Синий Альбом / BLUE ALBUM

Аквариум (Aquarium) is a folk rock/reggae/fusion band formed in 1972 from St Petersburg (then Leningrad), Russia. Since rock music was strictly regulated in the Soviet Union in the 70s most artists in the genre resorted to playing venues in private apartments to compete for a contract with the only record label owned by the government called Melodiya.

Аквариум (Aquarium) was one of those controversial bands that always pushed the boundaries of what was allowed. The point where they became more well known is when they played at the 1980 Tbilisi Rock Festival (in the Republic of Georgia). Although they were banned from the festival for outrageous stage antics, they nevertheless gathered a cult following that continues to this day.

Although Синий альбом (Blue Album) is the debut album by Аквариум (Aquarium) they in fact produced a number of homemade releases before this first proper album was released in 1981. They are typically classified generically as rock but their albums have completely different sounds and on this one they are pretty much acoustic folk with some electric rock guitar and reggae blended in as well. In fact, the very first track reminds me of Bob Dylan while the second sounds a lot like John Lennon. All lyrics are in Russian. A very interesting historical piece of Soviet Russian history as this is an important album in the development of the musical industry behind the Iron Curtain. The music here is slightly progressive as it adds some intresting effects and some mild fusion. A decent but not outstanding debut album.