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BAśNIE

Collage

Neo-Prog


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Collage Baśnie album cover
3.64 | 170 ratings | 13 reviews | 23% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 1990

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Jeszcze jeden dzien (One More Day) (4:10)
2. Ja i ty (Me and You) (3:20)
3. Kołysanka (Lullaby) (4:30) (fragment)
4. Baśnie (Fairy Tales) (10:00)
5. Dalej, dalej (Farther and Farther) (7:00)
6. Stare ściezki (Same Old Paths) (6:45)
7. Fragmenty (Fragments) (4:28)
8. Rozmowa (Conversation) (4:45)

Total Time: 47:28

Bonus Video tracks on 2003 Metal Mind Enhanced-CD:
9. Video1 - Ja I Ty (Live 1991)
10. Video2 - Baśnie (Live 1995)
11. Video3 - Kolysanka (Live From Holland 1995)

Line-up / Musicians

- Tomek Rozycki / vocals
- Mirek Gil / guitars
- Przemek Zawadzki / bass guitar
- Wojtek Szadkowski / drums, percussion

With:
- Jacek Korzeniowski / keyboards

Releases information

Artwork: Jerzy Kurczak with Wojtek Szadkowski (logo)

LP Polskie Nagrania Muza ‎- SX 2951 (1991, Poland)

CD Inter Sonus / Ars Mundi - IS-CD 002 (1990, Poland)
CD Metal Mind - MMP CD 0228 (2003, Poland) Remastered by Krzysztof Palczewski w/ 3 bonus videos

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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Buy COLLAGE Baśnie Music



COLLAGE Baśnie ratings distribution


3.64
(170 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(23%)
23%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(42%)
42%
Good, but non-essential (25%)
25%
Collectors/fans only (8%)
8%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

COLLAGE Baśnie reviews


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

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by loserboy
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars "Basnie" or "Fairytales" was the debut release by COLLAGE, Poland's answer to MARILLION, PENDRAGON and IQ maintaining a strong yet highly interesting and competent neo prog vibe. This beautifully produced album features strong melodies and complex musical themes with excellent instrumentation (guitars and keyboards in particular). All lyrics are sung in native Polish and do so with Tomek Rozycki who unfortunately would leave COLLAGE after this album. Actually what is amazing here is that the long standing line up that we would know as COLLAGE (ie. "Moonshine") is essentially a different band here by membership with drummer and band leader Wojtek Szadkowski and guitarist Mirel Gil maintaining the constant throughout (yet the sound is so close). The rest of the band are Przemek Zawadzki (bass guitar) and Jacek Korzeniowski (keyboards). COLLAGE have a lot more to offer here than the hoards of clones that have given this "Neo Prog" genre a bad name.
Review by silvertree
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars I never thought much about neo-progressive rock. I did try to listen to Pendragon and Marillion but I didn't quite find it to my taste. (Apart from IQ that is...). My wife went on a business trip to Poland and I had heard vaguely about Collage so I asked her to try and find Basnie (their only album at the time) and she did ! I think she found one of the rare available CDs in Warsaw at the time !!! And when I first put it on, I was totally blown away (sur le cul as we say in French). This is just excellent neo-progressive. No other band has done as good. The music sort of makes me think of Marillion. The drums, keyboards, guitars, bass... well all the instruments have a great sound and the playing is subtle and full of feeling. The vocals are in Polish. So what ? They are brilliant and that's good enough for me. I sometimes find myself trying to say some Polish words from the songs ! I got so interested in this band that I asked a friend to translate the titles for me. I was so disapointed when I heard that the band line-up had changed and that they sang in English that I lost interest. Must be the best neo-progressive album of all time !!!
Review by lor68
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars This was the debut album by Collage, a new progressive wave band from Poland with a powerful approach, even though lacking a bit of fresh ideas in the development of the songs. Ok their derivative arrangement and simple harmonic solutions as well are acceptable, but They were not able to give it a personal form, and this is often the main problem within the new progressive wave genre, whose definition as referred to the word "new" is quite strident nowadays, moreover being too much connected to a period which became obsolete since the middle eighties.

