TADEUSZ WOźNIAK [AKA: ODCIEń CISZY]

This is the second studio release from Polish singer/songwriter Tadeusz Woźniak and unlike the previous album, the artist went in a slightly more art-rock'ish direction here. Catchy singsongy hooks were replaced by mysterious, sad and reflective passages, in which little hints of symphonious grandiose are interwoven with dream-like acoustic folk ballad flavors (oh, and groove too, as heard on tracks #1 and #5 ). Poetry inspired lyrics by B. Horążuk are what glues all the elements together. They can get quite naive (track #5). However, the lyrics are extremely even in terms of sticking to a 'protagonist character', despite the fact that this ain't a concept album. They reveal a simple man trying to perceive the shades of gray in the surrounding world of change. I really like how Horążuk blended simplicity with soulfulness, especially on track #8. Now let's delve a tad deeper into what really makes the album worthwhile - the music, shall we? The style is a total opposite to orthodox PROG seen in the west. If I was to compare it to something, it would be Grechuta's Anawa without the fast storytelling vocals. Well, both acts collaborated with Alibabki (a texturally unique backing vocal group used very often in 70s Polish music industry) at some point. Anyway, in my view, the musical side of Tadeusz Woźniak [2] (aka Odcień Ciszy) works perfectly. The orchestra is not used in that 'inyourface' oomphy way popular in the 70s, but rather as a support, mostly toned down, yet still it delivers you some explodium, when the music really demands that extra push over the cliff. Sweet! The rhythm section consisting of A. Bem from Bemibem and W. Bruślik is really good too. But of course: the main attraction here is the double acoustic guitar played by Woźniak himself and his studio band-mate Feliks Michalski. The guitar work here is gorgeous. It can be soft, but it can also get more aggressive, which adds extra sparkles to the execution. The bare compositions on the other hand are a mixed bag. Themes written by Woźniak alone are great but sadly, they feel like filler content sometimes - meaningless chord changes and drawned out unexciting lead melodies. There is one track though, that he wrote in cooperation with Henryk Wojciechowski, the feature presentation, the only truly epic masterpiece on this record ' track #7 - Odcień Ciszy. Oh my darn, is it amazing. Take the groove, folk, ballad and stage-esque portions of the remaining tracks, blend them together with beautiful art-rock and you'll get this monument of a song. Basically, it expands on the flavors found in the other tracks with huge amounts of tasteful 'tension and release' moments with its unique use of leitmotifs. It's easily the highest point of this album and I would even recommend to get it just for this track. I just wish there had been more moments like this track scattered around the whole thing for consistency. To sum it all up, Tadeusz Woźniak [2] (aka Odcień Ciszy) is a dose of great musicianship with well written lyrics, and a bit inconsistent songwriting. I'd definitely recommend this to proggers and non proggers alike.

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