01	Save Our Souls						02:49
	02	(Panem Et Circenses) - Fun Fair Land Open						04:33
	03	(P E C) - Providence (Dance With The Sleep-Walker Marionettes)						02:44
	04	(P E C) - Salto Mortale II (Trash-flow) A) Nuclear-Feast B) Bumper Car C) Ferris-Wheel D) Burlesque						08:46
	05	(P E C) - Sleepin' Chaplin						02:39
	06	(P E C) - Madrigal Love Part Four (Casanova)						04:13
	07	(P E C) - Final (Big Evil Fun Fair Finale)						06:26
	08	Intermezzo						02:48
	09	(Farewell To 20th Century) - Viaduct						04:36
	10	(F T 20 C) - Salto Mortale I (Helpless)						03:33
	11	(F T 20 C) - Enigma II						05:41
	12	(F T 20 C) - (Struggle For Life) A) With A Pure Heart B) Waiting Forbetter Days						09:11
	13	(F T 20 C) - The Man And The Rock + American Express						04:56
	14	Conclusion (A Tribute To Keith Emerson)						10:45

After Crying [Hungary]

Discography
Overground Music (90)
Megalazottak es Megszomoritottak (92)
Fold Es Eg (94)
De Profundis (96)
Elso Evitized (96)
6 (97)
Almost Pure Instrumental (98)
Struggle for Life (00)


Reviews
After Crying 1998 - Pejtsik Peter (cello), Gorgenyi Tamas, Winkler Balazs (trumpet), Egervari Gabor (flute), Torma Ferenc (guitar)

Founded in 1986, After Crying went on to become one of the most innovative and interesting progressive rock bands in the 1990's, pulling off the jolly nice stunt of making real change and progress with each new studio album, while still having a sound that was distinctly their own. The band's original core consisted of Csaba Vedres (piano, vocals), Peter Pejtsik (cello, vocals) and Tamas Gorgenyi (lyrics). This line-up recorded Overground Music (Periferic Records BGCD 001) in 1990 with a help of several guest musicians on various wind instruments. The album's almost entirely acoustic music draws heavily from classical and jazz, but unlike the dark dissonance of the likes of Univers Zero, this is melodic and accessible music that still bristles with intricate counterpoint and harmonic sophistication. Despite the lack of rhythm section (I think there is some synthesized hi-hat on one song) and sparsity of instrumentation, the music sounds driving and full, as Vedres' truly virtuosic piano work cascades around and bounces from Pejtsik's alternatively lyrical and sawing cello. Recognisable influences include Emerson, King Crimson (in the occasional angularity and polyrhythms) and Frank Zappa (the jazzy "European Things" is a credited homage to Zappa and like with many of Zappa's lyrics, its humour is both mordant and morbid), but many sections could just as well be described as light classical music. Shaky and accented vocals are a minus but do little to detract from the music. The final track "Shining" is the most successful, featuring angelic female vocals and relentless trumpet fanfares against the darkly ethereal bedrock of cello and piano.

By the time Megalazottak es Megszomoritottak (Quint QUI 906014) came out, the band had been augmented by the addition of Laszlo Gacs on drums and Balazs Winkler on trumpet and keyboards. With a more conventional, though still selectively deployed rock rhythm section and synthesizers, After Crying develop a darker and more symphonic chamber sound that makes a good use of space and gradual increase of tension, so that when they come, changes and releases are dramatically magnified. Nowhere is this more evident than on the 22-minute opening track "A Gadarai Megszallott", which builds over light, hypnotic drumming, churning keyboards and brooding cello and effortlessly changes mood from lulling to sinister as piano, percussion and various winds drift in and out of stereo field, generating enormous tension that is released in a brief burst of manic trumpet shrieking. The two short middle tracks feature string arrangements and solemn vocals which contribute to the sober, almost religious atmosphere of the record; the use of Hungarian lyrics also improves the overall vocal effect. The title track scurries along for a while with a kind of schizoid energy and spy movie drama, but then dissolves into a floating, funereal wind-down where whispered vocals, gossamer-like keyboards and a mournful trumpet create an air of cathartic finality. Of all After Crying albums, Megalazottak es Megszomoritottak is the most consistent in its moodiness and solemnity, and as such is probably their most consistent effort, though not the easiest one to digest. It certainly is well worth the effort though.

After Crying's third album, Fold es eg (Periferic Records BGCD 002), saw the arrival of guitarist Ferenc Torma, but apart from an acoustic solo number "Zene Gitarra" his contribution is not yet very pronounced, though he definitely adds a new sound to the palette of keyboards, strings and winds with his fuzzy, Fripp-like textures, especially on the rocking "Judas". Instead the first songs on the album are keyboard-heavy prog in the style of ELP, with "Rondo" being a very faithful recreation (=slavish imitation) of The Nice/early-ELP sound, and the two-part "Manticore " combining Emersonian keyboard bombast to a sweeping vocal melody (making it more attractive, at least to my ELP-unfriendly ears, than a lot of ELP's own output). Latter songs pick up the band's more idiosyncratic sound from where the previous album left it, and hone it to ethereal perfection. "Leltar" features almost perfect Gregorian-styled vocal harmonies, "Puer natus in Bethlehem" consists of just a slow, solemn trumpet fanfare against a sombre synthesizer sky and is devastatingly beautiful, while the 13-minute closer "Ketezer ev" bubbles and flows with silvery piano and variously ominous and tender vocals, building and gathering intensity without ever actually erupting out of its gothic mausoleum. All in all, Fold es eg is one of After Crying's strongest works, and perhaps the best place for a newcomer to start.