Immediate work without pretensions, but often powerful.!!

Review by Gatot
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars

Excellent debut from Poland's Neo-Progger!

Well, I have to admit that without being associated with this wonderful site - ProgArchives - how would I know this precious album by the band that previously was unknown for me? It's my friend Jarek - a regular reader of this site - who sent me a bunch of CDs from Poland's prog bands. Wow! So many prog outfits coming from Poland! Thanks to Jarek, thanks to ProgArchives who connects me to the wider world of progressive music, including knowing nice person like Jarek. Of course I know this band from this site but I had never imagined how the band sounds like because neo prog is quite wide in horizon. Is it something like Marillion? Or something like Pallas? Or IQ? Or Pendragon?

When I spun this CD at first time, it blew me away right away. What made me blown away was the fact that Collage uses multi-layered keyboards nicely, coupled with stunning guitar playing in the vein of neo prog music. I would say the music of this album represents the combination of Pallas, IQ, Pendragon, Jadis and a bit of Pulsar. Why Pulsar? Well, you might observe how the melody leads the music through a bit of spacey kind of nuance. The other attraction point for me is the fact that non-English lyric is being used. It does fit with the music. The music is dynamic, performed in high energy.

Why liking this album?

Fan of Neo Prog. Definitely, if you claim yourself as neo progressive music, owning a copy of this CD is a must - and no compromise for this! I can tell you that the compositions are all stunning! There is no such thing as bad track, every single track is excellent! The opening track "Jeszcze jeden dzien" (One More Day) (4:10) projects how neo prog can be presented in energetic way but still maintaining the ambient of neo prog music through floating keyboard work combined with stunning guitar. You might associate this song with IQ and I don't blame on you. Vocal has good power as well. I do enjoy the combination of guitar and keyboard solo. The keyboard style reminds me to Clive Nolan of Arena / Pendragon. The music gives drum solo at later part of the song. Excellent composition.

It then flows naturally to second track "Ja i ty" (Me and You) (3:20). Maintaining the soul of previous track. From track to track the music is consistent in neo prog style and if you are not a neo prog fan, it's probably time to kill your CD player and change the CD with other band. But if you really enjoy neo prog, there are many subtleties you would find until track 8 "Rozmowa" (Conversation) (4:45) which mainly very interesting on keyboard solo and guitar.

Melodic Segments. As a neo prog band it is required that the music must contain melodic / catchy segments. I can assure you there are many catchy segments produced by this album. You might go straight to track 3 "Kolysanka" (Lullaby) (4:30) for an example. Observe at approx minute 3:10 when the music interlude produces melodic notes. This is only one example and it's according to me very melodious. Why? Melodic means differently from one person to the others. So I'd rather trust your feeling than mine. But for sure the part I'm talking about here is catchy for me, personally.

Symphonic Music. This album has significant symphonic nuance that would attract those of you who adore legendary bands like Yes, Genesis, ELP. You might go straight to track 4 "Basnie" (Fairy Tales) (10:00), the album title track, which is an epic with many great shot on symphonic music. The intertwined guitar and keyboard works represent what usually come out from symphonic prog music. All tracks contained in this album have symphonic elements. The guitar intro at "Dalej, dalej" (Farther and Farther) (7:00) reminds me to Steve Hackett's guitar fills and the keyboard at the background provides wonderful symphonic nuance. Observe the way pulsating keyboard work overlays the music especially during transition pieces augmented with guitar solo.

Excellent keyboard. It's for sure if you like keyboard-drenched music, this album is for you, no doubt! As you explore the music you will notice that keyboard is the main contributor of the music. In some parts you will find Rick Wakeman style but in another part you will find Clive Nolan's style. Combined, these two styles produce nice harmony.

