QUIDAM

Although less brilliant than their debut, this second album by the polish Quidam is still a very enjoyable example of melodic Neo-Prog, as long as you do not despise the genre. This is Neo focussed on beauty, all very melodic and sweet, and hugely emphasized by the gorgeous voice of Emila Derkowska, for most of the time angelical but she can also throw in some energy when needed (those who have seen them live in that period and heard their version of Deep Purple's "Child in Time" surely know what I mean). Her voice is undoubtedly the highlight.

The frequent flute and occasional cello also contribute to the feeling of classical beauty. If what you seek in prog is experimentation, complexity or dissonance, stay away from this.

While many Neo-Prog bands are based on strong interplay between keyboards and guitar, this music is very much lead by the vocal melody and has also a nice very upfront bass, the keyboards and guitar do a fine job but never take a starring role, no virtuoso self-indulgence here at all. The structures and rythms are not complex yet they somehow manage to avoid any feeling of pop-prog, thanks in good part to a drumming which while not being very elaborated is interesting enough.

I have the version sung in polish and have never heard the english one. The album starts with a soft flute melody on keyboards background (which will re-appear in track 8) and then it flows through a collection of upbeat, mid-tempo and slow tracks making a good balance, the softest ones close to being pastoral but never to the point of being ridiculously mellow, and the hardest ones with enough energy yet never sounding really hard. The proggiest track is the 7th "Pod Powieka" mostly because it's the longest, and because it has the most variation in time signatures, but that does not mean much, if they would have combined 3 or 4 of the other tracks in a suite of 15 or 20 min, everybody would say that was the best track even if the music was the same as it is now in separate tracks.

For the rest the album is quite in line with the Neo-Prog standard sound and has a very clean production.

Surely 3 stars, and I hesitate if the outstanding voice of Emila should not be enough to entitle it 4.

If you enjoy neo prog with symphonic touches, then Quidam is for you. Influenced by both Marillion and Camel, this band elegantly blends rhythms with a rich instrumentation (many flutes and recorders parts). Those who already know Quidam will enjoy how the band could manage a difficult evolution after the departure of the beautiful Emila (Quidam's former singer). The new singer (Bartek Kossowicz) is a gifted musician with a voice full of emotion sounding a bit like Mark Hollis (Talk Talk). But the main characteristic of this DVD is Quidam's professionalism. This is especially evident in their reprises: Led Zeppelin's 'No Quarter' for instance is awesome. This DVD captures the concert given by the Polish band in their home country in 2005. Around 215 minutes of pure pleasure. This document shows a great band is born, no less. Forget the deception you had with "SurRevival" and buy this DVD without delay.

PS: the DVD also features various bonuses including two video clips with former singer Emila and the mini I concert they gave at the legendary venue in Verviers (Belgium), The Spirit of 66 during the ProgResiste Convention. Another reason to buy this DVD.

Neo-prog is quite new musical area for me, and it's interesting to find out pleasing albums containing musical styles which have not opened before. I got myself a copy sung in Polish language, and I think it's better so I can focus to melodies and music, escaping the meanings of the lyrics totally. The vocalist has really beautiful voice, and it is really pleasant to listen her sing. Music is shamelesly sweet, romantic, positive and either heals the nihilism or drives away.

Flute and clear synth driven rock sounds resemble little the sound texture of 1990's JEHTRO TULL recordings. Round bass tones are powerfully front, and this instrument is something I like here quite much in addition of the singing. Drums play quite straighforwardly and have soft tones, though there are some more unconventional lines like in long song "Pod powieką", which is most progressive of these songs probably. The guitar is not also very loud, and solos are quite short, both acoustic and electric guitars are used. Calm ethreal sections soothen the easy to listen pop/rock style of the group, which probably resides in the grey zone of progressive and commercial music, containing elements from both. The pop side of later YES recordings are an association for me, and the compositions aren't as simple as average radio played songs have, and they gain some length from instrumental passages. Songs have good quality ratio, and album is fun to listen from beginning to end without skipping any songs. I really like the romantic tune at the end, "Przebudzenie (świt nadziei)", reprsing little the beginning theme of the album.

