schmidt reflects on more personal matters and his work with film. Extracts of Schmidt's notebook and diaries from 2013-14 are also reproduced as a reflection on the creative process, and the memories, dreams, and epiphanies it entails. Can Kiosk offers further perspectives on a band that have inspired several generations of musicians and filmmakers in the voices of the artists themselves.

CAN were unique, and their legacy is articulated in two books in this volume with the depth, rigour, originality, and intensity associated with the band itself. It is illustrated throughout with previously unseen art, photographs, and ephemera from the band's archive. ...more

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ebook, 448 pages

Published May 1st 2018 by Faber Faber

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May 18, 2019 Fabio Ribeiro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is actually two books in one.

The first, written by Rob Young, is the story of Can, the best band most people don't know. As musical biographies go, it is fairly conventional - lots of interesting stories, very detailed, and full of flowery adjectives that attempt to describe the music and fail spectacularly. A book like this can only be written by a huge fan, for better or worse: you will learn a lot about Can, but it also veers dangerously close to hagiography at some points.

However, the s ...more

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May 30, 2018 Fastnbulbous rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: music

A few years ago, David Stubbs wrote the definitive history of German kosmische music, Future Days: Krautrock and the Birth of a Revolutionary New Music (2015). The book treated Can as important, but just one piece of the story, the second chapter dedicated to the band, sandwiched between Amon Düül II and Kraftwerk. Rob Young’s thesis, on the other hand, is that Can towers above their contemporaries. Nevermind that Kraftwerk achieved far greater commercial success, and Neu!, Cluster and Faust wer A few years ago, David Stubbs wrote the definitive history of German kosmische music, Future Days: Krautrock and the Birth of a Revolutionary New Music (2015). The book treated Can as important, but just one piece of the story, the second chapter dedicated to the band, sandwiched between Amon Düül II and Kraftwerk. Rob Young’s thesis, on the other hand, is that Can towers above their contemporaries. Nevermind that Kraftwerk achieved far greater commercial success, and Neu!, Cluster and Faust were hipper names to drop, at least in certain circles in the 90s. Nevermind that Can’s influences reach far and wide, from punk and post-punk to Brian Eno & David Byrne’s My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts (1981) and sampling culture, hip hop, Tortoise and Radiohead. Even if they were forgotten and influenced no one, what matters to me most is that they’re a fucking magnificent band in any context. Tracks from their peak work from 1971 to 1975 sound timeless, even fresh. I love that Rob Young also appreciates the music for what it is.

I became aware of Can due to an eerie, mysterious 1985 track by The Fall called “I Am Damo Suzuki.” I learned that was the name of Can’s singer during their peak period, but I was unable to hear the original because their albums simply were not available. I may have heard “Vitamin C,” “Soup,” or “I Want More” during some late-night listening to a local college radio station, but I had no idea what they were at the time. Loop covered “Mother Sky” in 1988 which whet my appetite, and I dug hard and deep through the used record stores, but came up with zilch. Luckily, the albums were issued on CD for the first time on their Spoon label in 1989, and I finally got to hear the glorious run of albums of Tago Mago (1971), Ege Bamyasi (1972), Future Days (1973), and Soon Over Babaluma (1974). I gradually filled out my collection with all the albums, even the considerably less great Out Of Reach (1978) and the reunion album Rite Time (1989).

The basics of Can’s story has been told numerous times since the 90s. Students of Karlheinz Stockhausen with backgrounds in classical (György Ligeti, Pierre Boulez) and jazz (Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, John Coltrane) got together and organically evolved to a new sort of avant rock, influenced not only by The Velvet Underground and film soundtracks, but also James Brown, electric era Miles Davis, Silver Apples, Pink Floyd and Captain Beefheart. From the earliest tracks in 1968, released later as Delay (originally meant to be called Prepared To Meet Thy Pnoom), the band sounded like no one else. Coming out of the psychedelic era, their music was not expansive like space rock and prog, but seemed to deconstruct the DNA of rock’s heartbeat, stripping rhythm down to bare bones, stream-of-consciousness lyrics from both Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki that suggest an inward journey. It made all kinds of sense that they named their studio Inner Space.

“Inner Space: could any phrase be more appropriate, more suggestive of Can’s destination and destiny? The opposite direction from outer space, in contrast to the tendency towards ‘kosmische’, or cosmic, rock perpetrated by many German acts such as Tangerine Dream, Cluster and Ash Ra Tempel several years later. It suggested a retreat to a psychological state, a self-examination, a hermetic environment, a laboratory of the mind. It is possible that, while in New York, Irmin heard about or even saw Andy Warhol’s film Outer and Inner Space – premiered in January 1966 – and the phrase lodged in his mind.”