Why (you are) NOT liking this album?

Getting bored. This statement applies to those of you who do not (or can not) enjoy the floating style of neo progressive music. You might find this album has dull variation. All the tracks might sound alike in your ears. If this is the case, well .. I cannot help you my friend. One thing for sure, you have missed all the beauty that neo progressive music presents: simple composition, catchy melodies and smooth transition pieces. Bearing this in mind, you might find minimum (or even none) surprises; everything seems like predictable. If you get bored with this album, try to stop your listening when you reach at track 4 and enjoy the rest the next day. and I'm sure you will get right subtleties of the music.

Nothing new. If you always search something new about an album / artist, you will end up not re-spinning this CD. Why? There is nothing new. Yes, you might find the music is similar with other bands like IQ, Pallas, Arena.

Conclusion

Straight to the point: this is an excellent addition to any prog music collection. It has powerful composition with excellent songwriting and overall performance. All instruments are played dynamically. Overall production, including CD sonic quality is good. The only concern that I have is the drum sounds which are recorded / mixed thinly. The rest are okay. What I do like is that this album concludes with excellent track "Rozmowa". Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW i-Rock!

Review by apps79
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars One of the best albums in neo-progressive history.The polish band plays 100% progressive rock with hints of MARILLION and IQ, but their influences are carefully hidden under their personal style.The vocals are very expressive and the polish language helps with that.In spots the band shows also part of their technical ability,mainly the keyboardist who is a virtuoso of his instrument.COLLAGE deserve your attention!
Review by Cesar Inca
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Few, indeed very few neo-prog debut albums can presume of being this powerful in terms of performances and arrangements as "Basnie" is - Collage took everyone by surprise in a definite manner, not unlike their fellow country bands Abraxas and Quidam. This was their only Polish-language album, since they would turn into the English-language resource afterwards; also, this album is not performed by the band's classic line-up... but it's really beautiful, energetic, full of abundantly inspired musical ideas. The opener 'Jeszcze jeden dzien' displays a clever combination of complexity and catchiness driven on a 7/8 tempo; the immediate follower 'Ja i ty' keeps up the momentum on a 5/4-11/8 pace, even enhancing the melodic drive and rock impetus, with the inclusion of unhidden folkish undertones. The main phrases delivered by the guitar and the synth are strongly sustained on a compact rhythm duo, while the singer shows total confidence. With these first two tracks we know that what we have here is a band that follows a big deal of standardized neo patterns, yet with a peculiar voice. You can also rest assured that their musical vision is mature - no matter how good things will be in the remaining tracklist (and they are good), these first two tracks will leave a permanente mark on the listener's mind. Anyway, let's move on for thsi review. Things slow down and slide into the realms of melancholy with 'Kolysanka', a refined ballad that brings back the heritage of Fish-era Marillion an classic Pendragon (plus, perhaps, some Genesis circa "Wind & Wuthering"). The 10 minute namesake piece finds the band going steadily toward the exploration of its most epic facet, a hint of things to come in their future master opus "Moonshine" (not to elaborate here, since that's a matter for another review). In 'Basnie' there is a predominance of colorful ambiences (once again, ornamentes with folkish textures), alternating with some mysterious passages that set up te hcourse for the arrival of a somewhat dense climax (something like Pendragon-meets-Gilmour era PF). The album's second half gets started with 'Dalej, Dalej', arguably the song in which Collage bears a more obedient attitude toward the standards of neo-prog: the mesmeric keyboard layers and orchestrations that feed the trend for Gil's guitar leads are a special feature of this song. The structure of 'Stare sciezki' feels closer to melodic pop-rock with symphonic tendencies: it starts very soft, and after the second minute, things get a bit more powerful, but the overall poppish feel remains. I personally find it less appealing than any of the previous tracks, but its well constructed melodic lines and its use of suave folkish colors crucially help it to find a coherent home in the album. Finally, 'Fragmenty' and 'Rozmowa' recapitulate the epic spirit of 'Basnie' and the dynamics of tracks 1-2 with a good dose of electrifying energy and captivating melodies. This means that the repertoire, as a whole, keeps a clear focus on coherence and consistency. Interaction between guitar and synth during leads and main harmonic bases; the solid drive of Szadkowski's drumming during both the complex and simpler patterns - these are, IMHO, the strongest suits of Collage, and it shows in "Basnie". Someone before me statewd that this albums is regrettably too short, during only 45 minutes. He is right! It wouldn't have hurt if a couple of tracks had been a bit more expanded, but all in all, nothing's missing here. Like I said at the beginning of this review, this is a hell of a debut album, and the more I think about it, the more I miss this band for what it was and what it meant.
Review by UMUR
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
2 stars The debut album from neo prog band Collage is from 1990. Basnie is sung in polish and it will probably scare some potential listeners away. Give it a chance though if you like the later albums from Collage as the music is very similar to those.

