Unlimited Edition

Released in 1976 as a double-album expansion of 1974's LIMITED EDITION, UNLIMITED EDITION collects previously unreleased recordings made by Can between 1968 and 1974. Because the group owned their own rehearsal space/studio, Inner Space, they could record pretty much at whim, not only when release schedules dictated. While in some hands, this lack of structure would be an open invitation for endless, boring jams, the members of Can are far too self-disciplined for that. meer...

While a distinct looseness permeates these songs, none of them are unstructured or repetitive enough to truly be called jams. Instead, they're explorations, like the improvisations of a talented, intuitive jazz combo. While many of the 19 tracks--including several entries in their ongoing Ethnological Forgeries series--are instrumentals, former singers Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki are both represented here.

Mojo (p.112)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "Rough, flawed and fascinating, this is Can at their most spontaneous, running through weird skanks, cosmic abstractions, soundtrack pieces and fake folk music."

Uncut (p.132)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "[E]xhibiting both Can's workings and playfulness, particularly on the Faust-like extended patchwork of 'Cutaway'."