After the album was finished, Vedres left the band to become a concert pianist, though he would return to the world of prog a few years later with Townscream. The rest of the band did not sit still, however, but pushed on and produced their most ambitious work to date. De Profundis (Periferic BGCD 005) is a complete departure from the previous album's Emersoniasms, being much closer to classical music, employing a large guest cast to achieve a matching sound and skilfully combining various discrepant instruments and influences into a working whole. The ethereal church choir and synth pads of the opener "Bevezetes" give way to the hybridization of "Modern idok" where half-spoken, pseudo-rap vocals and scuffling rhythms merge with towering orchestral arrangements and melodies. The King Crimson influence comes to fore in "Stalker", as Torma's guitar takes the centre stage among the brooding synths and winds, alternatively weeping mournfully and then screaming and slashing out with flurries of Frippian feedback. The title track is another strong, restrained symphonic chamber work, while "Esjuszegok" takes the heavily orchestrated symphonic rock sound to its limit. Though impressive works in their own right, the guitar, keyboard and cello solo pieces at the middle of the album sound out of place and break up the album's flow somewhat, making it less than a perfect effort. Still, this is another indispensable album and stands quite unique among other mid-1990's prog efforts, with perhaps Isildur's Bane's magnificent Mind Volume 1 as its only real comparison.

Elso evtized (BGCD 006/007) is a peculiar two-disc compilation: the first disc contains a few unreleased tracks and a number of songs drawn from the first four albums, but particularly Overground Music. These have been remixed with new vocals and Hungarian lyrics, which admittedly eliminates their main weakness. Of the unreleased tracks, the most memorable are the rhapsodic chamber rock of "Vandor" and the pleasant acoustic guitar/trumpet melodicism of the aptly titled "Novelty"; none of the rest are earth shaking. The second disc is a 1991 concert recording with Vedres and Pejtsik both performing an impressive solo number on their respective instruments along with impeccable renditions of songs from Overground Music and a couple of more otherwise unreleased tracks, the beautiful "Jo ejt!" being by far the best of these. Finally, the band show off some of their influences by including a 1993 performance of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man", a dignified, if unsurprising rendition of this old concert warhorse. Though there is quite a lot of redundancy, Elso evtized still holds enough interesting material to warrant getting it, especially if you like the acoustic sound of Overground Music, but only after getting the more essential releases.

The first thing one notices about 6 (BGCD 009) is its bright, yellow-dominated sleeve, quite a departure from the any-colour-you-like-as-long-as-it's-black sketches decorating the earlier albums. The music inside hasn't changed as radically, but changes there have been and not always for the better. The band has returned to English lyrics, which eliminates some of the distinctive air of the earlier releases, and the exquisite vocal harmonies of Fold es eg have by now been almost completely replaced by harsher and too often inadequate individual contributions from several singers. There is greater reliance on digital synthesizer textures, and more Crimson-like angular rockers than before, some more successful than others (the-big-band-from-Hell number "Big Evil Fun Fair Finale" being an example of the successes). In contrast, there are also a number of quieter numbers, most notably the classical piano solo "Burlesque" and the evocative "Sleepin' Chaplin". Somewhere between them is "Struggle for Life", a Hungarian folk melody given almost a cinematic treatment and interspersed with a wonderfully chilling recitation section featuring a poem by the band's (apparent) favourite poet Attila Josez. The album concludes with the aptly titled "Conclusion", a tribute to Keith Emerson that reminds of Emerson-Lake-Powell but is far superior to anything that formation ever did. Veering dangerously close to sappy at first, the song eventually rises to a nice synth-fanfare propelled sweep, but this version suffers from weak vocals and thin synth sounds and doesn't do full justice to the composition. The effect one gets from this album is of fragmentation, with several high points but somehow a more pedestrian overall impression than with De Profundis. While 6 is of the calibre that not many contemporaneous prog bands could have hoped to match, for a band with After Crying's track record it must be regarded as a mediocre effort.

After Crying's next release was a compilation album Almost Pure Instrumental (BGCD 027). It has its problems: both Fold es eg and De Profundis are represented by measly one track, which gives little concrete idea of the albums themselves (especially as the Fold es eg track is "Rondo"), and most of the longer works are omitted. On the plus side, it does gather a lot of the band's best material into a quite workable and consistent whole, and includes four shortish tracks that are unavailable elsewhere. Of these, the most successful is the Mendelhsson-derived "Pilgrim's March", a warm, relaxing tune with floating percussion and an Oldfield-styled electric guitar melody. Like all compilations, however, it is primarily either for new-comers or completists.

