Can - Delay 1968

Delay 1968 is a compilation album by German progressive rock band CAN, originally released in 1981 via Spoon Records.

CAN was a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne in 1968 by the core quartet of Holger Czukay (bass, tape editing), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). The group cycled through several vocalists, most prominently the American-born Malcolm Mooney (1968–70) and the Japanese-born Damo Suzuki (1970–73), as well as various temporary members during their career.

Coming from backgrounds in the avant-garde and jazz, the members of CAN blended elements of psychedelic rock, funk, and noise on influential albums such as Tago Mago (1971), Ege Bamyasi (1972) and Future Days (1973).

This classic album of tracks was recorded at the beginning of CAN’s life and features original vocalist Malcolm Mooney. ‘Thief’ is now a rejuvenated CAN classic having been covered by Radiohead and since then discovered by a new generation of fans.

Holger Czukay has said that Delay 1968 was originally intended to be the band's first album, Prepared To Meet Thy PNOOM ("Pnoom" being the name of the album's second track—a 27-second saxophone instrumental, recorded as part of their Ethnological Forgery Series). When no record company would release the record, CAN set out to make a somewhat more accessible album, which became their 1969 debut Monster Movie. Parts of Delay 1968 circulated in bootleg form for several years under the title Unopened, and included other tracks recorded during the same sessions that would later surface in various forms on other albums.

This album is a 2021 limited edition reissue on pink transparent coloured vinyl with a printed inner sleeve and download code, pressed in Europe via Spoon Records.