KORNELYANS: NOT AN ORDINARY LIFE

KORNI GRUPA did it again, this time under the different name: they made excellent record. "Not An Ordinary Life" was aimed for the Western market; all the titles and lyrics are in English, and the band changed it's name (temporarily) from KORNI GRUPA to KORNELYANS. It wasn't huge success, though. However, album do not contain any bad tracks. Overall, band moved towards the symphonic sound, compared to its predecessor, but jazz-fusion influences are still evident, as well as almost funky bass lines. Highlights of this record are synths (used more often then on "Korni Grupa") and excellent guitar work, both electric and acoustic, where electric guitar solos are pushing the boundaries in a same vein as PFM did it in their finest moments. Vocals are more than good, and English pronunciation is...not that bad, at least not for the band from behind the Iron Curtain in early seventies.

A little bit of trivia: I swear that in "Not An Ordinary Life" track you can hear something that could easily be vinyl scratching, somewhere among all that peculiar Moog sounds. In 1974? Well, you never know.

Again, I won't give 5 stars to this lovely album because of (how typical) inconsistencies, for example, the track "Man With The White Flag" is a little bit too protracted. But don't let this discourage you; this is well worth giving it a try. Well-deserved four stars.