01	Book Of Prophecies (Part One)						02:45
	02	Book Of Prophecies (Part Two)						13:11
	03	Book Of Prophecies (Part Three)						04:33
	04	The Duel						07:18
	05	The Lion's Empire						06:39
	06	Wings Of The Phoenix						04:52
	07	Ship Of Darkness						05:51
	08	Wargames						04:27
	09	The Moment Of Truth (Part One)						05:00
	10	The Moment Of Truth (Part Two)						01:53
	11	Book Of Prophecies (Radio Edit)						03:27

Solaris: Nostradamus: Book of Prophecies
Periferic (BGCD 025)
Hungary 1999

Bogdan Csaba, guitar;
Erdesz Robert, organ, synths;
Gomor Laszlo, drums;
Kisszabo Gabor, bass;
Kollar Attila, flute, vocals;
Pocs Tamas, bass;

with
Ullmann Zsuzsa, vocals;
Demeter Gyorgy, vocals;
Gerdesits Ferenc, tenor vocals;
Bator Tamas, bass vocals;
Varga Janos, guitar;
Vamos Zsolt, guitar;
Muck Ferenc, saxophone

Tracklist:
1. Book of Prophecies part 1 - 2:45
2. Book of Prophecies part 2 - 13:11
3. Book of Prophecies part 3 - 4:33
4. The Duel - 7:18
5. The Lion's Empire - 6:39
6. Wings of the Phoenix - 4:52
7. Ship of Darkness - 5:51
8. Wargames - 4:27
9. The Moment of Truth part 1 - 5:00
10. The Moment of Truth part 2 - 1:53
11. Book of Prophecies radio edit - 3:26

total time 59:55

Sean McFee:
Solaris is back, after a lengthy absence. From the opening track, with its Latin vocals, one gets the impression this one may have a different sound compared to prior efforts. This is a more intense offering, with a more prominent role for the guitarist. This sometimes causes the music to suffer, as the Gilmour-ish leads clash with the operatic aspirations of the choral Latin and the serious classicism of Solaris' other melodic parts. When it stays in theme with the rest of the instruments it's quite a welcome touch though.
It's nice to see Solaris trying a few different variations on their familiar theme. Nevertheless, I can't help but feel a little ho hum about this album. I keep waiting for something to hit as hard as the title suites of Marsbeli Kronikak or 1990, but that never happens. True, the main theme of "Book of Prophecies" has the requisite level of majesty, and this is definitely recognizable as a Solaris album, but on the whole it seems like a step down. The band writes in the liners that they miss deceased former member Istvan Cziglan, but I wonder if they miss him in more ways than one.

Brandon Wu:
A somewhat surprisingly good release from a band which is extremely inconsistent in terms of quantity of releases, but pretty consistent when it comes to quality. This one is similar to Marsbeli Kronikak in that there's one big epic that takes up three tracks, and a slew of shorter tracks rounding it out. While the epic on this one isn't as good as the incredible "Martian Chronicles" from the first album, the supporting cast of shorter tracks is far superior to those found on the debut. There's much more variety, with different styles and some world music influence. Solaris' synthesizer and keyboard sound is back, but with a lot more burning guitar, more interesting drumming, and more funky bass. The music ranges from grand, sweeping symphonic to downright metal-influenced heavy riffing. It's almost uniformly good, but still not quite good enough to raise it to true "classic" status. And nothing is quite as good as "Marsbeli Kronikak" (the song). Nevertheless, a pleasant surprise and a good find for any symphonic-rock fan!


Solaris - Nostradamus: Book Of Prophecies

Released: 1999
Label: Stereo KFT
Cat. No.:
Total Time: 58:42


Review courtesy John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, February 2000
It was thanks to the people at Progfest that the Hungarian legend Solaris got back together again in '95. Their performance at Progfest was such a feast that the members decided to fully reform Solaris and start the recording of a new studio album. The very Camel-like music with lots of fantastic flute playing got the band raving reviews wherever they went. The band's interest into the "unknown" and "predictions" got them in the neighbourhood of Nostradamus who soon became the subject of their next studio album. Unfortunately this album had to be recorded without founder member guitarist Cziglan Istvan who died in December 1998. His role is sort of rescheduled with a major part reserved for flute player Attila Kollar.