The musicians are not the same as on later releases and the most notable change from later albums is singer Tomek Rozycki who sounds a bit different from Robert Amirian who sang on later Collage albums. Guitarist Mirek Gil and drummer Wojtek Szadkowski are the only recognizable names if you know later Collage albums. In my opinion Mirek Gil is one of the best neo prog guitarists and his style is already pretty well deleloped on Basnie. The level of musicianship is good even though I donīt find the vocals from singer Tomek Rozycki very inspiring. Maybe it would have helped if I understood what he sings.

The music is clearly inspired by early neo prog bands like Marillion and IQ. The keyboard and the very lead based guitar plays a big role in the music, while the vocal melodies arenīt that exciting.

The sound quality isnīt too good in my opinion. I donīt think it is very exciting, it misses the rich and full sound of later albums.

So even though Basnie should have some interest from the fans of Collage I donīt think it has much relevance to prog rock in general and therefore I will only recommend this to the fans of Collage, and maybe the curious neo prog head. As Basnie is mostly for the fans I will give it 2 stars.

Review by kenethlevine
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Team
3 stars The debut by Collage only shows hints of what the band would become on their ultimate classic "Moonshine", but the presence of Mirek Gil on guitars provides much of that clean, emotional "more Hackett than Hackett" sensibility that would permeate the group throughout their all too brief run. Basnie is a dark neo prog album, that quality only enhanced by the vocals in their native tongue by Tomek Rozycki.

The production is somewhat muddled, and at times, such as on the slightly disappointing title track, the overall impact of the piece is blunted by a running scared type of pace. At times, such as on "Ja I Ty", this quality is wholly successful, as the song is built on a simple yet profound riff. In Kolysanka we hear a nascent "Living in the Moonlight". A few steps and bridges are missing to keep it from attaining that level of impact. "Dalej Dalej" is another highlight, with the vocals, keyboards and guitars all firing in sync. These succinct statements by Collage should embarrass the biggest names in neo prog with their generally bloated and essentially unimaginative musical storylines. Rozycki's wordless chants also add to the melancholy feel of the piece.

"Fragmenty" has hints of what would become "The Blues" through several incarnations, until the surprisingly Asian sounding segment near the end. The album closer, "Rozmowa", features another spine tingling Mirek Gil solo in an otherwise fairly ordinary tune. These types of twists are part of what made Collage a worthwhile musical investment from day 1, warts and all. Some might even prefer this album to Moonshine based on its less polished sound and more subtle melodies. I am not among this group, but Basnie is an album that begins the fairy tale story of Collage, a tale worth telling and hearing in any language.

Review by ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars This first album of this legendary Polish band is fully in the tradition of the neo-prog genre with its usual suspects (Banks oriented synthesizer work amongst others).

Still, there are very good songs featured, of which the title track "Fairy Tales" ("Basnie") is my fave. Sentimental vocals, passionate guitar and you know already what to expect from the keyboards. But the real highlight in this number is definitely these wonderful guitar notes.

