Comment left on the Mutant Sounds blog a while back:
Yes, it struck me when I heard it today (after a long hiatus) how close it is to the Byrne/Eno Bush of Ghosts sound--the heavy funk grooves with ethereal electronics and atmospherics hovering over and around.
They are dopes to repudiate it. In retrospect it was clear that they were paving the ground for the "'80s sound"--whereas the early ones that all the purists love hark back to the '60s and "roots jams."
My personal favorite is Landed, which straddles the earlier and later periods and is unique in some ways. It has excellent lyrics ("Half Past One," "Red Hot Indians"), some of their best musique concrete-y stuff ("Unfinished") and I love the heavily filtering on many of the songs. (I also like Karoli's vocals, it's how you know this is a German band and not just more eccentric Pink Floyd or Grateful Dead.)
But the later work needs its cult and I'm happy to join you in singling out Out of Reach as a candidate for major reinterpretation. Irmin, Hildegard, are you listening? (I also like Rosko Gee's singing and think the "Pauper's Daughter" is a great song.)