Landed was recorded at Inner Space Studios in Weilerswist near Cologne, in 1975. It was engineered by Holger Czukay at Inner Space Studios. Side A was mixed by Toby Robinson and Holger Czukay at Studio Dierks in Stommeln, Germany, while side B was mixed by Czukay at Inner Space Studios, both sides under the assistance of René Tinner. The album was produced by the band themselves, and produced a single, "Hunters and Collectors", backed by "Vernal Equinox", which was issued on Virgin that same year.
1975's Landed was the first Can record to get what Czukay describes as a "professional mix", as the band upgraded to 16 tracks and had the opportunity to bring out many more layers of sound. However, what might have sounded like a godsend to fans craving as much Can magic as they could get didn't quite turn out as we expected. Gone were the epic, funky ambient songs or minimalist rock experiments in favor of some pretty straightforward jam-band tunes. "Full Moon on the Highway" bursts out of the gate with a deft pace and Karoli's thin, decidedly non-rock chipmunk chorus. Luckily, his guitar is front and center, though it was clear the band weren't playing space age physics music anymore. "Half Past One", "Vernal Equinox" and "Hunters and Collectors" are variations on the idea of bare-basic chord progression and high-speed beats serving as launching pads for lengthy solos. I give Can credit for having the chops to pull it off, but did I really need to hear them do it? "Red Hot Indians" is more interesting, sounding like bizarre tropical jazz-pop, and featuring Olaf Kübler from Amon Düül guesting on dual sax solos. The 13-minute sound-art closer "Unfinished" doesn't really fit with the rest of the record, but does at least give Can the chance to stretch out their most experimental ideas into 16 tracks, and is reminiscent of "Cutaway" or some of the more out-there moments on Tago Mago.
Musician Barry Adamson included the album in a list of his 13 favorite albums, saying:
It's one of those albums where, in terms of production, there's something transcendental about the average rock song.... I believe that this one of Can's more poppier records – their earlier stuff was much more out there - and I must admit that I love experimentalism wrapped around pop and wrapped around catchiness and wrapped around things that you can remember but still with that avant-garde approach, if you like. So even when "Hunters And Collectors" starts, it still has that strange sort of nostalgia-like Germanicness about it. It roams into psychedelia as well and those elements combined make it one of those records that, if I was flicking through someone else's collection and this came up, then I'd pull it out, stick it on the turntable and whack it up."
Track listing
Personnel
Can
Holger Czukay – bass, vocals on "Full Moon on the Highway"