So, a good record when one wishes to get happy, if receiveable for the style of the music. Would be fun to find this on vinyl, if such exists?

Quids in

This album is a belated audio only version of the gig captured on the 2006 DVD of the same name. It is a limited edition run of 1000 copies in a digipak cover, so fans of the band should be quick if they wish to acquire a copy.

The gig took place in Katowice, Poland in November 2005 before an admirably partisan audience. The set features the then new and somewhat altered line up of the band which includes Bartek Kossowicz on vocals. The featured songs are mostly taken from the band's then new album "SurREvival", the older songs being largely confined to an extended medley section here titled "Oldies but goldies". While the band hail from the current bastion of prog, Poland, the lyrics are mostly in English.

The new line up quickly demonstrates that they have gelled together instantly, with songs such as the long opener "Hands off" from the "SurREvival" album delivering controlled power driving highly melodic passages. The lush keyboard swathes of Zbyszek Florek are dynamic in themselves, while providing the perfect basis for the rest of the band to exploit. The title track from "SurREvival" offers a fine example of how it all comes together, the strong neo-prog influences contrasting with a harder edge largely absent form that genre.

The only song not from "SurREvival" to be played in full is "Sanktuarium", the first song to appear on a Quidam album. While some of the varied instrumentation which appeared on the studio original is absent from this rendition, this is more than compensated for by the symphonic keyboards and emotional lead guitar.

The "oldies but goldies medley" works well, blending the seven or so pieces selected into a dynamic instrumental piece. The following song "The fifth season", which gives this set its name, tastefully incorporates an extract from Genesis' "Los endos". Similarly, the closing "Not so close" blends Joe South's "Hush" (covered by Deep Purple) into its main theme.

In all, a fine live album where the sound quality is akin to a studio recording. The set offers a superb example of where the band our now, while also offering a glimpse of how they got here.

It's quite rare actually taht any neo-prog band starts its album with a relatively long ambient soundscapes like 'Airing' which consumes more than 2 minutes duration. But it's worth listening as the next seamlessly connected song 'Hands off' (9:25) blasts off beautifully like any progressive metal band. Progressive metal? Yeah ...it's quite clear right in the beginning that the heavy riffs sound like a progressive metal music. But when the vocal is about to enter, the music tunes down dramatically where the new vocalist, Bartek Kossowicz, performs his duty. He sings nicely with great British style. The flute-work creates great musical textures, the keyboard solo is really stunning. I think this is really an excellent neo-prog (heavy side) song.

'Not so close' (6:22) opening with acoustic guitar and distant voice vocal reminds me to the kind of Porcupine Tree music. The rhythm section comprising bass guitar and drums make the music sound wonderfully, especially with its excellent sonic quality of the CD - thanks to the sound engineer! On the basis of composition, this track is actually lacking on catchy melody. However, if you re-orient your mind from expecting a song-based music to composition-based music I think you would agree with me this track contains excellent musical textures. there are parts with guitar riffs that really remind me to Porcupine Tree.

The opening bassline part of 'The fifth season' (9:45) reminds me to Yes' 'Onward' (Tormato album) even though it's different when the vocal line enters the music. The music flows in mellow style with changing music style especially when the flutework enters the music at approx 6:30. It's cool. The title track 'SurREvival' (5:13) is a medium tempo music in poppy style, has an excellent groove and flutework combined with nice guitar. 'Queen of Moulin Rouge' (8:24) flows in mellow style with nice flute at the beginning of the song. The concluding track 'Everything's ended' (13:14) has jazzy elements and Marillion's Marbles' music style.

Overall, this is a very good album with solid composition. For those of you who like flute in prog music, this is one of the albums that you should enjoy. Keep on proggin' ...!!!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

It's an excellent half electric album with great flute work!

I have known the band quite a longtime ago through some progressive rock compilation CD as well as my prog friend's CDs. But only recently I paid a closer attention about the music they have made. This Polish band has a good talents in music especially in the vein of neo-progressive rock. The music is heavily influenced by Pallas, IQ, Pendragon and the legendary 70s bands Pink Floyd, Camel and Genesis. The name of the band, as the website quotes, originates from the Latin word quidam meaning someone, some human being and refers to the poem Quidam by Cyprian Kamil Norwid, perhaps the most intriguing of Polish romantic poets. The title hero of that poem is a man looking for his place in life, searching for goodness and truth. From this philosophy, I learn that this band was created to produce music and lyrics with deep meaning in the quest of value in life. What a nice philosophy.