Along with the vocalists, Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, Irmin Schmidt and Michael Karoli were all deeply weird, unique individuals, never cut out to be rock stars, at least as conceived in the traditional sense. It doesn’t seem that they consciously tried to avoid mainstream popularity. They simply had no clue how to play that game. I laughed at loud at this passage:

“…he wrongfoots the interviewer’s expectations that he should act as a spokesman for politically disaffected youth. Instead, he attempts a McLuhanite deconstruction of the Fourth Estate. ‘TV is interested in the opinions of beat musicians in politics because it knows they have nothing to say, or a confused message,’ he says. ‘They are not interested in anything that has a clear socialist message, but they know they are not going to get it … Television knows that only a sound bite can be included. “

Intellectuals to the core, they were unintentionally “difficult” interview subjects, yet at the same time earnest and down to earth, at least in terms of how their creative process involved more instinct than thinking.

According to my Kindle, I highlighted over 120 passages in the book. And that’s even before getting to the second part by Irmin Schmidt. Assembled as a collage with snippets from various interviews with modern musicians, filmmakers and artists, it feels to me more of an appendix rather than an essential part of the book. The interview with The Fall’s Mark E. Smith was amusing, but hearing a bunch of people talk about how they were influenced by Can gets old. If anything, after the losses of Czukay and Liebezeit last year, it helps ward off the melancholy to read some contributions from the sole remaining original member. I’m sure there’s a few gems of insight hidden in the final pages which I’ll get to eventually, but to me, the essential part of the book is by Rob Young. Essential.

Further listening: Intimidated by the band’s large-ish catalog? Last year’s The Singles compilation is a great place to start, including more manageable edits of some sprawling tracks, plus some great non-album singles like “Turtles Have Short Legs.” Though if you’re a true Can geek, you’ll want to hear everything while reading the book, including The Lost Tapes box set and Unlimited Edition, which includes some of their global music experiments in the Ethnological Forgery Series tracks. ...more

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Jun 18, 2018 Tim Trewartha rated it it was amazing

Excellent biography of one the greatest bands of all time, Can. Well written and researched by Young, a journalist who has written about Can and interviewed band members on multiple occasions. Although I had read other articles and books about the band, Young throws up a few tidbits that were new and surprising to me. Also features contributions from the sole surviving core member of the group, Irmin Schmidt. Jaki Leibizeit and Holgar Szukay both sadly died last year. Note: I read a copy of the ...more

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Apr 23, 2020 Staggerlu88 rated it really liked it

Books about specific musical groups are nice but they are only essential to diehard fans. My usual trajectory when I fall in love with a band is that I listen to a couple of albums and become obsessed, if there is a book about the band I read it and while reading it I listen to as much of their music as I can get my ears on and by the time I finish the book I move onto something else. Long story short this is perfectly fine but unless you are into Can don’t worry about it.

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Nov 13, 2018 Fletcher rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: top-shelf, my-philosophy, non-fiction, music

The '70s man. What a crazy time. ...more

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Sep 09, 2018 Daniel rated it really liked it

This is actually two books: the first part, by Rob Young, is very well written and researched with the wealth of detail and information about the band, its players and historical context never overwhelming the narrative. There are occasional rock critic indulgences, incuding perhaps one too many attempts to describe particular musical works in non-musical terminology, but this is more than made up for by the author's obvious enthusiasm and fan's eye for detail.

I haven't spent as much time with t ...more

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Sep 18, 2019 Sean rated it really liked it

Shelves: music, psychedelia, socio-cultural

For those not in the know - Can were a psychedelic/progressive band from Germany, founded in 1968, by two classical music refugees and featuring a young rock-n-roller guitar player, a free-jazz-turned-groovemeister drummer and a succession of singers, from an ex-pat African-American to a Japanese busker. Their music was different from the progressive scenes in the UK and U.S., being mostly based on improvisations that they would hone down into 5-to-10 minute tracks for their albums (occasionally For those not in the know - Can were a psychedelic/progressive band from Germany, founded in 1968, by two classical music refugees and featuring a young rock-n-roller guitar player, a free-jazz-turned-groovemeister drummer and a succession of singers, from an ex-pat African-American to a Japanese busker. Their music was different from the progressive scenes in the UK and U.S., being mostly based on improvisations that they would hone down into 5-to-10 minute tracks for their albums (occasionally getting to the 15-minute mark). They were one of those bands who weren't enormously popular while they were active, but became a major influence on loads of other artists after they disbanded.