A wider cross section of the band's music can be found on Struggle for Life (BGCD 054-55), a double live album recorded mostly in 1999. Many of the songs here are superior to studio versions in terms of energy and impact; this is especially true with "Conclusion", which is stretched into a thirty-minute medley with the inclusion of both parts of "Manticore" and a number of solo performances. The solo numbers, including Torma's Soundscapes-like guitar/synth showcase "Crash and Cry", work better in this kind of context than they work on the studio albums. This time the King Crimson cover is "Starless", performed in 1997 with John Wetton guesting on bass and vocals. Wetton's voice isn't in top condition, but the band pull off a suitably passionate, large cast version of the classic. The second disc also has a multimedia section with three MP3s (one previously unreleased song, the rather skimpy "Radio Rarotonga"), band biography and some lyrics. This section is omitted from the one-disc, "essential" version of the album, though it has "Radio Rarotonga" as a normal audio track. Apart from being an excellent live recording, Struggle for Life is a good summing up of the first ten years in After Crying's recording career. Hopefully the next ten years will be equally fruitful. -- Kai Karmanheimo

Sound like Islands era Crimson and a must for all Crimson fans. Prog rock on classical instruments that manages to be a remarkable improvement on the early Crimson style rather than just a copy.
Symphonic prog band. Long tracks and complex arrangements are characteristic of all their for albums (to date), of which I have Fold es eg (Ground and Sky) and De Profundis. In addition to the common instruments such as guitar, synths and drums they play a wide variety of classical instruments (cello, violin, piano, trumpet, horns, winds, flute to mention but a few). In certain tracks they use exclusively classical arrangements, which gives their music a chamber-like character. If one claims that they are King Crimson-influenced, yes, it is true, and they never denied it. (In fact, the band started its career with the live performance of Crimson's first album, and I can tell you it was astonishing.) This group, however, is far from being a Crimson clone. Lyrics in Hungarian (except Overground Music, which are in English), but do not be afraid; they don't use it extensively. And anyway, you can enjoy the marvellous Hungarian language. My personal favorite is De Profundis, a concept album in 74 minutes. The music is rather dark (my wife actually calls them "Happy Dance Boys") with some gothic elements, and After Crying play it as an orchestra and not as individuals (here you can strongly feel their classical training). On De Profundis, a dozen of other musicians play on classical instruments, helping out the six-membered band. Definitely not an "easy" music, but it is well worth trying. I strongly recommend it to anyone who likes music that makes you think. -- Csaba Nemes
De Profundis by the Hungarian band remains true to a very classical approach that still dominates the rock elements. The extremely rich instrumentation features keyboards and cello but also includes flute, guitar, trumpet, drums, vocals (in Hungarian), oboe, bassoon, clarinet, etc... Many tracks are in the chamber music format but others, more busy ones, include a more important symphonic delivery. The compositions are original, production is excellent, arrangements are rich, tasteful and performances reflect a strong classical training. The mood is often solemn but will certainly satisfy those who are seeking a serious dose of symphonism. -- Paul Charbonneau

Links
[See Townscream]

Click herehttp://www.geocities.com/after_crying/ for a good fan site







When I have decided to design a page about After Crying's past I have fount that I have only few chance to create a better page than the one on the Homepage of Periferic Records. Regarding to this, some pieces of the following parts are the exact copies of Periferic Record's official After Crying columns.





After Crying is one of the most distinguished representatives of the second flowering progressive music in Hungary. Colourful, high-tech and intelligent music for everyone who loves quality. The sound is a Hungarian synthesis of contemporary classical chamber and progressive music, influenced and inspired by King Crimson and Emerson Lake & Palmer.

After Crying was formed in autumn 1986. Founder members: Vedres Csaba - piano, Pejtsik Peter - cello, Egervari Gabor - flute. In this trio they played acoustic and instrumental chamber music for two years. During this period improvisation was the essential part of their programs. Since 1988 they have been singing songs besides playing of the common improvisations and chamber compositions too. From the beginning Egervari Gabor and Gorgenyi Tamas has been writing the lyrics on a high literary level in English and Hungarian as well.

In 1989 this early trio has released their first demo like album, titled "OPUS 1". It has been published on cassette only, and in a low size of edition. The tracks has been recorded among February 1988 and January 1989 at several theaters and concert rooms (Szkene Theater, the Porto, the Music Academy). The trio has been joined by guest musicians for this record. In the end of the same year they released their second demo like album, titled "1989". The case is similar to the previous, it has been published on cassette only, and in a low size of edition. This release is a compilation of previously recorded and archive recordings. All of these tracks has been written by Vedres Csaba with the co-operation of Pejtsik Peter, and has been recorded with the appearence of many guest musicians again. These recordings has benn available on their concerts only.

Around Vedres Csaba and Pejtsik Peter the other musicians had changed quiet often, but till autumn 1993 After Crying had basically four members, and from time to time has been completed by guest musicians. They gave concerts not only in Hungary but Spain, Portugal, England and Canada with a great success.