This live concert has been excellently titled as 'Half Unplugged' because it represents the contents in the CD where the performance was not totally unplugged because some electric equipment were used. The opening track 'SurREvival' (6:07) taken from their last studio album before the gig with the same title is a great music. It has an energetic style with powerful basslines and drums as main rhythm section to accompany vocal. The beauty of the song lies on its excellent flute-work and the musical groove produced by the rhythm section. Flute seems like the main ingredient of this gig as the next track 'Queen of Moulin Rouge' (6:42). The third track 'Sanktuarium (Sanctuary)' (5:49) is very emotional and it flows in mellow style with great vocal and flute-work.

The Beatles cover 'Blackbird' (2:06) was performed beautifully with great acoustic guitar work, performed excellently. Pink Floyd's cover of 'Wish you were here' (4:16) is another good performance with excellent acoustic guitar work. 'The fifth season' (9:18) repeats the tradition of nice acoustic setting followed with The Moody Blues' 'Nights in white satin' (5:25). The live set is featured with 'Not so close' (including excerpts from 'Hush') (11:37) and bonus videos on their rehearsal as well as SuREvival and Wish You Were Here.

Overall, I recommend you to have this album as it has an excellent performance of the band in half plugged setting. If you have never heard the band before, this one is still enjoyable as the music is not that complex. Keep on proggin'! Bravo Quidam!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

The prevailing themes on this album are releationships and loneliness.A fairly melancholic record overall. "Different" opens with reserved vocals and piano before we get some guest xaphoon.I've never heard of that instrument either.Sounds like a flute of some sort.The song picks up a minute in with strummed guitar.A full sound as drums come in before 2 minutes along with electric guitar.Probably my favourite song on the album.Emotional in every sense of the word. "Kinds Of Solitude At Night" features some guest zither from the same guy who played the xaphoon.By the way he's married to QUIDAM's former singer Emila who adds her backup vocals to this song.Cool.Some good contrasts in his one.Tasteful guitar before 5 minutes,organ joins in too.Another excellent track. "Depicting Colours Of Emotions" is pastoral as flute comes in then reserved vocals.It becomes fuller after 3 minutes.Love the guitar before 9 minutes that eventually wails. "They Are There To Remind Us" is led by drums and vocals eventually.Not a fan of this one although the guitar,piano and drums sound great 5 1/2 minutes in. "Of Illusions" is uptempo to open but settles when the vocals arrive.The tempo continues to shift.I like the guitar 6 1/2 minutes in as the bass throbs.Not really a fan of this one though. "We Lost" is a top three track along with the first two songs.This one is mellow and atmospheric but it kicks in after a minute and i'm reminded of CAMEL.The vocals remind me of RIVERSIDE's Mr.Duda.Mellotron and flute in this one as well.Outstanding tune. "One Day We Find" is fairly powerful at times.I'm reminded of FLOYD 3 1/2 minutes in when it settles. "We Are Alone Together" and "Strong Together" end the album.I like the former but not the latter.The former is beautiful with fragile vocals and piano for the first 2 1/2 minutes then it turns atmospheric the rest of the way.Nice. Half of this album is pretty amazing but not enough here for me to give it 4 stars.

I have known the band quite a longtime ago through some progressive rock compilation CD as well as my prog friend's CDs. But only recently I paid a closer attention about the music they have made. This Polish band has a good talents in music especially in the vein of neo-progressive rock. The music is heavily influenced by Pallas, IQ, Pendragon and the legendary 70s bands Pink Floyd, Camel and Genesis. The name of the band, as the website quotes, originates from the Latin word quidam meaning someone, some human being and refers to the poem Quidam by Cyprian Kamil Norwid, perhaps the most intriguing of Polish romantic poets. The title hero of that poem is a man looking for his place in life, searching for goodness and truth. From this philosophy, I learn that this band was created to produce music and lyrics with deep meaning in the quest of value in life. What a nice philosophy.