The lead vocalist is also performing well and at times he reminds me of the great Adam Łassa (from "Abraxas"). This song is fully symphonic and brings you back to the early middle seventies. An outstanding track, that's a given.

Actually, the longer songs are better. "Dalej, Dalej" is another jewel full of emotion. One immediately knows the main source of inspiration of "Abraxas" while listening to this type of song. Mirek Gil on the guitar is again fabulous and so expressive. Another excellent symphonic oriented song.

The band keeps on with another inspired "Stare Sciezki". The last one of an excellent trilogy of songs which forms the solid core of this album. Same beautiful guitar work, aerial keyboards and sweet vocalize. What a fine moment again!

Polish lyrics are just a handicap for my comprehension, but this is easily compensated with the good music produced. The three songs that I have outlined are good for half of the album, while the remaining five shorter ones are less interesting even if "Fragmenty" is also pleasant. The leading role in this song is held by the synth, but again they don't sound very original. A copy of.

To have released such an album in 1990 in Poland is quite remarkable. I guess that the mood was not too much in rock music at the time and "Collage" therefore deserves a lot of respect. Bravo.

Four stars (slightly upgraded from seven out of ten).

Review by The Crow
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Beautiful, exotic and worthy neo-prog album!

The fact that this album is singed in polish adds extra beauty and a special feeling to this music... Wich is a fine mixture between Marillion, IQ and some Pendragon elements. But they have also a very dinstinctive fact, and this is the beauty and haunting melodies they usually use, giving the impression that you are into a fairytale. For example, in the beginning of Kolysanka and the final whispered melody of Stare Sciezki... This is one of the most special aspects of this band, their constant search of beauty in their music. And they find it in almost every song of the album!

Despite the leader of the band is the drummer Wojtek Szadkowski, among with the guitarist Mirek Gil... The true protagonist of this album (in terms of you can hear...), is the keyboardist Jacek Korceniowski, who makes a great work throuthout the album. Some melodies in Ja i Ty are just great, and so is his solo in Fragmenty. It's a pity this is the only album this man has made with collage, because he was really good...

The rest of the musicians are also very fine... Szadkowski makes a powerful and diverse drummer, while Mirek Gil specially shines in some tracks like Basnie. His playing reminds me a bit to Steve Rothery... And I find the singer Tomer Rozycki very appropiate to this music! His singing is similar to Nick Barrett in tone and feeling, but Tomer is very better in my opinion, while he has all the power and variety that Barrett lacks. A worthy voice, I want to hear him singing together with Mirek Gil in the band Believe! So this album has very good players, for very good music.

Best tracks: Jeszcze jeden dzien (a powerful beginning, with some fantastic vocal melodies...), Basnie (the true jewel of the album... A long track with some great passages, like the great ending) and Stare Sciezki (I just find the ending of the track incredibly beautiful...)

Conclusion: this album is a very worthy purchase for Neo-Prog lovers... Being 100% Neo-Prog, it has some special and dinstictive aspects, like the fact is singed in polish and the haunting fairytale ambient it has... But the most important thing is that almost every song has a high level (except a pair of them...), being the track Basnie a true jewel. Recommended album!

My rating: ***1/2

Review by progrules
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars To me the four albums by Collage are easily ranked. First place is undoubtedly for Moonshine as it's one of the best albums ever to me. The successor Safe is obviously second placed and is a clear four stars for me. The final release Changes (actually a sort of compilation) is clearly the weakest of the four and was at best three stars (2,75). That leaves the famous debut Basnie and this is also the last one to review for me (if you don't mind me leaving the Lennon songs out of this small competition). It's number three where the quality is concerned and I had a long and serious thought about the rating. I think I will leave it at three stars due to the lack of stand out songs. And looking at the rating by others so far this is not a straightforward case by any means.

