After Crying - Live: Struggle for Life
(2CD, $21.99)
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After Crying - Live: Struggle for Life
(2CD, $21.99)With classical and jazz chops galore, After Crying have shown they can match ELP and King Crimson when they want to. After appearing at two Baja Prog festivals and NEARfest 2001, a lot of fans on this side of the globe now realize that this is a world class progressive ensemble, and probably the best band Hungary has produced. Live: Struggle for Life is a good place to start for the uninitiated. This 2CD set contains 1999 live recordings plus a 1997 recording of Starless with John Wetton, plus CD-ROM material including mp3’s of additional songs.
Overground Music (1990) is their 74-minute
debut. Though this isn’t the album to start with, for those who’ve heard later
albums, it’s worthwhile to see how it all began. There is a significant classical
and chamber music influence here, given the prominent role of cello and viola,
as well as the absence of drums on this album. The tonal colors are created
mainly by piano, cello, viola, bassoon, trombone, trumpet, and flute. The
centerpiece here is Vedres Csaba’s piano work, which is lyrical and beautiful,
though a bit sparser than on later albums. The interaction of piano, cello, and
brass results in a lot of wonderful counterpoint.
Age
of Nemesis - Terra Incognita ($15.99)
This is the Hungarian prog-metal band formerly known as Nemesis, who must
have run into another band using that name. After two albums sung in Hungarian
and released only in Hungary, there were some lineup changes before the band
released their 3rd album on the Sensory label, sung in English. Psychogeist
(2006) is their 4th, also sung in English, and now on Magna Carta. This is an enhanced CD including a video
of the song Fate’s Door. Terra Incognita (2007, digipack) is
also an enhanced CD with bonus mp3’s. Age of Nemesis play dark and moody
progressive metal with art-rock leanings, laced with heavy riffing and
keyboard-driven spaciness that will appeal to fans of Dream Theater, Fates
Warning and Symphony X. In other words, all prog-metal fans.
Carpathia Project - same ($15.99)This 1999 release contains excellent rock-oriented fusion in the vein of the Dixie Dregs, Jean-Luc Ponty, Jan
Akkerman, and Mathematicians, featuring violin and flute. Or as the CD booklet
says, “The style is a mixture of progressive rock, jazz, latin, and ethno,
spiced with a bit of metal.”
ColorStar - Via la Musica ($15.99)ColorStar is a psychedelic progressive band in the Korai
Öröm, Ozric Tentacles, and Porcupine Tree vein, mixing electronic trends (acid,
trip-hop, jungle, rave, whatever) with progressive rock music. They have a full
sound with huge grooves and earthshaking bass, using hypnotic rhythms and
seductive sequencer patterns overlaid with Middle Eastern-tinged melodies and
some English vocals. Via la Musica (2001) includes a CD-ROM track.
Julius Dobos - Mountain Flying ($15.99)This is a symphonic rock work featuring a large choir, orchestra, and (on one track) the vocals of Márta Sebestyén. Much
of this sounds like Vangelis at his most powerful, playing with an orchestra.
There is also one track of symphonic Celtic music, and some rock elements that
Vangelis never used. If this was a Vangelis album, it would rank among his very best.
D Sound - Balkan ($15.99)On Kisember (2002), the D Sound style seems to be derived primarily from Pink Floyd,
but with a heavier guitar sound. In certain tracks, the influence of Mike Oldfield
can also be felt. The album is more than half instrumental, with Pink Floydish
vocals in Hungarian. All in all, quite an intriguing and novel blend. 57-minutes.
Balkan (2005, 61-minutes) is their 2nd CD, and while Kisember
was good, this one is great. Here the Mike Oldfield influence is stronger, but
the spacey Pink Floyd style is still present, and new symphonic rock elements
are introduced. It is mostly instrumental, but what vocals there are are very
good, as there are four guest singers adding choir type vocals. Not only another
great prog band from Hungary, but one that is unlike any of the other Hungarian bands.
East - Hüség ($17.99)During their early years, East was Hungary’s best symphonic progressive band. Hüség
is the reissue of their second album, from the early 1980’s. Rések a Falon (1983) is their
3rd album. It was on this album that they started to move away from symphonic
progressive and “modernize” their sound, but as a transitional album, it
still has some good progressive rock. See also the Janos Varga Project CDs below.
