MARSBÉLI KRÓNIKÁK (MARTIAN CHRONICLES)

My favourite release by far from this band is "Nostradamus Book Of Prophesies". "The Martian Chronicles" and "Solaris 1990" while both impressively played just don't suit my tastes very well. The classical flavoured sound with the flute leading the way ala JETHRO TULL doesn't grill my cheese. I can see why there are so many high ratings though as these guys really impress with their top notch playing. I always smile when I hear about a concept album that is all instrumental, but they often work if you pay attention to the titles of the songs or read the liner notes.

"The Martian Chronicals" suite is about 23 minutes of music,including Star Wars type sounds, and aliens speaking in Hungarian. Oh my ! Lots of electronics as well as spacey soundscapes. Heavier sections are contrasted with these. "Mars Poetic" opens with a short spacey section that quickly becomes an uptempo melody. "If The Fog Ascends" has some great reserved flute in it. "Apokalypse" is another uptempo track with lots of synths, drums and flute. "Prelude In E Minor" has a folk vibe to it. "Undefeatable" is another uptempo track with pounding drums as flute and guitar come and go. "Solaris" is one of my favs. It's a more laid back, mid-tempo tune. The tempo does pick up 2 1/2 minutes in followed by a blistering guitar solo. It calms back down again with synths and flute. "The Planet Of Orchids" is a return of the aliens. It's an ok song. "The Yellow Circle" features nice warm flute melodies before they are blown away by the guitar and heavy drums that arrive before a minute.This is a good one. It closes with the sounds of someone whistling.

It's so sad that this band had to have all their records approved by the communist government before they would be released. Maybe that's why "Nostradamus Book Of Prophesies" stands out to my ears, because communist rule was over and they could record it the way they wanted to.