And that can be quite easily explained. If you have a soft spot for the more folky approach that is detectable on this debut (amongst others caused by the singing in their native language) you might be tempted to give four or even five stars. But I'm afraid I'm not, I only go for compositions and melodies preferably with lots of instrumental solos (hence my love for Moonshine). And that's a bit more problematic with Basnie. The songs are all relatively short (except for the title track being the best track by the way) with dominant vocals and only short instrumental bits and pieces. And on top of this the sound quality is at least questionable.

So even though I believe this debut should be treated with some respect I can't get carried away by it overall and have to limit the score at three stars here. A must have for fans though.

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars There's a legion of neo-prog bands out there who take their lead from Marillion's sound during the Fish era, but for me Collage stand out as a particularly excellent one. Their debut, Basnie, is a case in point: whilst many other bands simply try to preserve Marillion's sound from whichever Fish-era album happens to be their favourite and don't really take the music forward, Collage learn lessons from all the phases of the Fish period - the angst of Script for a Jester's Tear, the anger of Fugazi, the delicacy of Misplaced Childhood and the wry wit of Clutching at Straws - and combine all of these moods (and the musical underpinnings thereof) to form the core of their sound and take it in an entirely different direction from the one Marillion seemed to be pursuing at the end of the Fish era: more raw, more energetic, and significantly more complex.

Their compositions are simply stuffed with energetic solos and performances from the band's instrumentalists, whilst frontman Tomas Rozycki's passionate and confident singing style is genuinely individual and could give most other singers from major neo-prog bands a run for their money. A brilliant debut to a career which after this was, unfortunately, rather patchy and inconsistent. Still, there was at least one more widely-embraced landmark to come.

Review by BrufordFreak
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars The debut album from the first Polish Neo Prog masters--and what a debut it is! Can a band of young artists create a masterpiece right from the get go? Apparently many of these songs had been floating around since the mid- 1980s, so the band obviously had time to practice, perform, and re-work much of the content that ended up on this album.

1. "Jeszcze jeden dzien (One More Day)" (4:10) opens with a tight full force guitar wailing sound. Yep! This is Collage! Singer Tomek Rozycki joins in before the end of the first minute singing in Polish, sounding like FALCO. The guitar's counter-punch power chords offsetting Tomek's "yesh dai em" vocals are very cool, otherwise the vocal is rather lame and unengaging. One can't help but listen to the powerful wailing of Mirek Gil's guitar going on with increasing frequency and increasing fire throughout the song. Also, the drumming is quite good. (8.5/10)

2. "Ja i ty (Me and You)" (3:20) has a bit of a folk sound to both its structure and its melodies. The vocal is a bit weak but the song is refreshing. (8/10)

3. "Kołysanka '87 (Lullaby)" (4:50) (fragment) Despite being a supposed fragment from an 1987 tape called "Change," this song has all of the sounds, stylings, and positive attributes of the best of Collage's 1990s output. The background wash of the keys, the reverbed vocal, the catchy melodic hooks and the adventurous, emotional playing of a young, fiery Mirek Gil. (8.75/10)

4. "Baśnie (Fairy Tales)" (10:00) Though the title song and, thus, a centrally focused feature of the album, this may be one of the weaker songs on the album. It opens nicely, with some very pleasant key and gtr sounds playing arpeggi of two very pretty chords, and then it jumps into hyper drive around the one minute mark while retaining its pleasing sounds and melodies (thanks to the keys), but the vocal is a little strained and feels a little mismatched to the music. While the music continues to feel lively over the two chord structure (especially the drumming), there is little surprise or flair in the first four minutes. Then there is a slowed down, strumming guitar section through the fifth minute in which the singer returns, telling his story. The instrumentalists pick it up at the 5:00 mark followed by a nice Mirek Gil solo, but the vocal sections just fail to attain the same heights of interest or engagement. At 6:45 there is another stop gap before the music takes a right turn into a different key and chord progression but neither the vocal nor the instruments (other than awesomely chunky bass playing) fail to excite. Then, at 8:20, the chills begin as a single note from the oh-so familiar and oh-so revered Mirek Gil guitar sound peels forth from the lower registers of the A string. It's as if the floor is cleared on the basketball court to let Michael, Kobe or LeBron show us some of one-on-one their magic. Though the solo doesn't achieve mind-blowing heights--and is cut off by a much- to-early finish to the song--it does give us that shot of excitement and reminder of all that is to come from this guitar maestro. (17.5/20)

