PAVOL HAMMEL / MARIAN VARGA / RADIM HLADIK - Na II. programe sna - SLO Opus Press - LISTEN

In 1976 Hammel, Varga and Hladik and a few friends from Prúdy and Fermata (including Hájek, Szapu and Kozma on drums and Belák on bass) got together to record the LP ‎Na II. Programe Sna - credited to Pavol Hammel, Marián Varga, Radim Hladík - released by Opus in 1977 in a single sleeve, but with an additional insert with a photograph of the trio. To tell the truth, it was once again a record by two old pals (and at the same time the composers of the whole material), and the name of the guitarist (of course audible, but at the level of an important session musician) probably ended up on the cover for 'the sum of his work' and for marketing reasons. Opinions about this album are divided. Some consider it almost a classic of progressive rock from this part of Europe, and others, again, that it is poppy, that it is uneven... In this case the truth lies, unusually, in the middle, since roughly half of these more complicated tracks (as a rule, oddly enough, written by the vocalist) are top-shelf Czech rock, and indeed - the second part of the record (and in particular its second side) consists of short, usually formally not very complicated pieces written by Varga (to lyrics by Peteraj) (as if part of a rock opera or musical and not of a progressive album) sung with flair by Hammel. The problem is that if you like the style, intonation and timbre of the voice of the leader of Prúdy (and I have come to like it a lot - I do not even know when!), then you listen to the whole record with great pleasure! Lovers of concrete, largely instrumental playing, on the other hand, had better have a programming function on their player :-) The first side opened with the heavy, swaying and almost hard-progressive Na Druhom Programe Sna composed by the H-V duo - sung by Hammel in a strong voice, a mere 3-and-a-half-minute piece adorned with a beautiful, though short solo by Hladik using a volume pedal and another one at full throttle. So the beginning was very promising! Then came the mere 100-second Náhle - a beautiful, balladic piece based on the interplay of Spanish and electric guitar, strings, piano and melodic vocals. The 4-minute Letia Husi is an almost Emerson-like piece modelled a little on She Belongs To Me by The Nice and mostly filled with an almost psychedelic keyboard improvisation played against the background of drums nicely pumping out a fast, slightly broken rhythm! The one-minute Voda was another refined miniature for vocals, piano and some percussion bits, while the 7-minute S Chodníkom Na Chrbte, written by Hammel, is a superb progressive piece meeting all the standards of a genre classic: a catchy theme played by a slightly drawling guitar, non-trivial playing by the rhythm section; a free, almost improvised duel between the electric guitar and overdriven, specially modulated Hammond organ, and finally a dynamic culmination. Super! For this track alone it is worth having this record! The first part of the album was closed by the monumental Ľalia Poľná - a 4-minute piece based on the sound of church organ (vocals and backing vocals) and sounding almost like a fragment of a mass. The second side was opened by the cheerful, folky, pop-rock and slightly funny Papageno Z Novej Vsi - a short piece by Varga that would once have been a mere waste of time and which today I listen to with pleasure. Unfortunately, V Zelenej Pamäti, composed by Pavol, poppy, slightly Latin and, on top of that, garnished with loud female backing vocals, was certainly the only truly weak number on Na II. Programe Sna. Na Schodoch Gymnázia, played in the style of playful, jazzy Queen, was perhaps not much better, but at least it was sung and played in an unforced way. I will not hide that the third pop-rock number in a row (fortunately a short one), Správne Žiť, may drive hard-line progsters to tears or fury), but one simply has to accept this somewhat musical-like convention and that is that. Z Ofsajdu, which followed, was a ballad-rock piece adorned with a catchy theme played on flute and a very nice guitar solo by Hladik. The penultimate track on the album, composed by Hammel, the over 4-minute Lodička Z Papiera, was a long-awaited, dynamic and quite sophisticated, twisting, almost shouted rocker combining the style of ELP, early Queen and Uriah Heep! If this piece had been on the first side, I am sure half the listeners would never have turned the vinyl over to the second side (but the first would have been well worn...), all the more so since the whole thing was closed by Až Túto Moju Pieseň Dohrajú, played in an irritating Dixieland style (later transformed into a kind of sea shanty). It was a close thing that this would be the last title in Hammel's career, since in August 1976 he barely escaped death. He was supposed to take the morning plane from Prague to his home in Bratislava, but because he had 'partied' a little at night, he overslept, and the plane he was supposed to fly on crashed because of a serious failure near Bratislava while attempting to land on water, and all the passengers died. Because the artist was on the passenger list, for several hours he was believed dead. When he landed in Bratislava on the next flight, one can easily imagine the joy of his distraught family and friends! A REVIEW BY JACEK LEŚNIEWSKI FROM A BOOK ON ROCK IN THE FORMER EASTERN BLOC, BEGUN BUT ABANDONED AFTER HALF A YEAR (2021).