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Cornucopia were a German group that played a style of dark, almost symphonic, fusion-tinged progressive rock. Bands like Kraan, Ikarus and Eiliff are good reference points, but Cornucopia probably isn't quite as good as any of the above, despite the presence of Ikarus' flautist Jochen Peterson. Stylistically, Cornucopia is quite a bit heavier, defined largely by chugging organ and strident, determined basslines rubbing up against massive, Sabbath-like guitar dirges. Though the band featured a whopping seven members, the majority of the group make only minor additions to the overall feel. Flute and saxophone lines often appear to spice the proceedings and complement the main dialogue of guitar and organ, but rarely assume a central role, and though the liners list the presence of two auxiliary percussionists, their contributions are rarely felt in any significant way. Unfortunately, as can sometimes be expected from German groups, the vocals and lyrics are pretty goofy at times, but generally de-emphasized in favor of the often startling instrumental work. The album highlight is clearly the lengthy album centerpiece "Day of a Day-dream believer", which progresses through a series of consistently interesting, darkly melodic themes. The success of the first side is carried over onto "Spot on You, Kids", a twelve minute number which, still manages a number of stunning sections. The dual-tracked, reverb-laden guitar solos are particularly haunting here. The song segues nicely into the sustained guitar and organ layers of "And the Madness...", which recalls Jane or even Pink Floyd. The only throw away cut here is the mercifully short, dinky pop tune "Morning Sun". A solid album overall.
(http://progres-agitation.blogspot.com/2009/11/cornucopia-full-hornkrautrockger1973.html)
Cornucopia stood for fantasy, originality and variety. On their only album, "Full Horn", recorded in 1973, Cornucopia played an eccentric fusion rock that was as convincing in the 20-minute suite "Day Of A Daydreambeliever" as in the compact three-minute rock song "Morning Sun". Cornucopia cleverly avoided being too predictable and added their unique, intellectual style to the slowly growing German rock evolution. Responsible for their style was producer Jochen Peterson, a former member of "Ikarus".
The septet met 1972 in Hamburg and consisted of Wolfgang Kause (voc), Wolfgang Bartl (b), Christoph Hardwig (key, g), Wolfgang Gaudes (dr), Kai Hendrik Motler (g), Harry Koch (perc, effects) and Rudy Holzhauer (perc). The "lyrics are worth paying attention to and they have a richness of musical ideas" (Sounds). These ideas mainly sprang from Christoph Hardwig's mind and were brought to perfection by the entire team.
Even in the early stages of the developing German rock scene, Cornucopia embodied the principle of a democratic band and were only marginally influenced by Anglo-American institutions like "Vanilla Fudge" and "Genesis".
"Full Horn" remained Cornucopia's only album. Why the Hamburg band never was as successful as they would have deserved remains open to speculation. One of the reasons for their failure, perhaps, is that Cornucopia did not do enough for their image and had problems accepting the rules of the business. The band insisted on their liberties and only reluctantly fulfilled their promotion duties. They had hoped to get a lot of recognition for "Full Horn", but when it failed to materialise, Cornucopia were so disillusioned that in 1974 they gave up.
Christian Graf
Taken from the CD Reissue of "Full Horn" (Repertoire PMS 7049-WP)
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01. Day of a Daydreambeliever 19:26