Rob Young occasionally writes for The Wire - the ultimate music-snob magazine. He handles the first half of the book, a straight-up history of the group, starting with post-WWII Germany up to the band's mid-1980s one-off reunion (after they disbanded in 1979). He covers the formation of the band in the late 1960s with detail, especially original singer Malcolm Mooney's back-story and his meeting with keyboardist and de-facto "leader" of Can, Irmin Schmidt. There's also plenty of discussion of their early soundtrack work and even descriptions of the films that the tracks were used in. Each album also gets an in-depth look, though Young goes a bit overboard on some of them. He takes a page and a half to describe how the track "Bel-Air" (from the 1973 'Future Days' LP) sounds to him. Despite his crit-speak sometimes getting in the way of the narrative, he delivers a pretty concise over-view and the flow is exemplary - you never get bogged down in too much detail. There may be a better Can book to be written, but with most of the original members now passed away and second singer Damo Suzuki reluctant to discuss his time in Can - it looks unlikely that will happen.

The second half of the book is by Irmin Schmidt himself and consists of round-table discussions featuring Schmidt and musicians inspired by Can, snatches of dreams, a few diary extracts and thoughts on music. The memories from his youth in post-war Germany are quite interesting, as are his commentary on paintings. He comes across as a thoughtful and introspective character, almost wistful and you wonder how he made it through the rigours of touring in a rock band. You kind of wish Schmidt had written the entire book, but then I think the first half does benefit from an impartial perspective.

Overall, I enjoyed "All Gates Open", just for an in-depth look at a band that hadn't had this kind of 'major book' treatment before. There was a book included in the "Can Box" set, released in 1999, but I found it difficult to read. If you're a Can fan - this one's well worth a read. ...more

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Feb 08, 2020 David Ball rated it liked it

Is CAN worthy of a 500+ page book? “CAN’s problem is that people pretend to like CAN; it’s become a hipness thing to buy their records”, as Mark E. Smith of The Fall aptly puts it in the second half of All Gates Open. I confess to being a very late joiner to the CAN bandwagon. I got it into my head, since rediscovering vinyl in recent years, that I’m a Krautrock fan. This means collecting all sorts of weird electronica from Germany in the 1970s - both by the critic’s favourites, such as Faust, N Is CAN worthy of a 500+ page book? “CAN’s problem is that people pretend to like CAN; it’s become a hipness thing to buy their records”, as Mark E. Smith of The Fall aptly puts it in the second half of All Gates Open. I confess to being a very late joiner to the CAN bandwagon. I got it into my head, since rediscovering vinyl in recent years, that I’m a Krautrock fan. This means collecting all sorts of weird electronica from Germany in the 1970s - both by the critic’s favourites, such as Faust, Neu, CAN and Kraftwerk, and those not so well regarded (Tangerine Dream). Regardless I bought all the seminal albums from that era, including the first five CAN albums. While I think CAN are at times very good, I would question whether they deserve such a lengthy tribute. All Gates Open is in fact two books in one. The first is a conventional biography of the band by Rob Young, which is done well. You get a strong sense of the band’s collective identity - there is no ‘leader’, virtuosity is shunned, etc. - its just five people subsuming their egos to make inspired music. I was impressed by how the four core members - all very German, with proper musical pedigrees - were so welcoming to the unusual assortment of vocalists that passed through the group: first a black man from the US - with mental health problems - on the lamb from the US government (Malcolm Mooney); and then a Japanese troubadour (Damo Suzuki). Despite the obvious language and cultural differences (and their inexperience), the band enthusiastically embraced these unique outsiders. When Suzuki leaves, the group’s unique chemistry breaks down and - according to most critics - the band is unable to reach the same heights for their last four or five albums (although each member does go onto achieve success as either a solo artist or through other collaborations). Young’s account is heavily influenced by Irmin Schmidt, CAN’s keyboardist, who is the driving force behind the second book, CAN Kiosk. This is very much an Irmin Schmidt vanity project consisting of: round table discussions with various artists influenced by CAN - including the aforementioned Mark E. Smith - which are interesting, albeit a bit repetitive; excerpts from Schmidt’s journals around the time the first book was complied, including a number of dream sequences which set my teeth on edge; an essay by Kai Althoff (who?); and a puzzling discussion of how Schmidt and his neighbours (including John Malkovich) ended up living in the south of France. It’s all a bit random, but likely the price Young needed to pay to secure Schmidt’s cooperation for the first book. It’s difficult to write well about music: Young just about manages it; Schmidt, on the other hand, while clearly a broad and deep thinker, is less successful. ...more

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Feb 09, 2019 Ryan Hannay rated it it was amazing

Finally, a complete biography of my favorite band of all time. I first discovered Can at college in 2001 during the early days of music sharing via kazaa and napster. I spent the next few years scouring ftp sites and IRC rooms looking for bootleg live shows and videos much like a deadhead would for their band. Thankfully nowadays you can find all of their music on youtube or buy it online but there has still been very little reliable info on the band members themselves. Apart from The Can Book w ...more

