A BENEFIT OF RADIM HLADÍK [AKA: MODRÝ EFEKT & RADIM HLADÍK]

As far as fusion, jazz rock, prog jazz or whatever goes, this is one of my ultimate delights. Alongside Chicago's "II" this is an amazingly solid, enthralling and captivating listening experience. The fact that it hails from behind the Iron curtain makes it eqaully impressing. Now, I know there are alot of excellent music hailing from back there but I am still amazed everytime something as good as this comes my way, like Phoenix' "Cantafabule" or Klan's "Mrowisko".

The opener "Boty" is like a kick in the face with it's great energy and power. In my opinion they could not have opened the album in a better way. Gloriuos! The next track, "Cavojne", is a melancholic little thing, which has that Eastern block feel to it. The sadness seems to cry out for an existence in freedom, void of the communist oppression. Maybe I am reading a bit too much into it, I don't know. After "Cavojne" there are two great tracks leading up to "Hypertenze", my way into the albums as a whole. Man, what a riff! "Hypertenze" is a monolithic, almost Sabbath-heavy track comprised of great soloing inside a jam-like session. The electric piano with it's stabs of slightly overdriven fuzz is excellent, as is everything else on this track.

There is talk of the guitarist being the star of the band but I beg to differ. Surely he is brilliant but it is in connection with the other musicians he really comes to the fore. The bass player is awesome as is the keyboard player and the really good drummer. Jazz and rock blend so well together. The improvisational side of jazz alongside the roughness, directness and attitude of rock makes for something really mindblowing. Sometimes, anyway.

I think that this is THE place to start, if you are at all interested in the music of Modry Efekt. It holds their past and their future in one great album. The jazzrock of yesterday, looking forward to all the more complex stuff of the symphonic era. The album in it self is one of the most powerful and direct jazz rock/prog fusion albums I have ever heard and is recommended to anyone interested in the genre. Vibrant, rough, exciting and inspired are just four words to describe it. Marvellous!