LOCOMOTIV GT

In 1970 Gabor Presser and Jozsef Laux both left Omega to form Locomotiv GT (LGT), a band that would become almost as legendary in Hungary as Omega itself. This debut shows the band at an early stage juggling between blues rock frenzy and lyrical ballads. Somewhat limited to early hard rock sphere of influence, the band hardly breaks out of traditional song structures, and largely utilizes rhythmic and harmonic conventions used by hard rock bands from Britain. On the other hand LGT should be given props, because the music on this albums is almost as great as Led Zeppelin's first few and Purple's golden era, heed my call. The band sounds tight and confident. The guitar playing of Tamas Barta matches Blackmore in quality, and the awesome organ playing by Presser certainly matches or even surpasses Lord. The rhythm section is just perfect for this kind of music, tight and driving. In addition the bassist also plays saxophone which foreshadows the band's evolution in the next ten years into a much more jazz/soul-influenced outfit (think of Purple's evolution on "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste the Band").

As previously stated, most of the music on this album apes the classic hard rock invasion sound of the early 70s, and if you like that kind of music, this won't dissapoint. The are some deviations as well, for example "Ordító arcok" with it's Fripp-like riffing and a lengthy percussion-driven jamming, in the style of Santana, or "Hej, én szólok hozzád" with a galloping Iron Maiden-like riff and some jazzy sax playing. Another highlight is "A kötéltáncos álma" with it's pleasant lyrical melodies and complimentary piano playing. Despite these slight allusions to prog rock, the album remains a fairly normal hard rock album.