Vedres Csaba

Their first - this time widely distributed - album was released in 1990. "OVERGROUND MUSIC" is of chamber compositions and songs in English. The live premiere of this record in front of 1500 viewers had a great success. After Crying invited guest musicians as they did in their next albums. This release has been published by Hungaropop Safari Club for the first time, and has been reprinted and re-published by Stereo Shop in 1993.

In 1992 they made a show where they played renaissance, baroque and Beatles songs with their own orchestration. At the same spring they have recorded and released their second album, "MEGALAZOTTAK ES MEGSZOMORITOTTAKTHE INSULTED AND INJURED" (the title of the album refers to the title of a Russian movie). On this record After Crying used not only acoustic instruments but synthesisers and drums by new members: Gacs Laszlo - drums, Winkler Balazs - synthesizer and trumpet and Pejtsik Peter from that time has started to play on bass too. This music has its own spirit, it lives and hurts. Listening to the music of this orchestra we feel some kind of sadness rather than gaiety in our heart. Their audience often struggle against their tears while listening to After Crying On the concerts they play not only their own compositions but King Crimson songs on a high artistic level.


Pejtsik Peter

In 1993 Torma Ferenc - guitar, joined the group, they together created the third album: "FOLD ES EGEARTH AND SKY", in 1994. This record was a kind of conclusion of the previous period, since Vedres Csaba quitted the group when recordings had been accomplished. Winkler Balazs has replaced his role. The new program includes acoustic chamber music pieces and monumental, progressive rock and symphonic compositions.

Their fourth album "DE PROFUNDIS" can be described only by superlatives. 74 minutes, shivering with a lot of new impressive effects, sounds and ideas beside all of the former features and special qualities of After Crying We know the expression "De Profundis" from the Bible: "I cry to you from the deepness, my Lord". The meaning of it is deep, it is about humanity, mortality and forgiveness of our sins. We feel like shivering while listening to Jonah's Prayer recited by Latinovits Zoltan (Latinovits Zoltan was a brilliant and tragic fated, legendary actor in Hungary in the sixties and early seventies.). No music was born in Hungary during the last 25 years that could be even compared to this.


Gacs Laszlo

The next album "ELSO EVTIZEDFIRST DECADE" is a present for A.C.'s 10th birthday. This double CD of 143 minutes contains more than 100 minutes previously unreleased records of the ten years activities beside a few remastered tracks from their former four albums. On Disk Two they present A.C. live on CD the very first time, including the immortal hit of King Crimson from the end of the sixties: 21st Century Schizoid Man performed by After Crying.

Their following album, "6", differs from the previous ones: they put classical elements into the world of today's modern music, not vica versa like before. More than 74 minutes of acoustic chamber music (cello, trumpet, piano and guitar) but it sounds like a mixture of rock or African rhythms with Gregorian chants. They arrange a Hungarian folk song, but in their adaptation it sounds more like an Anglo-Saxon hymn. Very interesting harmony, very interesting album. They want to say some sort of farewell to the 20th century reflecting as much colour of it as possible, showing its bright, amazing, tragic and often evil faces at the same time. So After Crying goes on their own way toward the next thousand years.


Winkler Balazs

Their seventh album has been released in December, 1998. It is the first part of a new After Crying compilation series and titled "ALMOST PURE INSTRUMENTAL". The album contains four new songs, and ten more previously published, but remastered recordings. Referring to the title all of them are instrumental, except the last one what is assigned as a quasi introduction of the next volume of the compilation series. The characteristics of all their new songs are more classical like than previously. It seems that the boys has decided to overlap Beethoven and Bach at once. On the other hand these songs does not seems to be so elemental for the fist listening, they are rather suggesting a relaxed and peaceful environment. Quite similar to what has happened with the King Crimson, first came the "noise to the silence" trend than the "silence to the noise" trend. Although it might be that this relaxed sound of After Crying is temporary only, but afterall: I may not state any kind if stylistic change - any small it is - based on only four songs.

Recently their popularity has been growing in homeland as well as abroad all over the world. The audience together with the international critics have the best opinion about the most popular progressive group in Hungary. The music of After Crying is not an only precisely composed masterpiece but it touches our soul deep inside. Every sound springs up from their heart, their commitment and devotion toward music and art. One main component of their irresistible power is based on the fact that they consistently have been going the same way for actually more than sixteen years.

The members of this group are extremely talented, they can work together very well and very hard and the result: After Crying has a respect among the world's greatest progressive groups. There are very few other Hungarian groups who can be proud to say the same. It is not their fault if some people do not understand them or do not want to understand them. For those who pay attention will get it and come to like this kind of music. It is impossible to be unconcerned to them or insensible of their work.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: After Crying 6
Year of Publish: 1997
Published on:
Album Code: BG CD 009
Publisher: Periferic Records








AFTER CRYING 6.



