1969-1989

Box full of The Blue magic

At last there is a nice anthology of one of the leading Czechoslovakian fusion bands. This 2009 release includes every album album recorded from the beggining in 1969 till the broke up in 1981.

The surprise is presence of the live performance with Jazz Q 1971. Unfortunatelly it's the only full(?) live album there. The 9th CD is a bit dissapointing - most 'bonus' music are singles, there is lack of previously unreleased and live stuff. There ain't any additional tracks added as they were on single re-releases of each album.

The second 'bad thing' is language. Someone responsible for this release forgot that not only Czechs and Slovakians might be interested in buying it, so everything is written in Czech - from album credits to whole booklet, telling a story of BE (for ex. - every major SBB release is bilingual).

Still - it's 'everything in one place' and also the price makes this anthology affordable for everyone.

Rather unexpected Modry Efekt has become one of my favorite prog bands of all time. I did not really see it coming but there you go. From a known entity to a well loved band in a matter of Days, I have now listened to them without interruption for about two months, constantly overwhelming me with joy.

Modry Efekt managed in their relatively brief existence, as far as recordings go anyway, to be musically progressive in a way not many other bands can claim to be in a lifetime. From their first blues album in 1969, to their second free form jazz recording, straight into the realms of orchestrated jazz rock and finally (which is my favorite period of the band, the fullblown symphonic prog of the latter half of the 70's. Just imagine, going from pretty standard (but by no means inferior) blues rock to almost inpenetrable free form jazz rock on their second. There's a career move that could send any band to an early grave.

Where to start, then, if you are interested in Modry Efekt? Well, why not start with this box? It is actually both the best way and certainly a very affordable way to get into the band. Get the box and listen to "Modry Efekt & Radim Hladik" first. In my opinion this record is their greatest and holds the past and their future in the most gloriuos way.

You could argue that there are no liner notes in English and you might think it is a shame that the box is void of live recordings and frankly, yes. I do see the point and how great wouldn't it be if the liner notes were bilingual? But then again, information can be found on the internet and live recordings could well be found elsewhere. This box is more of "The complete Modry Efekt" than anything else. There are no bonus tracks, except for the ninth CD which holds singles and other stuff. That makes these complaints obsolete, in my opinion. What you have is the collected works of Modry Efekt, one of the most brilliant and progressive bands of all time. They are simply outstanding, able to match anything the great bands of the 70's could produce and keeping it personal and unique, at the same time looking for inspiration as well finding a path of their own.

While not every album enclosed here are five star records, the sum of it all renders it an essential part of any prog fan's collection. It highlights one of prog's most enjoyable and interesting bands. If you are interested in Modry Efekt, don't wait. Just get the box, why don't you? If you are interested in prog from the old Eastern block, get the box. If you like jazz rock and prog, just get the damn box! You won't regret it. I know I won't.

There are enough reviews for studio albums so I will only cover the bonus tracks here.

This album, the 9th album in the album collection, consists of 4 logical parts: 1.) Rock and blues-rock tracks sung in Czech and English from the end of 60's. 2.) Pop-leaning sung tracks from the 70's. 3.) A couple of 80's tracks highly supported by keyboards and electronic drums. 4.) 3 live tracks.

I like the second and fourth part most.

The first six tracks are catchy, infectious and inspired by British psychedelia, mersey-beat but also blues-rock, a nice testament of that period in Czechoslovakia.

The 70's tracks have a distinct emotional and competent vocals by Oldrich Novotny. Another element is the rising power of synthesizers. On some tracks, like "Nezna", they nicely create atmosphere, not unlike on Banks' compositions. "El Dorado" is the most commercial of the tracks. Hladik shows that even in the pop-rock outfit, he can showcase his guitar playing abilities.

The 80's tracks are less developed and distinctive only thanks to electronic drums and keyboards, they don't bring much artistic quality, though with an exception of quality guitar. The re-edition of "Cajovna" sounds mechanical and therefore even more sorrowful than usual.

For the progheads, the emotional climax arrives in the end on the two last live tracks that were never release on regular studio albums. The guitar-bass storm by Freso and Hladik create a perfectly dramatic composition with the support of organ and solo guitar. "Prosim" is an excellent testimony of late 70's band abilities with a missing bass player and two keyboardists, a.ka. 1979. A bit reminiscent of SBB. The tight keyboard duo, guitar and drums are exceptional. Keyboards build up mulitple layers. The passionate vocal brings anxiety and nostalgy typical for the late Blue Effect.

This is an excellent addition to all the studio albums and highly recommended to all proggers.