WABIąC CIENIE

After the initial furry in the mid 1990s, Polish neo proggers ALBION lost momentum, unable to secure a more stable recording contract. Finally, Lynx music came to the rescue! In the interim they had lost expressive lead singer Anna Batko, but she was replaced by Katarzyna Sobkowicz-Malec, who was equally talented albeit in a more conventional sense. Even comparing this to the "Remake" remastering of the first two albums that Lynx issued in 2006, the production values here are in another league. The sound is less diffuse and more expansive, the keyboards are more dominant, and the influence of 1980s music on the band can be discerned at times. The result may not be plotzing with originality but the compositions, arrangements, exuberance and execution more than compensate.

The opening notes of "Motyl" call to mind the French group ECLAT from the mid 1990s, with succinct plucked guitars eventually heralding the ensemble. As much as early neo prog and COLLAGE may have helped shape ALBION, I hear as much integration of the continental and new age sounds on the sole instrumental piece, the sweeping synth heavy "Bieg po tęczy", romantic pop in the boombox friendly rhythms of "Szary" and the earworm chorus of "Inny" , Finnish symphonic prog in the addictive riffs of my favorite piece "Yuppie", and good ol folk rock in the sunny closer "Cienie",

"Wabiac Cenie" ranks up there with the best from countrymen BELIEVE, SATELLITE, COLLAGE and MILLENIUM. It is the only ALBION release to be sung in native tongue, which is just another reason to rescue this exquisite triumph from the shadows.