SAVE OUR SOULS (2.48)
(Winkler Balazs)

FUN FAIR LAND OPEN / AZ ESZTRADOK FOLDJEN (4.33)
(Pejtsik Peter, Vedres Csaba - Gorgenyi Tamas)

Enjoy this Fun Fair Land tonight
Like hell you gotta be high
Don't touch the fence! It tends to bite!
Electric wire
You'll have to run you'll need to fight
Not sure you gonna survive
Don't ask the rules there is no law
It's time to make you free now

Sex and blood run on the screens
While sex and blood run on the streets

Anyone can hold a gun
Many kids are up to kill for fun

Walk through the gate of craziness
Merge in this crawling mass
Make love to all women you meet
You won't they'll flay you
This way you get to Promised Land
Or join a rock and roll band
Now pay the bill or sell your soul
It's time to make you free now

Get some tender slender love-lender girl!

You can enter for man-eating competition
You can kill yourself to get your recreation
In arenas you can fight your mates for life
You can always bomb a little town
When a migraine comes and gets you down
You can liquidate your unborn child

Long lines are at the Chopper Wheel
They throw in money with cheer
It grinds them all in burger meat
That's what you eat
Silk-stocking angels blaze around
Goats tear their bikinis down

It's Crimson Circus of the hell
Minds lost and many more shall
Big Time Salamanders eat the flames
Dance in the fire
Enjoy this Fun Fair Land, you fool
Do act as a marionette
Choke in this internet spiderweb marketing rule!


DANCE WITH THE SLEEP WALKER MARIONETTES /
AZ ALVAJARO MARIONETTEK TANCA (2.44)
(Pejtsik Peter)

over skies and Lost Islands
knights and daemons clap their hands
golden lights Nowhere Lands
Out of time; that's Providence

no more chance
to play for Providence
to win over no more chance
to play for Providence
to win over no more chance...


TRASH FLOW / SZENNYARFOLYAM(8.46)

NUCLEAR FEAST / ATOMLAKOMA
BUMPER CAR / DODGEM
FERRISH WHEEL / ORIASKEREK
(Pejtsik Peter - Gorgenyi Tamas)

Do you like to ride these chamber horses?
Why don't you stop the merry-go-round
Gonna get to jump from roller coasters
Lilliput is all over around

Smart jugglers set up huge confusion
So we can't see we are at marge
Let's lose the lousy last illusion
See if the giant ain't so large

Ferris-wheels of greed
Mill our minds in a moor
We'll be meat for the speed
Racing down to the war
We feed the Beast
Welcome, Siegfried!
It's a nuclear feast!

I'm a bumper-car
Everyone's kicking my frame
I'm a bumper-car
Throw your dump into my brain

Roll up, you see, it's dog eats dog row
And there's the Ring, that crazy house
Money made of money magician show
Cats say mass in the Church of Mouse

It's Canaan
Disneyland of drugs
Cool and cruel masquerade
The twilight of the gods


BURLESQUE / BURLESZK
(Winkler Balazs)


SLEEPIN' CHAPLIN / CHAPLIN ALSZIK(2.40)
(Winkler Balazs)


MADRIGAL LOVE PART FOUR (4.10)
(Pejtsik Peter - Gorgenyi Tamas)

CASANOVA

All night fly
On my flight
Love is a dive
God knows why

This life's a fun fair ride
We get no chance to make it right
Tempting dream
Switchback will glide fast down
You're gonna scream
Lose your mind
Take off light

Don't make me woo
Just be my true
Fly-by-night

All night fly
Don't be shy
to levitate
You and I
Might commit suicide
Having this passion crucified
Let me lie
Deep inside I was called
To be your date

Be my wife
For one-night-life
You know it's a crime
Just one more time
Fly-by-night

All night fly
Let me try
To be your sky
Both know now
It's only fun fair flight
Then we must land on our own
That's naked truth

Flame burns your gauzy smooth sanity down
Need no guise
We all die
One day
Love just fly
away

Fly away...


FINAL (Big Evil Fun Fair Finale / Nagy Gonosz Vurstli Finale) (6.20)
(Pejtsik Peter)


INTERMEZZO (2.43)
(Winkler Balazs)


VIADUCT / VIADUKT (3.30)
(Winkler Balazs)


SALTO MORTALE I. (3.30)
(Pejtsik Peter - Gorgenyi Tamas)

HELPLESS / HIABA

You gotta give whatever it takes
Bright burning blood; flesh and bone
You must make many more mistakes
At the end of the day nothing's your own
No timeless intimate moments
No sighs no screaming desires
Neither a smile nor a caught glance
But a nude grave in which your faith lies
With a tombstone of ice


ENIGMA II.(5.09)
(Torma Ferenc - Gorgenyi Tamas)

Bright burning sky
Sun soon will die
It's twilight
Coming down
Sadness wants
To be around

Blood-painted lights
Just wound my eyes
This century's
running down.
Age of Rage
That must be gone
- But what will come?

