SATELLITE

The fear of "overlength" came back once the ten minute "Now" came into play. It didn't even spend one minute on an intor before entering the first verse. But its first instrumental solo was new, interesting, inspired and unique to the rest of the album. It's careful but effective violin drive made a perfect yin to the excessive drumming in the background's yang. Remember what I said about a Mozart opera? Well, this is where that behavior comes into full force, especially where the experienced drummer and founding member Wojciech Szadkowski is concerned (if I may digress for a moment, I didn't copy-paste that). At the time, I decided that this was the finest neo-prog track I had ever heard. Next was the 4-minute Fight, which is one of the much poppier tracks that has a nice, simple vocal melody but another complex orchestra driving total pop force into maximum activity while maintaining the adult contemporary serenity. The final epic is the title track, which builds itself on slow-building drama, nice bongos and Floydian guitars before letting some calming electronics take over and eventually bringing out more energy at a very careful pace. The instrumental magic keeps increasing as it goes along, turning into something Pendragon might wish they came up with. And finally, it ends with Children, which takes me right into a walk through a forest with its tribal percussions. Once again, there's a complex, multi-instrumental backdrop that works perfectly and ends the album on one final burst of raw magic, but in the most beautiful and charming song so far. That includes the cricket sounds.

This album almost completely justified its length and the single-genre mentality by steering just enough into the variety that neo-prog allows without crossing over the line. This is a rarity, really. The only issue is the length of On the Run. I'd say this magical and brilliantly thought out experience in prog capabilities is on the same league as Marillion's Seasons End, which is my pick for the best Marillion album. Obviously, the experience the drummer had with Collage panned out perfectly. Many of these tracks reach neo-prog perfection.

It helps that 3 of these 4 members were in COLLAGE during their peak, because the chemistry and emotional intelligence is second nature. In fact, apart from the fact that there will never be an equal to "Moonshine", SATELLITE represents a 2000s upgrade on COLLAGE, particularly to the tightness of their playing, the more mature lyrical subject matter and vocalist Amirian's transformation from flower child to sensitive tough guy in barely 10 years! This fully compensates from my sense that his bass guitar is little more than a prop.

Another critical aspect to SATELLITE circa 2005 was their commitment to the "song" even if that song is 17 minutes long. I don't mean verse chorus song but a journey on which the listener becomes a trusting fellow traveler and is richly rewarded for that loyalty. The renditions of "Evening Games", "The Evening Wind" and "Beautiful World" reverberate with nuances that far exceed the limits of an audio only experience. Granted they could have done better for an encore than reprising the entire "Evening Games", especially given the mini epic quality of some of the shorter tracks on both "Street" and "Evening games". For instance, the version of "Fight" seems even more moving for its dedication to a perhaps departed comrade in the worldly sense.

Among the additional features are a couple of audio tracks from each album that were not in the setlist, an overly long video of the band rehearsing and kibbitzing, and, most interestingly, an official video of the romantic "Love is Around You" that leaves little question as to the orientation of the band's own heart.

As with COLLAGE, SATELLITE extinguished themselves with their own radiance, their next two albums matching neither the clarities nor the subtleties of their early work, and have been silent for over a decade now. Luckily we have this audiovisual register of Szadowski and company's second peak. One more time, Wojtek? Well, we can dream.

And I really don't understand why they decided to change their name, because the line-up is very similar to Collage and so is the style of their music. They still make a very sentimental and keyboard oriented neo-prog with dreamy passages and a precious fairy tale atmosphere, very unique and enchanting. Maybe they thought their success would increase changing the name of the band? I don't know...

Nevertheless, the result is better than the previous Collage's album called Safe. The production is also more competent and everything sounds more modern and actual, including some programmed rhythms and a better vocal work. Robert Amirian was not a very good singer in Collage, and in Satellite he is still weak, but at least he sounds not out of tune anymore. Thanks' God! The guitars of Gil are also more bearable than in the 90's, not so high pitched, and the rest of the instruments sounds also great, including the drums of the band's leader Wojtek Szadkowski.

The result is a very good, even excellent neo-prog album from a band which deserved more recognition!

Best Tracks: On the Run (comparable in quality to the best Collage's compositions), No Disgrace (a powerful and beautiful neo-prog track with excellent keyboards and a true marvelous guitar solo), Fight (a well written song, with a beautiful chorus and great guitars) and A Street between Sunrise and Sunset (modern and not so old fashioned, but equally interesting and with a splendid bass line)

Conclusion: Collage changed their name, but not their spirit! After the disappointing Safe, Satellite retrieved the magic of Moonshine with A Street between Sunrise and Sunset. Full with wonderful melodies, incredible keyboards and a very good work of all the members of the band this is a delicious record for all the neo-prog fans out there.

Even Robert Amirian sings better than before!

My rating: ****

But what about the music? The band themselves have compared it most to 'Moonshine' era Collage but how about Western proggers who may have never heard that band? In fact there is a lot going on, and while certain influences such as Genesis and Pendragon or Pink Floyd can be picked out, it is easier to say that this is easy listening prog that is thoroughly enjoyable throughout. The album is sung in English, and in fact the feel is that this is an American project and not a Polish one at all. The album starts with street noise and a snippet of a radio commentator, and the impression is a bustling American city. That is an intriguing way into the first song, "The Evening Wind", which at nearly thirteen minutes long is a great start. Of course, the guitar can't be hidden totally by the keyboards and there are some very powerful plays indeed. A particular favourite has to be "No Disgrace" which is a belting prog rock number driven along by dynamic percussion and sizzling keyboard runs.

This could easily be the most important album out of Poland this year, and the finest I have heard from that country since Quidam. Which one is the better? The jury is still out.

Originally appeared in Feedback #73, Jun 03

That said, whilst it's certainly competently-delivered neo-prog, it isn't necessarily all that interesting as far as such stuff goes - you'll have heard a bunch of the motifs on here a ton of times before if you're a fairly well-seasoned neo-prog listener, and if you're not there's plenty of albums in the genre you should be giving your time to before you dive so deep as to be exploring this one.

And not just accidentally, as this one is an album that defines what modern Polish Prog is all about with Satellite's sound being synonymous to the term.The great 17-min. eponymous opener is propably the perfect example of this style.A mix of contemporary Symphonic Rock, COLLAGE-styled Neo Prog and Psych/Ambient/Space Rock, where power meets softness and roughness gives its place to delicacy.The rest of the album is certainly defined by this description.An album full of sudden breaks but always based in melody, where deep atmosphere is the undisputed king.Smooth parts with light guitars, sensitive warm vocal lines and soft piano burst radically into dynamic passages with powerful solos, grandiose keyboards and a symphonic attitude.And a big part of Satellite's sound is the alternation between normal and distorted vocals, the constant use of sound effects and the careful use of analog keyboards as well like organ and mellotron.The electric guitars have an evident PINK FLOYD vibe, especially in the solo parts, while COLLAGE's ghost seems to be all over the place due to the high quality of the musicianship, characterized by the grandiose synths, the elegant vocals of Amirian and the light symphonic sound.

Another huge album by this excellent Polish band, maybe a little better compared to their debut.Contemporary prog means ''Evening games'' to me and the album comes as an essential addition to any collection of a decent prog fan...4.5 stars.