5. "Dalej, dalej (Farther and Farther)" (7:00) opens with electric guitar arpeggio and multiple layers of fairy-like synth sounds. Mirek switches to strumming just before the singer enters at 0:50. The music still hasn't quite gelled but the vocal is good, the music finally filling in fully at the 1:40 mark--just before a brief passage for a guitar solo. When Tomek returns to sing his voice is much more delicate, almost whispery. Nice melodies--especially the one dueted by Mirek and Tomek at the end of the third minute. Awesome guitar and synth solos in the fourth minute! Wow! Stunning peak! Lull and then everybody's back with Tomek singing before another wild though brief passage of synth and guitar solos. The section that follows is very pretty (guitar chord progression) and then we're into another Tomek-Mirek dual melody making before the final "tin whistle" synth solo before the Tomek-Mirek finish. Awesome, amazing, powerful song! Definitely my favorite on the album! (15/15)

6. "Stare ściezki (Same Old Paths)" (6:45) triangle and horn-synth open this one with a lush synth wash backdrop before Tomek enters around the 45 second mark. Drums and bass join in the middle of second minute and then Mirek Gil after the first verse with a different Pat Metheny-horn-like sound. Mirek and Tomek trade bursts of vocals and lead guitar, respectively, until a big switch in palette and pacing occurs at 2:30. From here the vocals are more constant while Mirek moves to more support with arpeggi and Jacek Korzeniowski's keyboards take over the role of adding bursts of synth riffs between phrases. At 3:52 the music moves back to the slightly slower base for an awesome instrumental passage with Mirek leading the way but bass and drums also embellishing a lot. At the end of the fifth minute Tomek returns in softer vocal style. In the sixth minute drums and bass drop out while synth wash, guitar arpeggi, and vocalese offer a very pretty soundscape which l=plays out to the end fadeout. Very nice song. (13/15)

7. "Fragmenty (Fragments)" (4:28) opens with strummed electric guitar before drums enter with flair and panache. Chunky bass, synth background, and wailing lead guitar then join in for a spell before alternating turns with Tomek's impassioned vocal. Mirek and Jacek really get to shine here, taking turns soloing between every moment of Tomek's singing. At 2:45 there is a prolonged bridge of power chords before Jacek switches keys and Mirek takes another turn at duelling melodic riffs before Tomek re-enters. The turn-taking continues through to the end. Powerful song on the line of "Heroes Cry" except with something lost because I don't know what Tomek is singing about due to my lack of translation of his Polish. Another favorite. (9/10)

8. "Rozmowa (Conversation)" (4:45) a song from their long-time stage play in which the drums and vocals play the most noteworthy roles though Mirek's captivating screaming guitar is strongly present throughout. I've had the privilege of hearing the band's 1986 studio recording of this song and I must say I like it very much: the delicate instrumental work in the middle (piano and electric guitar) is quite remarkable. Wish they'd stuck with piano, powerful drumming, and variety of guitar sounds. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 47:28

The album has such a polished feel to it despite its use of dated keyboards from the late 1980s; yo can tell the band had had a lot of time to rework and polish their repertoire to end up with such a mature-sounding sound and album. Still, after hearing some of the earlier versions of these songs I wish they had retained some of the styles and dynamics from their earlier days.

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog rocker's album collection and a truly remarkable Neo Prog debut.

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