Our life: love and fight
Screaming desires
Sins haunt one's mind

Cove, silence, glimmer flame
Invoke your name
Forgive me
for my fear
Though you call
We won't hear


STRUGGLE FOR LIFE(9.12)

WITH A PURE HEART / TISZTA SZIVVEL
(Pejtsik Peter, Gorgenyi Tamas - Jozsef Attila)

Tiszta Szivvel
original poem by Jozsef Attila
Nincsen apam, se anyam,
se istenem, se hazam,
se bolcsom, se szemfedom,
se csokom, se szeretom.

Harmadnapja nem eszek,
se sokat, se keveset.
Husz esztendom hatalom,
husz esztendom eladom.

Hogyha nem kell senkinek,
hat az ordog veszi meg.
Tiszta szivvel betorok,
ha kell, embert is olok.

Elfognak es felkotnek,
aldott folddel elfodnek
s halalt hozo fu terem,
gyonyoruszep szivemen.
With a Pure Heart
english translation by Gorgenyi Tamas
I've no father nor mother
No homeland no god either
No craddle no cerement
Neither kiss nor lover friend

For three days I've got to eat
No portion of any meat
My twenty years, that's a might
I sell twenty years all right

And if no men would want them
Should be bought by devil then
I will burgle with pure heart
Or kill men to do my part

They'll capture and halter me
Blessed ground will hide my body
Mortiferous grass will start
From my beautiful pure heart


WAITING FOR BETTER DAYS / JOBB IDOKET VARVA
(Pejtsik Peter)

THE MAN AND THE ROCK / A KO ES AZ EMBER (4.49)
(Winkler Balazs - Weores Sandor, Gorgenyi Tamas)

A Ko es az Ember
original poem by Weores Sandor
Rejtozkodnom nem lehet.
Rejtozkodnom nem lehet.
Elmentem a kosziklahoz
hogy elrejtsem kepemet.
Szolt a szikla:
soha el nem rejtelek!
o, szolt a szikla:
soha el nem rejtelek!
Rejtozkodnom nem lehet.
Szolt a szikla megindulok,
eltiporlak, tagulj tolem,
megindulok, eltiporlak,
tagulj tolem, szolt a szikla.
Rejtozkodnom nem lehet.
Elmentem a kosziklahoz,
rahullattam konnyemet.
Szolt a szikla:
En is egek, szenvedek!
o, szolt a szikla:
en is egek, szenvedek!
Rejtozkodnom nem lehet.
Szolt a szikla: en is mennybe
mennek, mint te, en is egek,
en is mennybe mennek, mint te,
en is egek, szolt a szikla.
Rejtozkodnom nem lehet.
The Man and The Rock
english translation by Gorgenyi Tamas
There's no way for me to hide
There's no way for me to hide
I had come up to the Big Rock
Wished to hide this face of mine
Said the Big Rock:
I won't make you out of sight
Oh, said the Big Rock:
I won't make you out of sight
There's no way for me to hide
Said the Big Rock: I shall move on
I will crash you, get the hence now
I shall move on, I will crash you
Get the hence now - said the Big Rock
There's no way for me to hide
I had come up to the Big Rock
Dropping my tear on it's side
Said the Big Rock:
I burn inside too, I writhe!
Oh, said the Big Rock:
I burn inside too, I writhe!
There's no way for me to hide
Said the Big Rock: I would go to -
Heaven, like you, I burn inside
I would go to Heaven like you
I burn inside, said the Big Rock
There's no way for me to hide



CONCLUSION / SUMMA
(Tribute to Keith Emerson / K. E. emlekere) (10.45)
(Pejtsik Peter - Gorgenyi Tamas)
When you walk the street as a kid and wish to fly
You can always hear a call far from the sky
And you feel an ancient power
As it moves our human life
You can't know
No, that's right
There are angels

Millions are starving just today
Innocents who never get a chance to play
Many hope the smog would clear away
For a moment much too much we pay
We all know then
Life is not a merry con
But God knows: each of us is called
To be a human

You can always be a human
You can love
You can cry
You can laugh

You can always change the world for..
You have a soul
You have a heart
You have a mind

To be human means to love the world
To know it's made for you
To be human means you've heard the word
Revolutions have to be done
Let a higher freedom come
Evolution makes no sense for you
To be a human

To be human means to change the world
To tell the good from the bad
To be human means you've heard the word
Many new lives have to be born
Many new hearts we should warm
Dou you feel this power which has called you
To be the human

You have me to make seas calm
I wrote you in my palm
You have me to heal your soul
You have me
When you want to
Sins may never take you over
You tremble like glimmer flame
Call my name!
You may often come through hells here
Thorns and nails
Open a gate
for you
to see
my face!

