BLUE EFFECT / MODRY EFEKT - Modry Efekt A Radim Hladik - CZECH Supraphon 2024 Press

A new 2024 reissue. "This Prague-based band, founded in November 1968, is in my humble opinion the best and certainly the most versatile rock band ever formed in Czechoslovakia and also - now it will be somewhat controversial - in the whole Eastern Bloc! Led by the excellent Radim Hladík - without doubt the most outstanding guitarist in that part of Europe (also playing electric organ, flute and sitar), the band initially consisted of vocalist Vladimír J. Mišík, who also played organ, second guitarist Miloš Svoboda, bassist Jiří Kozel and the exquisite drummer Vlado Čech. It is worth knowing that Hladik had earlier played in the popular group The Matadors, in which Mišík also briefly appeared. (...) At the end of 1974, Supraphon/Artia (already with a light orange Supraphon sticker on the record) released, for export to the 'fraternal countries', the LP A Benefit Of Radim Hladík - a completely instrumental album decorated with a colour photo of Hladík playing a gold Gibson and, interestingly - credited to The Blue Effect! Already in 1975 an identical one reached Czech shops, though released in a completely changed, somewhat abstract sleeve (looking like another album by the Hungarian group Locomotiv GT...) and enriched with a 4-page insert with photos and lyrics - the LP Modrý Efekt & Radim Hladík mentioned a page earlier. It's clear that our Radim decided to promote his own name, and that never leads to anything good - especially in the opinion of the other band members... It is worth adding that flautist Jiří Stivín and electric piano player Martin Kratochvíl - by then the lone leader of Jazz Q - took part as guests in the recording of the record. Apart from the sleeve and title, the only difference from the export version was the swapping of tracks 2 and 3 on the first side. So we are taking up the Czech edition with the locomotive... The first side was opened by the as much as 10-minute Boty (Shoes) - being another, hardly changed, version of the piece Je Třeba Obout Boty A Pak Dlouho Jít (One Must First Put On Shoes And Then Walk) - known from Nová Syntéza 2. I admit that, devoid of vocals and orchestra, but played with more bite (though containing a beautiful, delicate flute solo by Jiří and that Santana-like guitar solo) and at times decidedly hard rock, this, all in all original, version appealed to me more! The next piece was a beautiful, ballad-rock number based on a recurring, very melodic theme created by weeping and wailing electric guitars layered over one another at various intervals, Čajovna (Tea-Room), probably the most popular piece among the band's fans, combining the style of romantic Peter Green with my beloved Wishbone Ash from the period of the LP Argus. Apparently it was precisely because of this piece that the record was held back for nearly 2 years! But why? Because of censorship? After all it's an instrumental... The third piece on the record was Skládanka (Jigsaw Puzzle), played in fairly broken rhythms, full of sudden turns, improvised - lasting 6 minutes, a very intense composition in which, alongside Hladík and Semelka playing their parts, Stivín led the way, playing crazy and almost frenzied sounds on flute. A certain moment of respite was Ztráty A Nálezy (Lost-And-Found), recalling the very early work of Jan Akkerman with the group Focus - a little over 5 minutes, all in all a very pretty piece, although the melodic line of this one, long guitar solo could have been more polished... The last recording on the LP Modrý Efekt & Radim Hladík and A Benefit Of Radim Hladík was the 12-and-a-half-minute Hypertenze (Hypertension), based initially on a catchy guitar lick (as if taken from a Mountain album) and dominated by the style of early, that is still pleasant to the ear, jazz-fusion. The main role was played here by the highly intricate sounds of electric guitar, played at great speed, Stivín's saxophone and Kratochvíl's electric piano, although I much preferred the breathy, much calmer middle moment that followed straight afterwards, after which came a nicely twisted bass part played at rocket tempo, while the whole was summed up by a slowly building, restless coda, again recalling the melodies of the group Focus." REVIEW BY JACEK LEŚNIEWSKI FROM A BOOK ON ROCK FROM THE FORMER EASTERN BLOC, BEGUN BUT ABANDONED AFTER HALF A YEAR (2021).