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Nov 28, 2020 Der_Pfad rated it really liked it

The biographical half of this book is typical band biography - lots of cool stories, lots of flowery language describing the music, some great insights into the band's creative process and mindset, and nothing that someone who's not a fan of Can or music in general would need to know. Irmin Schmidt's collage of interview transcripts and diary entries in the second half reveals him to be a thoughtful and interesting person, and there's some stimulating discussions in there, but I agree with other ...more

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Oct 31, 2019 Stewart Mason rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A book of two halves, and not entirely successful. The first half, a biography of Can by British music writer Rob Young, does a great job of putting the band and their music in both historical and artistic context. The second half, Can Kiosk by Irmin Schmidt, has some fascinating parts, mostly the salon-style conversations on various topics by Irmin, friends and famous fans. But the section from his notebooks was self-indulgent and only intermittently interesting, and there were a few other bits ...more

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Jul 14, 2018 Geoff Balme rated it really liked it

Really two books in one. The first an extensive and revelatory history and atomization of the albums. The best parts are really the various stories of the complications and creative struggles which are endlessly fascinating to read when they take place with your artist heroes.

The second part of the book is directly from Irman’s notes and various conversations. The first with the recently departed mark e smith of another favorite band. And then onto several more conversations and loads of variou ...more

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Aug 21, 2018 Jon rated it it was amazing

I've been looking forward to this book ever since it was announced and I have to say that it lived up to every one of my expectations. The main portion, Young's overview of the band's career, does an excellent job of not only tracing their arc, but also how they have influenced the last forty years of creative music. At first I wasn't sure about the last part, where it essentially gets turned over to the journals of Irmin Schmidt and transcripts of conversations between various musicians and pro ...more

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Jan 14, 2019 Ray rated it really liked it

Shelves: music-etc

Excellent biography. I have all of Can's albums and a few of the solo records. There are a few surprises here- how they found their vocalists; John Lydon pitching himself as lead vocalist only to find the band broke up; the lucrative tv soundtrack work. The second part of the book features band member Irmin Schmidt's notes and conversations relating to the book. When reading music biographies I often listen to music cited by the musicians as influences or simply what they find moving. Irmin refe ...more

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Dec 19, 2019 Antonio Depietro rated it liked it

love this band and their origin story is fascinating. true artists! makes me feel like a square! but the second half of the book with interviews of admirers was pointless. could have used a better editor.

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Jun 10, 2018 Martin Raybould rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This will probably stand as the definitive biography of this amazing German band but, although Rob Young's research and insights can't be faulted, they remain something of an enigma. Personally, I wouldn't want it any other way and it's still essential reading for discerning rock fans. ...more

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Mar 30, 2019 Andy Mascola rated it really liked it

A bio of the German experimental rock band Can. The first 2/3 provides a deep dive into the history of the band. The last 1/3 is transcribed conversations with notable Can fans and Irmin Schmidt’s journal entries. Liked it a lot.‬

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Jul 18, 2018 Jay Gabler rated it it was ok

Strictly for Can superfans. I reviewed All Gates Open for The Current. ...more

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Nov 16, 2019 Martin Furan rated it it was amazing

Well-written and well researched.

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Mar 19, 2019 Heywood rated it really liked it

Second part somewhat slow going and heavy.

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Sep 01, 2018 Tronikyouth rated it it was amazing

great book in two parts

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Jan 08, 2019 Rupert rated it it was amazing

This book approaches perfection. Great writing about a revolutionary subject with visionary real life characters.

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Dec 18, 2019 Paul Harrison rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rob Young's biography: *****

Irmin Schmidt's thoughts/interviews/wider biography: *** ...more

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May 21, 2019 Max Klemmer rated it really liked it

very heavy on Irmin, but he's the only surviving instrumentalist and has his own little section at the end so it's understandable
still could use more holgar ...more

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May 30, 2018 Chris Meloche rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An excellent book about one of Germany's most legendary groups.

Read a review on my blog at...

http://www.chrismeloche.com/?p=475
...more

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Oct 11, 2018 Francesco rated it it was ok

mixing the history with quasi reviews and superficial insight, sparsely interesting, most of the time...boring!

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“Inner Space: could any phrase be more appropriate, more suggestive of Can’s destination and destiny? The opposite direction from outer space, in contrast to the tendency towards ‘kosmische’, or cosmic, rock perpetrated by many German acts such as Tangerine Dream, Cluster and Ash Ra Tempel several years later. It suggested a retreat to a psychological state, a self-examination, a hermetic environment, a laboratory of the mind. It is possible that, while in New York, Irmin heard about or even saw Andy Warhol’s film Outer and Inner Space – premiered in January 1966 – and the phrase lodged in his mind.” — 1 likes

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