TÛZVIHAR - STORMY FIRE

Is this really the OMEGA...that way back did some serious prog albums ??? By the way There are 2 entry´s of Omega...both of them from Hungary,and the bandmembers names are occuring on both??? Same band ???? Anyhow back to the review..... this is a pure excuse for a "prog" album.....mostly it sounds like Golden earring..having a bad day !!! 2 thirds of the songs are in their native tongue....the rest in English... not that it matters much...as i find this album uninspired..... filled with tunes that would have been deleted by any major rock band!!! SO..what do we have here ?? well.....im afraid this is a hard core- collectors item..ONLY !!!! DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY ON THIS TURKEY !!!!!!

It is remastered version of the album "Omega 6. Nem tudom a neved" with bonus tracks in English. The sound quality is higher than on original "Nem tudom a neved" CD (I never heard the LP). But one thing I can't understand: why this remaster, unlike original CD, contains mono version of the song ''A büvész''?

Songs' running order differs from original version, but, because it is not a concept album, this fact doesn't seem so important for me. Therefore when reviewing "Tûzvihar - Stormy Fire" we discuss the "Omega 6" album. It is an important album in band's career, a transition from more straight rock oriented sound to their most progressive period (Omega 7 - Omega 9). Like most Omega albums it shows band's ability to create nice memorable melodies. IMO the album highlights are songs like "Nem tudom a neved" (the band usually plays it in concerts till now), aggressive "Tûzvihar" (Stormy Fire), wonderful ballad "Huszadik századi városlakó" ("20-th Century Towndweller") and "Mozgó világ" ("Moving World").

Bonus tracks can be interesting for collectors, but they don't add much to the album. Anyway, if you like something from Omega and want more, this album is worth to listen. But better try to find original "Nem tudom a neved" CD with all songs in stereo and initial songs' order.

In the early 2000`s Omega remastered a number of their more successful Lp`s from the 1970`s. Stormy Fire is essentially the total remastering of the 1974 album Omega 6 "Nem tudom a neved" ( I don`t know your name ) along with the Hungarian version Of Stormy Fire ( Tuzvihar) Which originally appeared on the 10,000 Lepes ( 10,000 Steps ) Album from 1969 . 4 other tracks which appeared on the English language Omega III album are also presented here incluing the English version of Stormy Fire for which this remaster is named.

Now that this is out of the way a bit about the music. By 1974 Omega had cut 3 albums in the English language, recording in West Germany under the Bellaphon label and had gained access to better recording techniques and equipment. This was not only reflected on their English recordings but on their Hungarian recordings as well. The most obvious improvement was in the keyboard department as Laszlo Benko had got his hands on a variety of keyboards not disimilar to those being utilized by many western prog acts of the day such as the moog synthesizer and mellotron.

The transition to writing true prog oriented songs came for Omega as early as 1972 on the poorly recorded Elo Omega record. Stormy Fire contains a couple of beautifully composed synth led symphonic tracks in the form of Mozgo vilag ( Moving World ) and Huszadik szasadi varoslako ( 20th Century Town Dweller ) which also feature some exciting guitar work. While for the most part the album contains songs that are more hard rock oriented and even leaning towards mainstream pop at times with tracks such a Addig elj (Live as Long as ) which was released as a single in Germany. Heavier tracks such as A buvesz ( The Magician ) with synth and psychedelic guitar interplay and and particularily thier trademark Nem tudom a neved ( I Don`t Know Your Name ) which is synthesizer dominated along with some great drumming should have a certain appeal for fans of bands like Greenslade, Eloy or early Triumvirat.

As the English tracks on this remastering are no longer available this may be of interest to Omega fans who missed the Bellaphon CD reissues in the 1990`s. The difference between the original Omega 6 on vinyl and this re-mastering is tremendous and well worth the purchase. While I recommend this as a good starting point for anyone wanting to get a taste of this legendary Hungarian band be forewarned that on The English tracks found here are somewhat difficult to understand at times. Fortunately all the lyrics ( both Hungarian and English ) are provided by a lyric sheet enclosed with this package. My only complaint is that the more melodic English versions of Hungarian songs which appeared originally on Omega III were not reproduced here perhaps due to time restraints, otherwise an excellent remastering effort of a classic album from these Hungarian rock legends.