Róbert Erdész - Meeting Point
($15.99)
This is one incredible album from 2000. Róbert Erdész is Solaris’ keyboard player, joined
here by Márta Sebestyén, other Solaris members, Janos Varga, and some very talented folk
musicians. On the cover, it humbly says Hungarian world music. This is
huge, majestic, powerful, symphonic progressive world rock. In this emerging
genre, it is significantly different than Paranoise and Azigza; we’d go so far
as to say that this is the most sophisticated blending of world music and rock
we’ve heard. There are elements of Solaris, especially their Nostradamus album, but the
arrangements are more sophisticated, the music more
modern, varied and grander in scope. One can hear the influence of Mike
Oldfield, Adiemus, Afro Celt Sound System, and of course East European and other folk
musics. There are lots of vocals, but they are usually wordless. It is always rhythmic
and exciting. Listening to this album after hearing other world music albums is
like turning off the TV and going to the cinema. Make that an IMAX movie. Note
the mp3 icon above links directly to a 5:12 mp3 of the track Israel.
F&J -
Chapter One ($15.99)This is a very good album of electronic prog rock with strong world music
elements, primarily samples of Native American singing/chanting. The group is a
trio of keyboards, bass, and drums, with additional people helping with the
samples. F&J go for a huge sound -- no meditative noodling here. Long tracks of
symphonic electronics, pounding percussion, and exotic instrument and vocal
samples. Despite a more rock-oriented approach, this will appeal to fans of Deep
Forest, Enigma, and their ilk.
István Cziglán - Seven Gates of Alhambra ($15.99)
Posthumous album of Solaris’ guitarist, completed by the rest of the band after
his death. Overall it’s somewhat more peaceful than the Solaris albums, but
similar enough to appeal to the same fans. Note the mp3 icon above links
directly to a 3:48 mp3 excerpt from the track Personal Gravity.
Kolinda - Elfelejtett Istenek (Forgotten Gods) ($15.99)
Kolinda are Hungary’s internationally-renown progressive folk band.
They’ve been around since 1975, but more recently they must have listened to Clannad or Capercaillie
because this 2000 album, their 10th, sounds a lot like the Eastern European equivalent of Clannad
(during their best period). The addition of a rhythm section and vocals has
changed their sound and made them much more appealing to prog fans. This has state-of-the-art production
and great musicianship.
Kollár Attila - Musical Witchcraft ($15.99)
The first Musical Witchcraft is a 1998 “solo” album from Solaris’ flutist,
but it includes the rest of the Solaris members and sounds like a Solaris album,
only with more flute. (With the second Musical Witchcraft CD, Kollár
dropped his name and began calling the band Musical Witchcraft to underscore
that this is a band and not a solo project.) Musical Witchcraft is in almost all respects a
continuation of Solaris, so fans of Solaris will relish this CD.
Korai Öröm - 2005 ($16.99)
Korai Öröm are a psychedelic progressive rock band, often sounding like a combination of Ozric Tentacles and Santana’s rhythm section. In particular, their use of percussion is reminiscent of Michael Shrieve. Tribal percussion, pagan flutes, shamanistic trance rock, ambient soundscapes, burning guitar leads, Eastern European folk influences... it’s all in there. Korai Öröm have arguably been producing more interesting music than the Ozrics for some time now.
2000 Sound & Vision contains 48 minutes
of music plus 3 videos (playable on a computer). Korai Öröm spent more time on 2005 than on any previous
album, and it shows; this is arguably their best. As time has gone on, Korai Öröm have become
higher-tech and more creative. In addition to their instrumental earth-beat mixture, this CD features female Bulgarian folk and Hungarian jazz singers
as well as a sitar player. If you don’t like modern beat-heavy music, then
today’s Korai Öröm is probably not for you. But these aren’t simple techno
beats; this is rhythmically sophisticated and the mix is highly detailed, and it
is played by real musicians. 60-minutes of audio, plus a humorous video clip.
Kormorán -
Memories / Emlékek ($15.99)This long-lived ensemble is the premiere Eastern European progressive folk-rock band, who at times sound
like the Hungarian Jethro Tull. Folk & Roll (1984) and Hungarian Rhapsody
(1988) should also appeal to fans of Celtic folk-rock, with Eastern European
folk melodies substituting for Celtic. The 70-minute Memories / Emlékek was recorded in 2005 by the
current Kormorán lineup. It contains re-recordings of songs from their entire
career, selected by the Kormorán Fan Club from over 60 albums, concert
recordings, film soundtracks, rock operas, and other rare songs. An excellent
overview of their career.
Laren d’Or - War of Angels ($15.99)War of Angels (1997) is powerful symphonic synth music, closer to prog rock than electronics. The intensity level stays fairly high,
and there’s plenty of percussion. Imagine a cross between Solaris and Synergy. 61-minutes.
