Biography
The Hungarian group After Crying
is far and away one of the most creative and well renowned ensembles
in modern progressive music. Not only are they perhaps
the finest band to ever come out of Eastern Europe, they have
also emerged as perhaps one of the finest symphonic groups of
the 1990's, releasing a string of albums that have been gobbled
up by prog fans worldwide. The band's prime influences
are undoubtedly early King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer,
yet unlike some of their current "prog" contemporaries, AC manages
to truly push their music beyond the boundaries already charted
by the heroes of the genre. The band incorporates a heavy
classical influences, illustrated by the use of cello, flute
and trumpet, as well as Hungarian folk music, into a completely
unique and incredibly satisfying style.
The band's inception
took place in the late 1986 around the nucleus of Peter Pejtsik
on cello, Csaba Vedres on keys, and Egervári Gábor
on flute. The band started life as an acoustic outfit
out of simple necessity, lacking the appropriate access to electronic
equipment. This initial grounding in an acoustic approach
seems to be fundamental in their development into varied classical
rock band they became, one with a firm grasp on acoustic instrumentation
and dynamics, as well as their proper incorporation into an
electric environment. The group eventually released their
first album Overground Music in 1990, which introduced
their distinctive morose, yet melodic, chamber music approach.
The next album Megalázottak és Megszomorítottak
showed a significant step forward in every aspect, and is without
a doubt one of the very finest examples of symphonic progressive
produced in the 90's. A true classic. Over this
time, the band added individuals with early ties to the group,
like guitarist/keyboardist Torma Ferenc and creative consultant
Görgényi Tamás. After the release of
the third album, the excellent Föld és ég,
main keyboardist and songwriter Vedres Csaba jumped ship to
form Townscream, a move which, at the time, seemed to have signaled
the end of the band. However, the group soldiered on,
releasing two more studio albums since the departure, De
Profundis and 6, along with a number of compilations
and live releases. After Crying's style has continued
to move forward since their MeM opus, incorporating more
of a bombastic Emerson Lake & Palmer style along with their
more traditional influences. The sound of their more recent
releases is definitely more straightforward, falling into a
more typical symphonic mold than their groundbreaking early
work. Overall, next to perhaps Anglagard and precious
few others, After Crying is one of the only absolutely vital
bands dwelling in the "symphonic" realm to have released classic,
groundbreaking work in the 90's. Their prime albums are
all essential. - Greg Northrup [April 2001]
Source:
After Crying Official Homepage
Overground Music (2000)
After Crying's
debut album is an excellent piece of classically influenced
progressive rock, complete with cellos, trumpets and other authentic
classical instrumentation. The lack of drums also gives
it more of a chamber orchestra feel. The sound is immediately
overwhelming and morose; rolling pianos, lilting flutes and
churning cellos combine to make an extremely moody and melodic
document. The only problem here is the vocals, as they
are sung in accented English and therefore lose some of the
magic present on some of After Crying's subsequent albums.
Vocal parts, and the passages that surround them, are also more
conventional than would be preferable, singing along with fairly
simple melodies. The best moments on the album are clearly
where the ensemble stretches out to create the trademark After
Crying classical soundscapes.
"European Things"
is a homage to Frank Zappa, and is one of the best tracks on
the album. I'm not really familiar with Zappa at all,
but I think the band is playing a medley of his stuff here.
There are some extraordinary classical themes throughout.
"Confess Your Beauty" has some cheesy lyrics, but is ultimately
very cool, sporting an addictive groove. One of the other
highlights the the awesome "..to Black..", during which the
vocals are actually quite effective in delivering the solemnly
powerful mood. Overall the album is very good in its own
right, but in hindsight sits in the shadow of its successor,
the monstrous Megalázottak és Megszomorítottak.
That said, Overground Music is probably the album
in the After Crying catalog with the most stylistic similarities
to the MeM opus, and fans of that album would do well
to look here next, although Föld és ég
is also quite good. The accented English vocals may be distracting
for some, but to me this stands as the second best After Crying
album, behind only MeM. -
Greg Northrup [April 2001]
Megalázottak
és Megszomorítottak (1992)
After Crying's second album, Megalázottak és
Megszomorítottak is a beautiful, yet melancholy experience.
This Hungarian band combines native influences as well as classical
into an intimate chamber sound. The dominance of instruments
such as cello, piano and trumpet provide a totally new listening
experience for those who view prog simply as a form of rock and
roll. The strength of the band lies in their ability to create
hauntingly beautiful yet slightly foreboding atmospheres with
quiet passages that lead up to powerful and frenetic crescendos,
and then return into calm atmospheric moments. The occasional
vocals in Hungarian are sung very smoothly, almost chanting at
times, and are used simply to compliment the music, not as the
focal point. Minimal drumming helps to move the music along
without being obtrusive to the strings and piano.
Tracks of note
are the 22 minute opener "A Gadarai Megszállott", with
it's repeating theme and great cello playing. The action
slowly builds throughout the whole piece to the finale, where
the trumpet chimes in with a wonderfully intoxicating melody.
