CHANGES

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Oh boy...extremely UNDERRATED collection of COLLAGE's outtakes.I like it even more,than their debut effort!!!Changes(ultimaye COLLAGE!!!Perfect example of COLLAGE's song!!!),The Night falls(awesome epic with violin solo(!) and nervous break in the mid-part),38/39 - I wonder why these songs haven't occupied their place on official albums...Maybe,too weak for marvelous "Moonshine",but quite enough for "Basnie"!!!Lullaby/Conversation' versions sound even better and interesting than original ones(while The Blues/Lovely Day sound awfully...I prefer originals of these tracks)!!!Highly recommended for those who already likes "Moonshine" - this compilation shows different COLLAGE's sides,its progress and maturing.Enjoy

A very interesting compilation of outtakes from this excellent neo prog band from Polland. Although there are 4 singers and 3 keyboards players during the songs recording through the years you hardly notice that. The sound here is quite balanced and harmonic, as if recorde by the same team all the way through. Here and there you can hear some strong Marillion , Yes and Genesis leanings, their main influences. Still from the very beginning they also had their own sound and personality that would eventually blossom into a style on itself (by the time of their masterpiece Moonshine was released).

In fact, like Prog-Jester wrote in his review, I too find myself enjoying this album more than the first Collage CD. Only The Blues and Lovely Day (from Moonshine, but here in an early version and with another singer) are really inferior to the original ones, but this is no surprise. the others varies form good to very good.

Overall a good collection of outtakes that proves Collage was not only Polland´s best prog band, but one of the most important for prog music in general.

Problem for an album like this is the comparison with other releases by this eminent band. This is a sort of release Pendragon did in later years releasing earlier works or earlier versions of more recent songs. It's typically a purchase for fans and completionists but because I own only Moonshine and Safe (not Basnie alas) this was after all an interesting release for me.

And the problem I mentioned in the first sentence is that this can never be any kind of match for the two albums I already bought simply because these two were their best to me. So this could only be less, in this case it is in both compositional as productional quality. As a big fan of Collage I want to know all their songs so I would have bought it anyway even if I had known this is not really a great compilation of songs.

But it's no coincidence that in the end Lovely Day and The Blues were the best songs to me on this album even though the versions here are not as good as on Moonshine. The other songs are no more than curiosities to me, nice ones but none of them really great. Alas, but well, you can't win them all, can you ? 3 stars anyway (2,8).

I listened to this album after I got "Basnie" the debut album CD. When I spun the debut album 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. This album is similar with the debut in style. 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.

If you claim yourself as neo progressive music, this album offers you with a stream of music with good composition, balanced moods with upbeat as well as mellow tracks. The opening track "Zmiany (Changes)" (4:43) is an energetic song with inventive keyboard work, stunning howling guitar and dynamic drumming. This something unusual with typical neo prog music which usually does not give a good chance for drums to perform dynamic work. The vocal line is uplifting. It flows to mellow track with nice guitar solo and keyboard solo "Kolysanka '87 (Lullaby '87)" (4:45). The nextr track "My Czarodzieje (We Wizards)" (3:25) is also another good track with ambient mood. "Nocy Zamyslona (Night Falls)" (7:50) starts with a catchy guitar work with mellotron work. The non-English lyrical song makes the music much more entertaining. The violin work is also very good.

"Just Like Heaven (part 1)" (5:30) starts wonderfully with pulsating keyboard solo followed with upbeat tempo music which flows naturally. It flows then into mellow style "Just Like Heaven (part 2)" (3:01). "The Blues '92" (5:48) is another upbeat mood music with great keyboard work as well as keyboard, augmented by dynamic basslines. "Sun Meadows" (4:30) starts with drums solo followed by keyboard.

Overall, what I can say is that this is a very good album by Collage which has a similarity in style of music with IQ, Pallas and Pendragon. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

The success of "Moonshine" must have left Collage scrambling to avoid losing momentum. Apparently they had a wealth of material that pre-dated and post-dated their first album, including some early versions of "Moonshine" classics. It may have also been, in retrospect, that the group was splintering and just did not have a lot of new songs with which to work. More about that in my review of "Safe". What we have in "Changes" is a very worthwhile collection of various rarities from the late 1980s to early 1990s that, while perhaps not the ideal introduction to the band, demonstrates the depth of their oeuvre.

The near-chronological arrangement was a wide choice, and the generally dark and melancholic atmosphere makes it easy to extrapolate to and from "Basnie". The fact that 4 different vocalist appear through the course of the CD is not at all distracting. "Lullabye" 87 is actually better than the version on their debut, while "Wizards" is notable for excellent keyboard work and rich sounding percussion. "The Night Falls" is a very atmospheric and slow paced song with a more upbeat middle section. The rhythms shift deftly, mirroring the natural phenomenon.

"Just like Heaven" is a two part song that seems to represent the group's first efforts in the English language, using vocalist Zbyszek Bieniak. His style tends to be a bit poppier and doesn't suit the group that well, and the songs themselves are not that impressive. Still, Gil's flourishes remain front row centre and that is a good thing. "Midnight Flyer", while still seeming to be designed for the charts, is a much more successful move, with elegant vocal harmonies and some uplifting synth motifs. With 38/39, we have yet another singer, Jarek Majka. This is truly a monster cut, full of mellotron sounds, meandering guitars and foreboding atmospheres, but all too short.

The versions of "Lovely Day", "The Blues" and "Living in the Moonlight" are all of historical interest but are better experienced as part of the greater whole on the meticulously rendered "Moonshine" album. "Sun Meadows" is a rare and wonderful beast indeed, a Collage instrumental, uplifting and gracious thanks mostly to the Gil/Szadowski synergy, but it stylistically is also more than just a Collage song without vocals. "Old Romantic Style" is another instrumental that sounds more like an outtake from "Moonshine", which is like an A track on most other albums.

If you want to get an excellent sampling of the myriad changes undergone by this great Polish group, this Cd is a great option, and almost makes the "Basnie" album dispensable for anyone but fanatics. Beware, for you may fall into that category after you listen to these "Changes".