THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
766) Omega — “H., Az Elektromos Fűrész”/”H. , The Electric Saw”
Mind-blowing instrumental from Hungary’s greatest rock band’s (see #195, 644) third album — Éjszakai Országút (On the Highway at Night). The album (and song) are “full of energetic heavy prog rock with acid spices – guitar riffs, stomping rhythm section and nice Hammond organ backing.” (http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=116173)
ÉLŐ OMEGA tells us that:
The [album’s] title itself is a symbol. A wanderer walking or driving by car on the highway at night often sees a world different from the daytime reality, his imagination expands and the possibility of imagination multiplies. Gábor Presser, the author of most Omega numbers, said at the press conference held at the release of the album: “Most of the good ideas and melody sketches come to mind when after the concert, we are tired on the way home by bus and we stare at the night with closed eyes.”
https://www.facebook.com/azeloomega/posts/3411027452243081/
About Omega, Yuri German tells us:
The most successful Hungarian rock band in history, Omega was formed in 1962 in Budapest by a group of friends. The lineup changed several times during Omega’s early years and there was no consistent music style to speak of. As with many other rock groups of the early ’60s, the band’s repertory largely consisted of songs by popular British bands of the period. Only in 1967, when they were joined by Gábor Presser (keyboards, vocals), did they began recording their own songs and issuing a few singles. Presser’s mixture of rock with elements of jazz and folk proved to be a winning formula. In 1968, John Martin, the manager of the Spencer Davis Group, invited them for a tour in Great Britain, where they recorded the album Omega: Red Star from Hungary for the Decca label. Later that year, they issued their first Hungarian LP . . . . The band sealed their success with two subsequent LPs, 10,000 Lépés . . . and Éjszakai Országút (On the Highway at Night) (1970).
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/omega-mn0001073347
Vibrationbaby proclaims that:
If Omega had been singing in English and didn’t have to contend with political restrictions which were in effect back in the sixties in communist ruled Eastern Europe they would have definitely made a mark on the western charts way before 1973 when they began recording in English on [a] West German label . . . . Although they had briefly played various gigs in England including the Marqee Club and released a partial album in 1968 on the Decca label it wasn’t until 1969/70 that they really started making their mark with the albums 10,000 Lepes (10,000 Steps) and Edszakai orzogut (On the Road at Night) which both went gold in their native land. The material on On the Road at Night is a very interesting combination of some very trippy psychedelia as well as some romantic ballads which seem to draw from their Hungarian folk roots and not unlike songs that were being produced by contemporary western bands in the late sixties.
http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=116173
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