There are a few parts early on where not much is happening though.
The other highlight of the album is the title track, which quickly
builds up to the most chaotic part of the album. Powerful drumming
is contrasted by flailing cello and stately church organ, which
later turns to piano. The second half of the song is much
more laid back and atmospheric.
Unfortunately
this is the only release by the band done entirely in this style,
moving onto a more straight ahead symphonic rock direction with
later albums. A personal favorite of mine, this should appeal
to fans of classical music, being much closer to the real thing
than your typical Emersonian rock bastardization. Any fan of
symphonic music should check this out.
- Mike Prete [February 2001]
Click
Here for Tracklist and Lineup Info
Föld
és ég (1994)
The
keyboard bombast that opens the album illustrates that Föld
és ég is a very different beast than its
classic predecessor, Megalázottak és Megszomorítottak.
On the two part "Manticore" piece, keyboardist/pianist
Vedres Csaba opts for a over-the-top Keith Emerson approach,
a style that is carried through most of the early tracks on
the album (with the exception of the beautiful, but short,
"Enigma" interlude). The self-conscious titling of these
tracks (the first four), and the rather overt similarities
to ELP gives the impression of a purposeful tribute to the
group. For me, this first portion of the album isn't
exactly a highlight. I've never been a huge ELP fan,
and frankly these songs don't do a whole lot for me, though
I certainly don't skip by them when I'm listening to the album
either. They are well done for what they are.
The
next three tracks are sort of transitional pieces, one a solo
acoustic guitar piece, then a charming choir-like piece and
finally a classical piano piece. Only then, after 7
tracks, do things really get good. "Puer natus
in Bethlehem" is the first track that really recalls the haunting
chamber progressive of the previous album, as an exquisite
trumpet line hangs over a bed of melodic strings, giving off
a reverential, almost religious air. "Júdás"
tends to rock out a little more, but still scratches that
itch for an overwhelming classical feel, with churning cellos,
racing horn lines and occasional Frippian guitar textures.
"Bár éjszaka Van" is yet another haunting track,
a spoken word piece backed by classical piano motifs.
Then, finally, we have the absolute masterpiece of the album,
and definitely a perfect illustration of the classic After
Crying sound. "Kétezer év" is absolutely
glorious, and at the longest playing time on the album is
without a doubt worth the price of admission alone.
All the hallmarks of the classic After Crying sound, albeit
with a greater emphasis on the vocals, which are absolutely
gorgeous.
Overall,
though the truly classic portion of the album makes up only
four tracks, they are fairly lengthy and make the album an
extremely solid buy. Though the first portions are certainly
not unpleasant by any means, I find that they do bring the
album down a tad from the previous heights of Megalázottak
és Megszomorítottak. Check out that
album first, and if you like it, by all means head over to
Föld és ég. One of the pillar
After Crying albums.
- Greg Northrup [April 2001]
De
Profundis (1996)
The
first album after the departure of main composer Csaba Vedres
actually turned out to be quite impressive, and is another
solid addition to the group's high quality back catalog.
De Profundis proceeds with many of the same ideas of
the previous three albums, emotinal compositions and solemn
symphonic emphasis, complemented by the usual barrage of stark,
churning cellos and powerful horns. However, it does
manage to carve out its own niche in After Crying's body of
work, adding an even more cinematic scope and sense of grandeur,
due more perhaps to its 70 minute playing length than actual
musical differentiation. Though the album, I feel, lacks
the same haunting atmosphere and unique beauty of Megalázottak
és Megszomorítottak, it also dumps the rather
unnecessary ELP-isms of the first side of Föld és
ég, coming closest in style to the second half
of that album. That is, a number of solo and chamber
pieces for various instruments arranged as separate tracks
sequenced back to back throughout the album, occasionally
interspersed with an epic band composition such as "Stalker"
or the title track. Fear not any sense of discontinuity
though, as the band successfully integrates the seemingly
disparate elements, such as a chamber piece followed by tasteful
electric guitar soloing, into a flowing and integrated whole.
A deft compositional touch is certainly applied, making the
moments where they entire group comes in with vocals and orchestral
flair eminently satisfying.
Apparently,
De Profundis functions as some sort of concept album,
though it is obviously beyond my capacity to interpret.
Vocals do seem more prominent than on any other After Crying
album I've heard, though they are certainly far from any kind
of focal point. Funnily enough, this album took quite
a few listens to grow on me, and I initially found it far
inferior to any of their previous works (as some of my other
AC reviews might indirectly reflect). Having listened
to it quite a bit recently, I'm finding it hard to see what
it was I didn't like about it, save for the rather excessive
length and occasional dragging passage. Even the length
issue has become less and less of a problem as I've gradually
absorbed the subtleties of the album. I'd probably go
so far as to claim De Profundis as vying for second
place with Overground Music in the band's catalog.
Though not a seminal classic of the same magnitude of Megalázottak
és Megszomorítottak, De Profundis is clearly
among the top symphonic releases of the 90s.
- Greg Northrup [September 2001]
