SOLARIS 1990

A sprawling effort showing the various stages of the Solaris saga, "1990" unwittingly chronicles the band's tendency to remain stationary over a fairly long period. This is especially so on the first disk, that from one end to the other is like a "Martian Chronicles" Part 0.5 and Part 1.5. At a certain point it matters not what came first, but what one heard first, so it mostly sounds like outtakes from that fine mid 1980s album. The best from Disk 1 are "Oz" and "Eden", while the suite "Los Angeles 2026" has many good parts but lacks a cohesive direction, and again suffers in comparison to Martian Chronicles. Disk 2 is somewhat superior and more original, especially the shorter pieces that show the band in a more succinct thematic mode, and they help tie together the otherwise disparate sections. In particular, the 5 "Kozjatek" links show how the extent to which quality trumps quantity. "Ejfeli Valcer", "E-Moll Concierto" and "Duo" are examples of superlative performances to which they link. The latter fully realizes a fusion of jazzy symphonic prog with the band's ethnicity, something they did not attempt enough. Hence, Solaris' work on the second disk actually points to stellar potential in the future, and is of sufficient note to raise the overall rating to 3 stars.