Dreams under pressure — Jane’s beautiful, difficult second album. Here We Are is a dreamy, melodic early gem from Hannover’s Jane, made under trying circumstances yet full of quiet beauty. Recorded in 1973 after the departure of their original singer, with drummer Peter Panka stepping up to the microphone, it trades some of the debut’s hard-rock drive for a denser, hazier, more atmospheric flow. Organ and Mellotron wash through melodic songs crowned by Klaus Hess’s emotional guitar.

The short version

Jane’s second album, recorded at Windrose Studio in Hamburg and released in 1973 on the Brain label; seven tracks, around thirty-four minutes. The line-up features Klaus Hess on lead guitar and bass, Wolfgang Krantz also on guitar and bass, Werner Nadolny on organ and Mellotron, and Peter Panka on drums and, for the first time, lead vocals. A blend of melodic progressive rock, space rock and Krautrock, it is denser and dreamier than the band’s debut, built on lush keyboards and Hess’s expressive guitar. It is best remembered for the beloved ballad Out in the Rain, one of the band’s most cherished songs.

Made under pressure

Here We Are arrived at a turbulent moment for Jane. The singer from their debut had left the band, so drummer Peter Panka took over lead vocals, and with bassist Charly Maucher unavailable, guitarist Wolfgang Krantz stepped in to share bass and guitar duties. The band were reportedly almost broke at the time and had to borrow instruments simply to make the record. None of this shows as any loss of quality; if anything, the strained circumstances seem to have pushed the music inward, toward a denser, more atmospheric sound. Recorded in Hamburg and given electronic touches and a remix by the noted producer Dieter Dierks, the album shows a band absorbing line-up changes and hardship without losing its identity, and finding real beauty along the way.

The sound

Dreamy, melodic German progressive rock with space-rock and Krautrock roots, hazier and more atmospheric than the harder-driving debut. Werner Nadolny’s organ and Mellotron wash through the album in warm, symphonic layers, while Klaus Hess’s guitar supplies the emotional peaks, his solos melodic and tasteful, always reaching for the notes that land. Panka’s vocals are gentle and unforced, and the overall mood is slow-paced, romantic and quietly cinematic, at times recalling the melodic symphonic prog of Novalis. Synthesizers add spacier atmospheres, and the songs flow into one another as a single dreamy stream rather than a set of sharp, separate pieces. It is a softer, more inward record than some of the band’s work, and one that rewards a patient, immersive listen.

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The songs

The album opens with the long, mostly instrumental Redskin, a slow-building, bluesy and psychedelic piece that settles into a hazy groove across almost nine minutes. Its acknowledged centrepiece is Out in the Rain, a gorgeous, melancholic ballad wrapped in Mellotron and topped by one of Hess’s most touching guitar solos, long a favourite among fans. The gentle Dandelion and Moving continue in the same slow, organ-rich vein, Waterfall is another highlight, and the short Like a Queen is a dreamy, symphonic miniature that captures the band’s romantic side. The title track Here We Are closes the album on a rockier note, giving Hess room for a powerful, steadily building guitar solo. Seven songs that flow together into one absorbing whole.

Reception and legacy

Here We Are is remembered as a dreamy, beautiful second album, and above all as the home of Out in the Rain, which many fans rank among the finest things Jane ever recorded. Reviewers tend to praise the album’s atmosphere, melody and lush keyboard textures, while some quibble with its running order, feeling that the long opener Redskin makes for an unusual way to begin. It is denser and less immediately hard-rocking than the debut, which divides opinion, but few deny its quiet charm. Made against real difficulties, it stands as proof of the band’s resilience and of the melodic gift that would carry them through the seventies. For fans of dreamy, organ-drenched early-seventies prog, it is a rewarding listen.

The verdict

A dreamy, rewarding album for lovers of melodic, organ-rich early-seventies German prog — softer and hazier than the band’s harder work, but full of atmosphere and feeling. Come to it above all for Out in the Rain and Klaus Hess’s emotional guitar, rather than for hard-rock energy or tight sequencing. Play Out in the Rain and Waterfall. Then Fire, Water, Earth & Air and Between Heaven and Hell for the band’s later peaks, and Novalis for a kindred melodic German prog spirit. A beautiful, resilient early album — and a fan-favourite corner of the Jane story.

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