In the charged atmosphere of late 1960s West Germany, Amon Duul II quickly rose to prominence on the strength of their manic live performances and pioneering debut album Phallus Dei. They were frontrunners in what would later be termed Deutschrock or Krautrock, a loose and sprawling musical movement which included such disparate acts as CAN and Kraftwerk. The tension between Germany's past, present and future provided the energy for this movement, which had its own artists, record labels and fans.

The people of this movement worked mostly outside the sphere of the establishment and the commercial record labels and institutions, although the most economically viable acts would later be picked up by major companies. In many ways, this movement was in opposition to the current situation, to politics, society and music. They were looking for freedom, and the different paths leading there; one was through politics via anarchism, socialism or communism, towards a new society beyond traditional values and monetary power; another was spiritual, through artistic expression psychology and psychedelic drugs.
 
- Subliminal Sounds