SBB [AKA: WOłANIE O BRZęK SZKłA AND SLOVENIAN GIRLS]

This Polish band is a must have in anyone's music library who loves all blends of rock music that are effortlessly put together in one piece. It's a bit of misfortune for this band to have existed in the then communist era in Eastern Europe. One of the few bands from communist block which was very weel established in western Europe (they toured with Uriah Heep on one occasion), I can only imagine what they could have done if they were afforded the freedom and accessibility of instruments and sound equipment and if they could concentrate entirely on their artistic effort.

The band consisted of three players; another guitar player joined them later (Slavek Piwovar) on shows and later on studio records. This particular record was recorded in communist Czechoslovakia in only a few days - the bands always had to be perfectly prepared going into a studio; also, the shortage of time sometimes forced players to improvize right on the spot while the tape was rolling so there could not be 15, 20 or fifty takes done. Three or four at max. Very few overdubbs, so what you hear is very pure, almost life like effort. I have had a chance to see this band once in action and to this day, it was one of the best, heart moving, exciting, haunting and exhausting shows I have ever seen.

The brain of the band is Josef Skrzek, a multitalented musician with a classical music education but with deep roots in blues. I think he is the only real European bluesman outside United Kingdom. On this album, he also also plays a harmonica on the Side A besides multiple keyboards, double neck guitar (bass and six string) and his singing. Polish singing in this version is not distracting,just the opposite. Josef's voice becomes another instrument, blending like a fine color into the band's effort.

Jerzy Piotrowski, the drummer, keeps the keyboards which always seem to wanna escape somewhere into the highs of universe, in check with his clock like pace but he is never cold - His drums support the melodies like a hot temperamental company. The mutual understanding of these two musicians created a duo that did not need too much of a bass guitar to create rhytm that moves your heart instantly. This is where western influence meets the strong, melancholic melodies of Slavs. The infuence of classical composers is felt on each step but never seems to intrude too much into this synth-ultra sound, ultra rhytm and a Greek influence of Antymos Apostolis's guitar as a spice to it all. All of this creates a very original music that always seems to exude more than sounds in my mind. The high sense of satisfaction and peace is somehow created by this effort - if anything sounds like an ultimate chemistry between three players, this is it. Trapeze serves as an example in this department.

The sound is surprisingly good on this record, with the exception of sometimes very high pitch of synths at the end of Side A that sound engineer did not mix good at all. Understanding the limitations musicians experienced in communist music studios, this is actually an excellent sound they have created here, altough by western standards it sounds a bit flat. "Follow My Dream" and "Welcome" which have been recorded in West Germany, are better sounding but also way more aggresive and lose some of the melancholic atmosphere that shines on their SBB 2, SBB 3 and this record. Nevertheless, all the mentioned albums are a good choice. Others are not of such a good quality (both music and sound).

If you are a fan of long compositions, strong but not cheap melodies, different moods, great drums,layers of keyboards and synths, a nice surprise in a form of Greek like guitar melodies (I think Apostolis plays bozooki here), blues, and dreamlike atmosphere this record creates, then you can't go wrong. And if you like this one, my personal suggestion would be to get "SBB 3" and "Follow My Dream".

I absolutely adore this band. The time in which they have recorded this album was their artistic peak. Their rebirth in new millenium left me a little confused as the original drummer is gone and the chemistry, too. I would love to give five stars for art but only three stars for sound judging by western standards, so I think solid four stars for this album.