This album was made after the tour where they made a DVD The Fifth Season - Live In Concert released in January 2006 where the album was intended as talks about different kinds of loneliness and estrangement, about being alone together in various sorts of relationships, and features the best of what the band has to offer. The result is a solid album with excellent musicianship, song-based composition which has been enriched with many progressive elements, good melody. Having considered this, it's an album that can satisfy many different ears, and in fact those who like pop music would enjoy this album.

From the opening track "Different" (3:16) you can feel the taste of music these guys are going to deliver. It's a nice opener with clean and transparent voice of Bartek (new vocalist) backed beautifully with piano, flute and electric guitar in howling effects fashion. The flute part makes dark nuance and a sense of traditional setting, especially as it is made at silent mode to set the tone of the overall music in this opening. The guitar solo is stunning and it reminds me to a mix of Steve Rothery with the soul of David Gilmour. It's a nice opening, really.

"Kinds Of Solitude At Night" (6:00) confirms the neo-progressive nature of the band's music especially thorough the relatively slow moving music demonstrating mostly on ambience and deep vocal work. The music that accompanies is a good combination of deep basslines and drum beats as main rhythm section while the solo part is demonstrated through piano as well as guitar. The male vocal line is backed with female vocal line. The ending part that shows a combination of piano (as rhythm section) and guitar (as solo) is a nice part.

"Depicting Colours Of Emotions" (10:18) is a thought-provoking title - how can you express the colour of any emotion? Well, logically you can .. at least you can relate anger with red, for example. But the music is truly excellent especially with its ambient opening using soft and long sustain flute work wrapped with great vocal work. It's a peaceful song with relaxed singing style, deep basslines and whispering sounds of flute (that makes this band different from any other neo progressive bands). You will find segments that remind you to the old Genesis music. The guitar solo, intertwined with flute work, in the middle of the track is nice. What follows is the music moves in higher tone with more energy and dynamics. Those who like early Marillion would love this section.

"They Are There To Remind Us" (7:49) starts nicely in keyboard part followed with soft riffs of guitar that brings the music in crescendo. Again the relaxed singing enters the music backed with deep bass lines. It reminds me to Pink Floyd. The music is tuning up at approximately minute 1:31. "What goes up..must go down" is what the lyrics says. The combined drums and keyboard work is nice. At approx minute 4:22 the music enters into interlude part with soft piano solo followed brilliantly with stunning flute work. Oh man .. this is really great!

"Of Illusions" (8:04) is an energetic song that starts with drum solo followed with music that flows using a combination of guitar and flute. But it then moves to vocal line where the deep basslines serve as main rhythm section combined with drums. The guitar solo that comes after lyrical verses are excellent. The kind of music is similar with Pallas. One thing interesting to notice is the music interlude that starts at 4:44 where the music breaks with the work on percussion (like world music) with inventive flute / oboe work. This is unexpected insert that makes this song much appreciated.

"We Lost" (8:26) starts with soft guitar fills from two guitars. This sound really great, performed in good ambient. Drum work enters and brings the music into medium tempo with great basslines and guitar fills. Flute still as main instrument that enriches the song while the song moves forward with its vocal line. Guitar (acoustic and electric) also provides excellent fills throughout the song. Keyboard serves as background string section. The electric guitar at the end part of the song reminds me to bands like Jadis, Camel or Pallas. The ending part is fabulous, i.e. when the music moves in fast tempo with guitar and keyboard as solo instruments followed with alto sax solo while the bass and drums play their inventive works.

"One Day We Find" (6:46) starts with soft keyboard work and cymbals followed with medium tempo music with soft guitar riffs and keyboard solo that ends when the vocal enters the music. It's a joy listening to this album until this part because since track one this album has offered excellent music. The guitar solo and ambient flutework make this song enjoyable from start to end, and people would love the chorus, I believe.

"We Are Alone Together..." (8:20) is indeed a correct statement that we will experience or has been experiencing loneliness. The intro with soft piano and melodic vocal remind us to the situation of loneliness. Bartek's vocal this time reminds me to the voice of Neal Morse even though his is a bit softer. The song also features something traditional nuance of the music.

