Book Of Prophecies suite (Solaris, 1999)

Solaris are usually known as the band of "Marsbéli krónikák" (or "The Martian Chronicles"), but these Hungarian musicians also wrote and released other excellent albums, among which I recommend "Nostradamus - Book of Prophecies" or, in Hungarian, "Nostradamus – A próféciák könyve". It features the "Book Of Prophecies suite, divided into three parts (Foreword, Birth of Visions and At the Gate of Eternity). The melodic structure of this 20 minutes track is rather plain, based on a main theme and a manifold series of variations.

"Nostradamus" was the third studio album by Solaris.

The general plot is that of a crescendo in both volume and complexity. The ethereal mood of the first movement develops into an almost symphonic arrangement. New musical elements  come in step by step and bring the track to a lush and even experimental finale. This avant-garde and tricky edge is another good reason to treasure "Book of Prophecies suite".

Marsbéli krónikák (Solaris, 1984)

So full of Science Fiction inspirations (Bradbury's masterpiece Martian Chronicles for the track title and Lem's work for the band's name), this song is obviously an excellent specimen of electronic progressive rock. It's a long suite divided into three tracks and six movements, a collection of original arrangements and majestic atmospheres. Keyboards, keyboards everywhere, as you can imagine. And very good ones, to say it all.

This album included the title epic and six more tracks.

But the space mood doesn't mean this work is cold: on the contrary, emotions are fundamental here and you can almost touch them, especially when Attila Kollar's flute and the guitars add their sound to the keys. The resulting mix is something new and addictive to me. The choral parts are also worth a special mention, but the main treat is, IMHO, the way Solaris merge plain melodies and futuristic sounds. This is probably the most known Hungarian prog rock track ever, and I think it deserves such a widespread interest.