SUPERNOVA

One of the best Polish prog albums. When I bought this LP in the beginning of 80's, I was amazed how skilful are these musicians from Poland. Virtuostic keyboards and guitar, good vocals, well written compositions. YES influences are heard, but EXODUS has its own sound. Lead singer, Pawel Birula has strong high toned voice, but he doesn't sing like Jon Anderson.

First track, "Powstanie supernowej", with intriguing keyboards' sounds instantly captures your attention. "Piosenka bez sensu" and "Niedawno tak, pewnego dnia" are very nice ballads. All other compositions have good balance between fast and slow parts, so the album never becomes boring.

Highly recommended.

I was a bit disappointed when I heard Exodus second album. the symphonic aspect of their work is minimal here. It seems like even in Poland at the time prog rock was not a big deal, at least as far as recording companies and radio stations were concerned. That may explains the shorter, more radio friendly songs. They are not bad at all, really. All are nice and have the Exodus trademark somewhere. But really, after the promising that their debut was, this one pales. It is no wonder there was not a third effort after all.

Good album, important for its history and has nice stuff in it. However, I´ll recommend you get their first record if you want to hear their symphonic side. 2.5 stars.

There seems to have been a very high interest in the Universe, space, science fiction and the depths of the galaxies in the eastern european (prog) community. Not so few a band have explained this, or communicated, through the medium of music. Solaris, being one of them. Ota Petrina another. Exodus is certainly one of those aswell. That is an aspect I appreciate alot. In particular since it is a subject very well suited for prog bands, especially those with a symphonic, spacey edge.

There is no denying that the music on Supernova is extremely harsh, metallic and aggressive for it's time. Because it is. It suits the "theme", as I percieve it, unable as I am to spek nor understand polish, very well. There is little room for relief in the more hard rocking songs. The abrasive edge is sort of frightening and relentless. It kicks and bites and forces it's way into you brain at an enormous, inhuman pace. This might sound unappealing but it is not. The anger or aggression on display is very listenable and intriguing. The vocals, all being in polish, are shouting in your face and comes across as urgent. (Again, I have no idea what the lyrics are all about. The point is simply the emotion it puts forth.)

There are, thankfully, some more gentle tracks that eases the pain, so to speak. Without them this album would be an entirely different, hard to digest entity. The relief they bring is a blessing. Just listen to the sombre, spacey beauty of "Plynacq Marzen Rzeka". That is one great track, if there ever was one. Very 80's in sound, not surprisingly.

Exodus was certainly one of the finest groups to stalk the communist lands in the 70's and 80's. This album, Supernova, is one highlight of the band and era. It shows the power and vision of the progressive rock groups behind the Iron curtain in a very potent and plain speaking way. I think it's a shame that Exodus remains such an anonymous band. The four albums they released are all very competent and enjoyable pieces of musical art. I think it is a great album, for the most part. The more solemn tracks are those I find the most appealing and I find myself retracing my steps, heading back to the Exodus camp for some more of "Jeszcze Czekam", "Piosenka Bez Sensu" and "Niedadawno Tak, Pewnego Dnia". I would also recommend you to grab a piece of "Powstanie Supernowej".

The greatness is certainly glorious but the flaws, such as in "Wielki Wyscig" or "Znów Slysze Wolanie" crashes tthe party and stains the table cloth. While not really awful, these songs are not all that great either. That renders this album, unfortunately, only three stars. The good parts are essential, however.

Space is the place, man.

Trippy with sci-fi keys atmosphere, Supernova will send you to space....on 5 tracks out of 8. They decided to include a couple of quieter moments, not unlike FM did in the early 80's. Good for me, I like the music that came out of that (too) short period. Exodus brought out the big Oberheims and their Boss Chorus Pedal to create something that could be the leftovers of Rush' Signals, especially in the tasty second track (don't ask me to pronounce it).

What's not to like? Well, atmosphere is not everything and some of the slower songs are quite forgettable; especially track 3 (again, gibberish to me). The singing is in Polish, which is like everybody knows, a beautiful language that rolls on the tongue like dark red cherries (*huge sigh of sarcasm*) . More like a mouthful of gravel.

If you pass over the border-tolerable Polish singing, you have a well-played album full of floaty moments, easy to enjoy melodies and spacey rock moments.

A quirky album that's worth your listen if you dig Signals by Rush or Black Noise by FM and even the more psychedelic side of MGMT. Yes, MGMT.

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