All your pain
was not in vain
You got a sign




1997 I. SAVE OUR SOULS
1. S.O.S.
II. PANEM ET CIRCENSES
2. Fun Fair Land Open
3. Dance with the Sleep-Walker Marionettes
4. Trash-Flow
a.: Nuclear Feast
b.: Bumper Car
c.: Ferrish-wheel
d.: Burlesque
5. Sleepin' Chaplin
6. Madrigal love part four (Casanova)
7. Final (Big Evil Fun Fair Finale)

III. INTERMEZZO
8. Intermezzo

IV. FAREWELL TO 20TH CENTURY
9. Viaduct
10. Salto mortale I. (Helpless)
11. Enigma II.
12. Struggle for life
a.: With a Pure Heart
b.: Waiting for Better Days
13. The Man and The Rock

V. CONCLUSION
14. Tribute to Keith Emerson






After Crying - 1997 - "6" (74 min, Hungary)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Balazs Winkler - keyboards, trumpet, percussives
Tamas Gorgenyi - vocals
Peter Pejtsik - bass, cello, vocals, keyboards
Ferenc Torma - electric, acoustic & bass guitars
Gabor Egervari - flute
Ferenc Szabo - drums

Guest musicians:
Judit Andrejszki - vocals on track 2
Pal Makovesz - trombone
Mihaly Borbeli - sax
Otto Rasz - oboe
(plus more folks on various wind instruments,
violins and backing vocals)

In my opinion, the best East European band ever is the Hungarian After Crying (though, I haven't heard the music of their critically acclaimed countrymans Solaris). Started in 1990, these guys were back last year with a work named simply "6". This is really their 6-th album, but it is only the fifth one new, because the band's previous double album of 1996 is just a compilation. And another note: the work represented here is just the second album of After Crying with English lyrics since their debut.

An opening track Save Our Souls is a short very classic-oriented instrumental, based on keyboards with some nice overdubs of gentle flutes, cellos, and percussives. A promising beginning of the album with quite an original sound. I need to say that, in general, various wind and string instruments (just look at the line-up) play an important part in After Crying's creation. One og the longest is the second track Panem et Circenses consisting of six parts (what's more, one of these pieces named Salto Mortale-2 is also divided into four parts), and all of them are displayed on a CD-player as separate songs. Fun Fair Land Open, the first part of Panem, opens with really heavy horns supported by riffs of the electric guitar. The structures are quite unusual, the drumming is bombastic, but the overall sound is far from being "metallic". Accented vocals of Tamas Gorgenyi (CD-booklet represents him as Gorgenyi Tamas: this is a Hungarian tradition to write the surname first) is the only slightly disappointing thing here. Fortunatelly, most of the songs in the album (more than pure instrumentals) contain lots of various arrangements. The second part of Panem Providence is a very mellow song with some soft interplays between keyboards and cellos. Judith Andrejszki, the welcome guest female singer with a pretty operatic voice, sings with a less accent than Tamas or another men-vocalist. I should rather hear her soprano in all the main vocal parts on album. The next Salto's bombastic sound can be compared to the opening part of Panem, but with lots of magnificent arrangements and brilliant solos from some of the musicians. However, the overall sound is not so original here, and sometimes I hear an open reminiscencies of King Crimson. The following three parts Sleeping Chaplin, Madrigal Love, and Final, are all played more or less mellifluously, often with gentle passages of violins, woodwinds, and even electric guitar. Madrigal Love is an instrumental piece with a very soft drumming. On the Final drums are replaced by good percussives, and the voice of Peter Pejtsik here is not unlike John Wetton's, though stylistically his vocals more resemble Adrian Belew.

The third track, as well as the first and the last, is really a separate composition. Intermezzo is an excellent instrumental piece containing lots of various themes with regular changes of moods and tempos: from melodious a-la Classics parts performed mostly by cellos and oboes to quite diverse and aggressive heavy guitar attacks with "warlike" drums. An outstanding track with superb musicianship.

The fourth composition Farewell to 20th Century is structurally similar to Panem et Circenses and also is divided into six parts. The first two of them Salto Mortale-1 and Enigma are very contrasting instrumentals. Slow and melancholic SM-1, unlike previous SM-2, with a touch of a medieval spirit made by oboe merges a few minutes later into a much more energetic Enigma. In the Struggle of Life, as well as the most compositions on album, is a good piece with rapid changes of the themes and tempos, though now Peter's voice reminds me of David Gilmour's. In the Waiting for Better Days he sings more originally and mostly accompanied only by medieval classical guitar and oboe. This acoustic composition is a very good contrasts to the rest of musical material. The next part is named The Man on the Rock. This is 10 minutes of mind-blowing complex and innovative arrangements and interplays between various instruments, and fast solos. Somewhere in the middle Tamas sings for the first time in Hungarian, his native language. The last part of Farewell is American Express. That piece is performed with a somewhat distinct "saloon's" spirit.

The last track Conclusion (A Tribute to Keith Emerson) is an epic solid composition. Well, this is a tribute to the famous keysman, but it has nothing to do with his music, because there are no influences! Probably, it is the best track in the album. English is reconstructed here, though in the beginning, Peter, as usual, sings with some open "borrowings" for about two minutes. The following long and complex instrumental part is simply incredible. Then, after a half-minute of silence, After Crying moves into the majestic classics-orchestral realm, and the second guest singer has, as well as Judith, a clear true opera voice with a good pronunciation. A solemn orchestration with fanfare strikingly completes this huge work.