"But Strong Together" (4:25) serves as the closing remark of this album with excellent quality, musically, as its previous tracks. The organ work reminds me to old days where people adored Hammond organ. The insertion of flute work in the middle of the track confirms that this band has made flute as main instrument in any of their composition.

This is different kind of neo progressive music with excellent composition. Even though you may refer to any neo prog band, but this band has something different to offer: the existence of flute as main instrument as it occurs in every single song in this album. I consider this as an excellent, four-star rating, album. Peace on earth and mercy mild. Keep on proggin' .!

When we here in the Netherlands were still under the spell of Collage...suddenly iout of the blue there was this band called Quidam....or out of the blue......My cousins (with who I did a Prog radioshow for years) parants were a member of a folklore group for years. On one year they had an exchange with a group from Poland...cos the year before they went to Poland. So the idea was that they should harbor 2 people from that group. So there a couple was, ended up staying in his house. On one night he asked them..Hmm....Poland, right ! Have you ever heard of a band called Collage. Yes, sauid the woman...my son is recording a CD that is produced by one of their members. So he gave his adress and asked her to ask her son to contact him....that son appeared to be Maciek Meller .....Soon after that he sended the new cd to him and on a sunday when we had to record our weekly radioshow...he popped this cd in the cd player and told us....what I have now.....you must listen this....So there he was and Santuarium started.......I honestly tell you.....I heard alot of impressive prog...but I never was blown of my socks so hard as when I heard this album the first time..........If this album is the best album ever written by any Polish band, then Sanctuarium must be the best song ever written by any Polish band. And then that bridge in the middle with that violonsolo, that flute solo and then that guitarsolo.........my good heavens........Live however it was played slightly longer, usually containing the Firth Or Fifth solo or pieces from In The Court Of The Crimson king. Its truly one of the best albums of 1996, if not the best.......and even one of the best 90's cd's. So all in all a must buy for any serious Prog fan. If you like Camel....cos I think that the music comes the closest to that.......

Anyway....that was the beginning of a interesting friendship. Later on..they played in Zwolle, what was the first gig outside Poland...and they were hailed as heroes, and playing off any other band that was also playing that day in Hedon.......In fact they were the second last act....and they played out Jadis completely (Just as Collage did in 1994 in Tilburg with Shadowland for that matters)......The gig after that....they played in Uden where they played out Ritual completely....and everyone left while Ritual was playing....After the Zwolle gig..we invited them to come to our studio, to be our guest in our radioshow and they did....really really nice. We got to know all the bandmembers personally and were in Poland where they were mixing off the second album.....staying in Maciek Meller's house....doing some sightseeing around the place he lived....meet all his familymembers and had such a wonderfull time. The concerts after that of Quidam...I think we all attended them...including the 2 that they gave together with Colin Bass, which eventually ending up Colin Bass making our 200th broadcast together with us....playing Denpasar Moon live in the studio......choosing the songs and did several announcements. Such wonderfull people.......such delighted music.....

Get a load of the cover!

Okay, this is not the most exciting thing around but it's still a decent record with some good melodies to offer and to sing along. The tendency of getting a harder sound is strong in progressive rock, and rock in general frankly. Quidam is still of the 'Camel-Galleon-Pallas' school of rock: non heavy and mellow oriented (the Fifth Season for example) music, with some (unadventurous) flute and rather dull keyboard solos.

Despite being a lighter prog band, Quidam's surREvival is offering a change of season compared to the aggressivity surrounding us. Some songs will probably please your girlfriend and even inspire slow dancing at moments! Sometimes the band is flirting too much with Chris deBurgh (Queen of Moulin Rouge) but some Porcupine Tree riffs are here (thank you lord) and even some scratching here and there! The flute is, as I said, giving a sober but still decorating texture. Overall, they try to put some modernity into a somewhat worn style.

Quidam is not the best thing since sliced bread but they make sympathical little pieces of music. I mean come on, just the cover is inspiring sympathy!

The granny on the cover is representing well Quidam's motto: The old flirting with the New.