COLLEGIUM MUSICUM konvergencie 2 LP MINT CZECH PSYCH PROG progressive monster

	£		27
	$		36

Original Czech pressing on the Opus label from 1970. The sleeve is in EX condition. The records are between NEAR MINT and MINT condition.
 
 

Here are some reviews: Double album Konvergencie is very colorful album with exceedingly wide range of music: it contains elements of modern classical music, improvisation-experimentation with organ (Eufónia), songs (Piesne z kolovrátku) and of course - variation on classical patterns (Suita...). Album is well arranged and balanced, not so heavy and hungus as for example Yes-Tales from Topographic Oceans, but not so easy. It includes four 20-minutes-songs (only - here is tracklist of reedition and it is composite of 3 different titles), which someone could divide in more, but the name of the album speaks clearly - convergence. (Varga always needed to connect different styles.) Some passages seems to be quite long, but later (or sooner) you'll find that it's not boring for any moment. (I'm sure that the beauty is in that strange length.) Varga's style of instrumentation is so convincing and strong, his melodies are so clear and Slavonically lyric that we can't see Varga in a shadow of Keith Emerson. I have to compliment also Varga's bandmates: Frantisek Griglak, Fedor Freso and Dusan Hajek merit approval. Konvergencie presents top of Collegium Musicum. It comes early for this band, but it is very high, not only in area of classical rock.
This is one of my favorites....Clearly, Marian Varga as a dominant player on this album, complemented nicely some great quitar solos from Griglak who is showing here his phenomenal potential (that he had never reached in his later projects with band called Fermata, though). Drums of Dusan Hajek are missing the strong base rhytm but are over all on better average. Fedor Freso has been always gold solid in all his performances on any album I've ever heard him on; he leaves his typical mark of melodic, yet a little dry bass playing, although here he comes to life a bit more. Obviously, Marian Varga always brought the best in his musicians and if there is anyone from that era you want to hear in top form, you will find it on any Varga's output. Marian Varga, even after that many years, is without question one of the top keyboard players ever. I think he is to keyboards what Jeff Beck is to guitar. Absolutely recognizable, very original sound of his Hammond impresses me more and more as I age. Former keyboard player myself, I could always imitate most of the solos of any keyboard player at the time. Varga was the case where I had to humbly admit that I have much to more learn before I can say that I ama keyboard player. His work is outright phenomenal, the way he works with his instrument cannot be imitated. It almost seems that he is making love to his Hammond and at the same time he feels a need to squeeze everything possible from it and destroy it, only to recover from this schizophrenia and play some of the most beautiful, heart wrenching melodies you've ever heard. Nothing in this albums tries to copy anything. if you hear an influence of ELP, it stops right there. the themes are various in rhytms, closely intertwining with the deep classical music influence and it all hits the listener with an incredible energy. I always think about what would have happened if he had a chance to pick the great western musicians to work with him - it woud bring incredible results, no doubt. He is clearly a top notch musician with an enormous array of ideas and skills to put them to life. On this album, there are long compositions as well as just simple songs with transparent arrangements but even those blend into the structure and to me, they serve as a break from the barrage of mental bombs hitting your brain, just to make you ready for another unexpected journey. No other band that came out of Eastern Europe was this excellent except perhaps SBB (Poland) and was as compatible with western as well as Slavic influences as this line up on this album. This is a must own for any fan who searches for new horizons and sounds colored strongly with all musical styles available at the time and beyond. Marian Varga was ahead of his times even for western standards. 
NOTE! Postage indicated in the auction is not the actual postage as ebay doesn't allow a higher postage then 7 GBP in this category. Postage for this item is 8 GBP to most countries within Europe and 16 GBP for the rest of the world. This is up to 2kg, so you can add up to 6 more LP's for the same postage. Postage for 7 LP´s is the same as for 1 LP, so buy more to save on postage! Mail me if you have any questions. Check my other auctions for many rare similar items! Be sure to add me to your favourites list!

POSTAGE COSTS FOR THE BUYER:
Postage for 1 LP is the same as for 7 LP's (<2kg), so please order more LP's to save on shipping!
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