NON STOP

Bulgarian label Balkanton gathered three musicians in 1975 - keyboardists and songwriters Rumen Boyadzhiev and Konstantin Tsekov and bassist Aleksandar Baharov, thus forming what became one of the most successful Bulgarian rock/pop bands, Formation Studio Balkanton (or FSB).

Oddly enough, for their debut studio release they decided to compose a handful of covers of not-so-obvious progressive rock songs: such from Gentle Giant, Patrick Moraz, Le Orme, and who knows who else. Sounds all good, but none of the original artists were actually credited... ever. So, this makes 'Non Stop' an album of songs which have been covered without any knowledge by the actual bands that wrote them.

As for the music here, it is a good musicians' album. Occasional lyrics have been added, plus a little help from a couple of drummers and percussionists, and a saxophone that appears on the opening track and on 'My City'. Still, is there much originality going on?

'Ten Years After' would also become the most well-known song by the band. I personally think it is mediocre but has a memorable one-line chorus.

So, overall, this is interesting to hear if you are a prog fan who wants to dig deeper than the usual stuff. I must admit there are some great sounds going on, and of course there will be when you have the double keys, the Hammond organs, the mellotron, moog synths, all sorts of electric pianos, and bass pedals!