MEDITACE [AKA: KINGDOM OF LIFE]

Blue Effect (Modr� Efekt)

Jazz Rock/Fusion

3.23 | 79 ratings

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Marty McFly
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator

Certainly not just Blues, even I have to agree that there are influences of this genre. After all, this band started like Blues band, doing also some covers of USA Blues bands.

However, Meditace (Meditation) is very mature release. Even still not so Jazz as their later albums, this album shines both in music form and lyrics (mostly philosophical thinking about various aspects of life and death). There is strong Symphonic inspiration, but in Czech style, which means that you can have symphonic melody with trumpets playing + harmonica here and there. It's possibility, because it was simply the way how things were made here. Blue Effect were trying to keep their heads above rising water of "normalization" (bans on bands, oppression on free-thinking and anti-socialistic ideas, such as English names / lyrics).

Meditace hits me emotionally, it's first hand confession about times, when it still was quite good (considering what will came in 70s, so they had to move to Jazz later). Stroj na nic (Machine for nothing) is - you guess - about machine that does nothing, but everyone admires it. I sense ironic double meaning. It's more Rock song, but it has its better Prog moments too, especially it shows how great Czech guitar virtuoso Radim Hlad�k can play. Even there are other songs/albums where he can do better.

However, some songs are simply unable to abandon blues basis completely and this, from Prog point of view, prevents it from reaching higher ratings. On the other hand, there is plethora of ideas, really original ideas made from both desperation and from need to create. Lineup on this album is full of people who will become either masters of their genres (lyricists, guitarists) or simply very respected musicians.

4(+), trying to be fair.

Marty McFly | 4/5 | 2010-6-15

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