ATLAS – Blå vardag (Bellatrix, 1979)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***
It's easy to see why Malmö band Atlas's ”Blå vardag”
is popular among fans of symphonic prog. The eight tracks are crafty,
joyful, dedicated and well composed. The production is well balanced,
providing Erik Björn Nielsen's and Björn Ekbom's keyboards
appropriate space without allowing them to violate the overall
sophistication. It does have some Canterbury shadings, but overall,
”Blå vardag” is too far into Kaipa/Genesis territory for my
tastes but a mandatory spin to fans
of the genre. The album had an expanded CD reissue in the mid 90's.
MOSAIK – Mosaik (Mosaik, 1982)
Instrumental, Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***
International relevance: ***
Only
a few months after the release of ”Blå vardag”, Atlas guitarist
and flute player Janne Persson began working on ”Mosaik”,
although it wasn't released until 1982. On one hand it's a Persson
solo project of sorts as he's the only one playing on all tracks, on
the other hand, it's an Atlas off-shoot with Erik Björn Nielsen,
bassist Ulf Hedlund, drummer Micke Pinotti all joining him where
needed. It's a more understated effort than ”Blå vardag”, less
symphonic with a slightly stronger art rock feel. I can even sense a
bit of Ragnarök and, anachronistically, Triangulus in there. The
weakest tracks are the two with vocals from Dan Bornemark (”Tiden
bara går”) and Karl Witting (”Pappa har gått vilse”), but the
majority of the album is instrumental. Sparser and less heavy on
synthesizers and keyboards, with a greater presence of piano and
guitars (electric and acoustic), I choose ”Mosaik” over ”Blå
vardag”.
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