Mindflowers - Improgressive ($15.99)
Improgressive, Mindflowers’ 2002 debut, contains extremely good instrumental progressive rock with
touches of fusion, including a 22-minute epic composition. The talented quartet
of guitar, keys, bass/Stick, and drums plays a no-nonsense style that has been
done many times before, but rarely as well as on Improgressive. Other
instruments are used in spots, notably violin and percussion. 67-minutes.
Rumblin’ Orchestra - The King’s New Garment ($15.99)Spartacus (1998), the debut by Rumblin’ Orchestra, is major-league classical progressive rock, heavily influenced by ELP and predominantly instrumental. The final
track is a cover of Keith Emerson’s arrangement of America. With their
2nd album The King’s New Garment (2000), Rumblin’ Orchestra prove they are unmatched at
combining rock and orchestral music. Their only weakness here is that some of the
tracks are too light and playful and end up sounding like a rock version of some
Rodgers and Hammerstein production. But with a playing time of 72-minutes,
there’s still a whole album’s worth of the serious stuff. Fans of the Craft
album should check this out - Rumblin’ Orchestra are even better, if not as consistent.
Solaris - Nostradamus: Book of Prophecies ($15.99)
Solaris is Hungary’s well-known instrumental symphonic prog band who use
flute extensively, lending comparisons to Jethro Tull of course, but Solaris
have their own distinctive style that incorporates Hungarian folk melodies.
Nostradamus (1999) is still their latest, also their most ambitious and mature work to date. To their familiar style, they’ve added various world
music touches and, most significantly, a choir consisting of four guest opera singers.
Ádám Török & Mini - Nomad of the Winds ($15.99)Ádám Török has been on the Hungarian scene since the early
1970’s, and Mini was his progressive band during the 70’s. They gave many
concerts but recorded few albums. This 2001 album of long instrumentals is by far
the best work of the band, flute-driven progressive rock with influences of
Jethro Tull, Focus, and Solaris. Like Solaris, there is some of the Hungarian
folk influence here, but Mini are overall more classically-influenced and
symphonic sounding than either Tull or Solaris. The production is first-rate,
and so here is another world-class Hungarian progressive band that we can recommend highly.
Townscream - Nagyvárosi Ikonok ($15.99)An inventive 1997 prog rock album from an offshoot of After Crying. The music has some enjoyable vocals
(in Hungarian) but is more than half instrumental, dominated by keyboardist Csaba Vedres, who favors piano and
a Keith Emerson style and has the chops to match.
Janos Varga Project - The Wings of Revelation II ($15.99)Janos Varga was formerly the guitarist for the band East. His music has its
roots in the mid-1970’s. Apparently East was an instrumental progressive rock
band in the 1970’s (their 1st album didn’t appear until the early 1980’s and
contained vocals) and for unknown political reasons, their instrumental material
was never released. On The Wings of Revelation II
(2002), Varga teams with ex-East drummer Istvan Kiraly, bass/Stick player
Peter Hary and keyboardist Szabolcs Nagy. The resulting instrumental music is
certainly more guitar-centric than East, a progressive workout with mostly
high-energy tracks offset by a couple introspective acoustic tracks. Aside from
East, reference points include Camel, Pink Floyd, Dixie Dregs, and a more
symphonic Jeff Beck.
You and I - Exit ($15.99)
out-of-stock
You and I’s 3rd album Exit (2001) is a monumental achievement. After the relatively commercial
Go, You and I have made not only their most progressive album but one of the top melodic prog albums
of the new millennium. They have a world-class female vocalist in Szomor Fanni Völgyessy, whose voice is
comparable to Joanne Hogg of Iona. After Annie Haslam, there isn’t a
better female singer in progressive rock today. After two albums with English
lyrics, here they revert to their native Hungarian (English translations
provided in the booklet), and they’ve now got the vocal/instrumental balance right. As you might surmise from
their name, You and I are primarily
Yes-influenced, but not overly so. In fact, this is often better than what Yes seems
capable of now. For a concept album based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, this
is certainly filled with life energy!
Go (1999), their 2nd, has more song structures and pop stylings than their other albums, but it’s all extremely well done, with some sophisticated vocal multi-tracking. The real reason for prog fans to get this album is the 12-minute Invisible Ties, as fine a piece of Yes-inspired prog rock as any produced in the 90’s, an absolutely outstanding track. If you hate melody, songwriting, and positive emotions, avoid this.
Their self-titled 1995 first album falls between Exit and Go on the
progressive spectrum, coming across as more sedate than Exit. It’s a
very fine debut; it’s just that the instrumentalists take a back seat to the
vocals. Because singer Fanni sings in English with only the slightest of
accents, You and I sound like an English prog band on this album. They even
include a traditional English song Wedding Day (She Moved Through the Fair).