Summary. Despite slightly disappointing vocals, and concentrating on music, I see that After Crying is really one of the few present-day prog-bands that has its own entirely original style. Their "6" is, as usual, a very poliphonic album, but for the first time with some atonal structures. Long and complex, this work is not designed for those who love only bright and accessible Neo. Regardless of an abundance of trombones and horns here, this music is wholly related to Classic Symphonic Art-rock. Highly recommended for mature Prog-heads.

VM. 1.10.1998



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AFTER CRYING: AFTER CRYING 6 (BG CD 009)
TOWNSCREAM: NAGYAROSI IKONOK (BG CD 011)

In my review here of After Crying's first five albums (which I recommend reading before continuing with this review), I concluded by worrying about what effect Csaba Vedres' exit from the band might have had on its future, and at the same time I expressed optimism about "his next project." Here now is the evidence that I needn't have worried about After Crying -- and justification for my optimism for Vedres.

AFTER CRYING 6 is a very powerful album, a strong follow-up to the band's last studio album, DE PROFUNDIS. Most of the music is written by Balazs Winkler and Peter Pejtsik (although Vedres is co-composer of the first piece -- perhaps a left over?), and it's largely orchestral in nature, with few obvious solo spots. I hear bits of Mussorgsky and Janacek, along with echoes of King Crimson and ELP (indeed, the final track, "Conclusion," is subtitled "A tribute to Keith Emerson"). A long album (over 73 minutes!), it opens with "Save Our Souls," a kind of overature except that it seems more to sum up past After Crying music than to introduce the music that follows. The second piece, "Panem et Circenses," is a 29-minute, 6-track suite. It draws for inspiration on King Crimson's "Cirkus" (LIZARD) and ELP's "Karn Evil 9" (BRAIN SALAD SURGERY) -- the lyrics at one point state that "it's Crimson Circus of the hell" -- but transcends them both. Darker and more powerful than anything After Crying has ever done. This is followed by the brief and intermission-like "Intermezzo," and then the second major suite, "Farewell to 20th Century." This one run five tracks and 27 minutes. The album concludes with the almost eleven-minute "Tribute to Keith Emerson."

As you may have guessed from the titles and the lyrics I quoted, this album marks After Crying's return to the use of English. Most of the lyrics are in English (a couple passages are in Hungarian), and the notes/credits are bilingual, which allows me to figure out the credits on the earlier albums (lead vocal = "enek"; keyboards = "billentyuk"). I assume this return to English is motivated by a desire to reach out to the audience that lies beyond Hungary (English being the de facto second language of most of Europe). I hope this goal is achieved; After Crying is too good a band to be confined to Hungary. But part of its charm, to me, lies in its use of its native language.

Townscream -- Csaba Vedres' new band -- presents its album entirely in Hungarian, however. The band's name is its only excursion into English on this, its first album. The band is basically a quartet, plus a lyricist (King Crimson's original setup). Vedres plays piano and a Korg synth, and does the vocals (sometimes processed through something for vocoder-like harmonies, one of his trademarks in After Crying). He is joined by Peter Acs on bass, Gabor Baross on drums, and Bela Gal on cello and synthesizer. In addition, three guest musicians supply flute, trumpet and trombone.

Townscream's music is all written or co-written by Vedres. There are thirteen tracks, adding up to more than 72 minutes -- another long, meaty album. The first four tracks (which add up to almost twenty minutes) make up the title ("Nagyvarosi Ikonok") suite. The eleventh track, "Hajnali Enek," is co-credited to "Fripp," and incorporates Robert Fripp's "Peace -- A Theme" (from King Crimson's second album, IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON) as a bridge-like second melody, to good effect. The music is pretty much a direct continuation of Vedres' music for After Crying, but with perhaps a bit more of an edge. The title suite makes use, in its third section/track, of "found sounds," industrial sounds assembled into train-rhythms, reminiscent of early Musique Concrete. (This too is a continuation of train-rhythms first used on After Crying's third album and used again on their latest album; train-rhythms are a true product of our age, and they can elicit surprisingly strong emotional responses in us.) Later on the album Vedres assembles birdsong equally effectively.

Townscream has a drummer; After Crying often dispenses with drums. Townscream's approach is less orchestral, the arrangements more spare. Otherwise, there is little difference in the nature of the two groups' music. In both cases the music is ambitious and complex, but at heart melodic and evocative. Vedres' split from After Crying has led to the best of all possible outcomes, from my point of view: twice as much exciting new music. Both of these albums are 1997 releases, and they bode well for future albums from both After Crying and Townscream. Once again, highly recommended.

FOLLOWUP: Benedek Farkashбzy in Hungary has an unofficial After Crying website at http://www.extra.hu/after-crying which contains current release news and material about the band and its albums and provides the following news about Townscream: "Townscream plans to release two new albums in the future! Both will be live. Vedres said that one will contain the rock-like tracks, the other will contain the more complex, and more jazzy tracks. At the same time Vedres has informed the public that the so-called rock era of his group is ended. In the future they plan to include more individual, and solo pieces as in their live performances as in their albums. The new member Gyermбn Jъlia plays violin, and Winkler Balбzs of After Crying has joined the group for this concert, playing trumpet."

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