RUSSISCHE LIEDER

This is my least-favorite of the Niemen albums I’ve heard. Niemen plays pretty much every instrument here, which consist for the most part of piano, some guitar (mostly acoustic), and bass. The vocals are Russian, and the whole vibe of the album is of a mellow folkish and very dated-sounding set of compositions.

The saving grace is Niemen’s rich tenor voice, which makes even the sometimes harsh- sounding Russian tongue seem inviting. I’ve no idea what he’s singing about, but this was a period where he recorded several albums of songs with social and historical overtones, so there’s no reason to think this is anything different.

As with all Niemen albums the piano work is intricate, delicate but strong, and very expressive. The sound is much closer to the powerful ‘Enigmatic’, and quite a bit more upbeat than ‘Ode To Venus’ which preceded it or ‘Mourner’s Rhapsody’ which follwed a year later. None of the tracks really stands out except perhaps “Wychazu adin ja na darogu”, which is a bit longer than the rest and features some haunting backing vocals and is almost completely piano-driven.

A very odd offering from a guy who put out a lot of much stronger work, but this is mildly interesting if you happen across it. I wouldn’t look too hard though; if you want to hear some great Niemen, find ‘Enigmatic’ or ‘Strange is the World’ instead. Two stars.

peace