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AEROLIT

CzesŁaw Niemen

Eclectic Prog


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CzesŁaw Niemen Aerolit album cover
4.19 | 160 ratings | 4 reviews | 44% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 1975

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Cztery Ściany Świata (10:19)
2. Pielgrzym (9:21)
3. Kamyk (7:12)
4. Daj Mi Wstążkę Błękitną (4:08)
5. Smutny Ktoś I Biedny Nikt (7:10)

Total time 38:10

Line-up / Musicians

- Czeslaw Niemen / vocals, Moog, Mellotron, Moog bass, arranger

With:
- Sławomir Piwowar / electric & acoustic guitars
- Andrzej Nowak / clavinet, Fender, piano
- Jacek Gazda / bass
- Piotr Dziemski / percussion, bass drum

Releases information

Artwork: Czeslaw Niemen

LP Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎- SX 1192 (1975, Poland)

CD Digiton ‎- DIG 149 (1994, Poland) Remastered by C. Niemen
CD Polskie Radio ‎- PRCD 338 (2007, Poland) Remastered (?)

Thanks to ClemofNazareth for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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CZESŁAW NIEMEN Aerolit ratings distribution


4.19
(160 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(44%)
44%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(31%)
31%
Good, but non-essential (19%)
19%
Collectors/fans only (4%)
4%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

CZESŁAW NIEMEN Aerolit reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by zravkapt
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars I had never heard of this guy before he was added to PA. I've only heard this album and the follow up Katharsis, which is a great electronic album. Niemen(not his real name) was born in the Soviet Union but later moved to Poland. During the 1960s he was popular there, making R&B and psych rock music. With this album he moved into fusion territory while retaining the symphonic prog of his last few albums. Before Aerolit the members of S.B.B. were his backing band.

His singing style is very soulful. Similar to 60s/70s R&B and "blue-eyed soul". He sings in Polish. I have worked with people from Poland and learned some words and sayings in Polish. Unfortunately, they were mostly curse words. I have no idea what Czeslaw is singing about, but I don't hear any Polish curse words. "Pielgrzym" is apparently based on a famous Polish poem by a famous Polish poet. Or something of that nature anyway. Oh, by the way, Niemen also plays keyboards.

"Cztery Sciany Swiata" starts with rolling drums, bass and jazzy synth playing. Gets more symphonic with Mellotron. Some drum rolls and the singing starts. Music stops then comes back again. More Mellotron. Then jazzy synth and drums. Later a synth solo. Gets more symphonic. Music stops again. Then drum rolls and more singing. Music keeps stopping and starting again. Good electric piano near the end.

"Pielgrzym" has a little bit of synth before some a cappella vocals. Then some spacey Middle-Eastern style synths. A cappella vocals again. Some percussion and bass halfway thru. Then Rhodes piano and some electric guitar. "Kamyk" begins with spacey synth. Then drum roll and some Mellotron. After a symphonic part with a good beat and electric piano. Singing starts. Later goes into a jazzy part, then a nice groove with echoed/delayed Mellotron. Goes back to the symphonic part. Spacey synth noises at the end.

"Daj Mi Wstazke Blekitna" is a R&B style ballad similar to some of his earlier stuff(I'm assuming). You can listen to the last song "Smutny Ktos, Biedny Nikt" here on PA. It starts with a great jazzy groove. Then singing. Later nice synths and electric piano. After 3 minutes some cool sounding electric piano and cowbell. Then a good groove. Later a synth melody doubled on guitar.

Yet another interesting artist I discovered because of this site. A great album, just as good as what was coming out of western Europe or the US at the time. A really good singer/keyboardist/composer. His singing style is very over the top and may not appeal to everyone. But the music is a nice mix of symphonic prog, fusion and R&B. 4 stars.

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars 4.5 stars. I knew nothing of this man until he was added here but the bio says he moved from Russia to Poland when he was around 19 years old. He became a singer in Poland in the early sixties before becoming a pioneer in that country with his Psychedelic music in the latter half of the sixties. "Aerolit" is an incredible album filled with Czeslaw's emotive vocals and his amazing synth and mellotron work. Add to that a very talented drummer, upfront bass and electric piano and you have a classic. He sings in Polish and it's pretty cool that members of SBB were in his band prior to this album. Great album cover too apparently painted by his wife.

"Cztery Sciany Swiata" is the 10 1/2 minute opener and the longest track on here. Drums are joined by bass before the synths and a melody kick in. I'm not big on the melody and it will return a few more times during this song. The song pretty much stops after 1 1/2 minutes as drums then passionate vocals take over. Some nice bass too and it's fairly dark and brooding here. Mellotron 3 minutes in then it kicks in to an uptempo synth/ drum led section. Bass to the fore after 3 1/2 minutes as that melody returns from earlier. Man this changes often. Electric piano after 4 minutes with drums, synths and bass although the synths dominate the sound. I like this a lot. Guitar joins in replacing the synths but they will continue to trade off. There's that earlier melody again before it changes as the vocals and that dark sound return after 7 1/2 minutes. Mellotron too and man can this guy sing!

"Pielgrzym" opens with mournful synths as almost spoken vocals join in but they are rich and full of character. Percussion and bass join in around 5 minutes then the vocals stop as it continues to trip along. Vocals are back with about a minute left. Great track. "Kamyk" starts with electronics which sounds pretty cool as the drums shuffle. Mellotron follows then the synths start to growl as the vocals join in before 1 1/2 minutes. He's singing in a laid back manner here. The tempo picks up before 3 minutes as it turns jazzy. Then high pitched, bouncy synths start to dominate before giving way to some great sounding electric piano. It turns darker with deeper sounds before 5 minutes and the vocals return. Those bouncy synths are back after 6 minutes.

"Daj Mi Wstazkl Btekitna" features picked guitar, cymbals and sweeping mellotron to start as reserved vocals and a beat take over. Picked guitar and bass also help out as well. Mellow. The mellotron is back! Electric piano arrives when the vocals stop after 2 minutes. The vocals return around 3 minutes. "Smutny Ktos-I Biedny Nikt" hits the ground running and vocals join in quickly. When the vocals stop we get an impressive instrumental section, especially the electric piano and drums. Vocals are back but again when they stop the instrumental work just kills. It settles with electric piano and a beat before 5 minutes then the synths return late.

In my opinion this stands up very well with the best from 1975 and that's saying something.

Latest members reviews

5 stars Aerolit is probably the best progressive album by CZESLAW NIEMEN. It is a great, dynamic, eclectic, jazz-rock/fusion album with great synthesizers, fantastic guitars, interesting rhythmic section and of course fantastic Niemen's vocal. There are also some interesting stories associated with this ... (read more)

Report this review (#263128) | Posted by cataclysta | Thursday, January 28, 2010 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Some time, after really getting into the prog scene, Czeslaw Niemen released an album called Aerolit. The album is commonly thought of as one of his best works. It's more jazz/fusion-rock than what the earlier albums were. Aerolit has less soul and blues influences, and is more based on his synths r ... (read more)

Report this review (#178168) | Posted by Passionist | Friday, July 25, 2008 | Review Permanlink

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