200 YEARS AFTER THE LAST WAR

I remember when I bought this LP back in 1974, one of the first prog albums I had in my life. It was released in Brazil during the brief ´german rock´ craze of the time. Several recording companies thought Germany would be the hot spot for new acts and hoped for great sales with the space rock genre. Of course that didn´t happen and they quickly stopped releasing these records im Brazil, but not before we fans were presented with a generous dose of highly different music: Gila, Guru Guru, Ammon Düull, Carthago, Eloy, Kraftwerk and so many others were available along with the pop artists of the moment and the more famous british and american rock acts of the day. Ok, Omega was from Hungary, but they released their english sung albums through the german Bellaphon label and that´s why they ever arrived here.

Lucky me. At 15 I had the opportunity to listen to something unsual. Well, not too unusual. Omega was not that much progressive, although 200 years After The Last War is probably their most symphonic due to the 19 minute Suite that ran through the vinyl´s entire first side. It has some definitve strong moments, with a great beginning full of strong vocals, fine guitars and beautiful keyboards (including a lot of the ever present mellotron). The middle section is way more hard rocking and bluesy before they return to a more symphonic approach on the third and final movement. Not entirely convincing, but with some excellent parts anyway. Side two has only three distinctive tracks: the hard hitting Trying To Find Me is a highlight. With a driving beat, followed by a delightful guitar riff and swirling moog line (and crazed solo), it´s one of Omega´s classic stuff. I even remember this tune being played on some rock stations.

The title track is a more folkish affair, with their producer taking the lead vocals for a change. Nice too and showed how versatile Omega was. The last song, You Don´t Know is a typical heavy prog tune that coudl be on any MKII Deep Purple album: the guitar and organ riff is pure DP. Production is only average. Some people complained that the heavily accented vocals was a hindrance, but they didn´t bother me at all. since they were very well sung. All the musicians are very good with a special nod to the excellent bass player.

Conclusion: a very good album. As a reviewerI´m giving it 3.5 stars, but for personal reasons I´ll round up to four. Probably Omega´s best moemnt ever and their most progressive.