Throughout this album runs a certain theme which rears its ugly head in regular intervals. This theme is predominantly apparent during "Book Of Prophecies," a song that in its 20 minutes contains all possible musical styles, from typical classical to bluesy and even Gregorian (the choir of the state's opera!). In fact Solaris doesn't produce obtrusive music but songs which illustrate the well-considered meaning of the word music, of the meaning of melody, without losing out of sight the very important roots. The strength lies in the melody, which, like a soft breeze, enables the listener to cool down at the right moment of time within the song structure. In the appropriately titled "The Duel," flute and Hammond battle it out in order to reach "The Moment Of Truth" by means of "Wargames." Let's hope most of Nostradamus' predictions will prove to be wrong so that one day we'll be able to witness Solaris live once again!

More about Nostradamus: Book Of Prophecies:

Track Listing: Book Of Prophecies (20:35) / The Duel (7:20) / The Lion's Empire (6:40) / Wings Of The Phoenix (5:08) / Ship Of Darkness (5:46) / Wargames (4:28) / The Moment Of Truth (6:40) / Book Of Prophecies - Radio Edit (3:25)

Musicians:
Bogdan Csaba - guitar
Erdesz Robert - keyboards
Gom?r Laszlo - drums
Kisszabo Gabor - bass
Kollar Attila - flute, vocals
Pocs Tamas - bass

Contact:


Website: www.solarismusic.com
Note: will open new browser window

Email: solaris@solarismusic.com

Marsbeli Kronikak (1983)
1990 (1990)
Live In Los Angeles (1996)
Nostradamus (1999)





Solaris [Hungary]

Discography
Rockhullam (Rockwave) (80, Single?)
Eden/Ellenpont (Eden/Counterpoint) (81, Single)
Marsbeli Kronikak (The Martian Chronicles) (84)
1990 (90)
Live In Los Angeles (96)
Nostradamus, Profeciak konyve (Nostradamus, The Book Of Prophecies)(99)
Back to the Roots ... (00, Live "official bootleg" from 1980)


Reviews
Solaris (reunion line-up, 1990) - Atilla Kollar (flute), Csaba Bogdan (guitar), Gabor Kisszabo (bass), Tamas Pocs (bass), Robert Erdesz (keyboards), Istvan Cziglan (guitars), Laszlo Gomor (drums)

Their first album Marsbeli Kronikak or the "Martian Chronicles" is an album with quite a reputation, Solaris deliver a heavily symphonic rock with lots of great guitar and flute and real drums unlike the electronic ones on their second one, Solaris 1990.

Excellent instrumental band from Hungary. Their music contains elements of Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons and Jethro Tull. They have two releases to date, both excellent! Their first release The Martian Chronicles is an ultra classic, and an absolute must for any prog rock collection.
Highly recommended. Flutes, keyboards, guitar, drums in that order of prominence. No vocals, unless you count the squeaking of the Martians on their first album. Until I heard this group, I didn't think I could like any group that was entirely instrumental. Beware: 1990 was released as a double LP, but side 3 was cut when the album was tansferred to a single CD. Both albums are great. I've since caught on to many other instrumental bands, but few of those can touch Solaris.
Solaris is a recent Hungarian band that I know next to nothing about. There are extensive liner notes with the Marsbeli Kronikak CD but they are written in Japanese. Solaris 1990, a more guitar dominated album than the former release. On Marsbeli Kronikak, the six part title suite, "The Martian Chronicles," is over 20 minutes long and will appeal to any fan of Pink Floyd and Richard Wright circa Wish You Were Here. This epic is the album's showcase. Parts 1-3 of the suite state the theme and the flute, guitar, and keyboards take turns developing it. Though continuously developing, I never had the impression the music dragged on too long. By the fourth part, the band is cooking with wonderful interplay between flute, guitar, and some really nice synth. None of the players are particularly outstanding musicians but together they create a breathtaking, spatial atmosphere where flute and synthesizer go on forever. Though the rest of the songs are shorter, they all sound to me to be variations on the main theme which gives a cohesive feel to the album. The Martian Chronicles isn't for everyone here, but I think many of you would enjoy it. The rest of the album is quite listenable if not always equal to "The Martian Chronicles." I've tried turning two friends onto Solaris. One attempt was very successful and the other was a flop. If you listen only for excellent musicianship, then forget this album. When I'm in that mood, I don't listen to this album, either. But I often find "The Martian Chronicles" suite very exhilarating and am sure many of you would, too. -- Mike Taylor
Solaris' sound tends to blend metallic rock theatrics with a heavy electronic influence, bright melodies, powerful dynamics and pyrotechnic guitar and keyboard outbursts. Flute plays an important part in their melodic statement, also the influence of classical music and eastern European folk themes; There are no convenient comparisons here, but there are some paralells with Jethro Tull, Focus, Horslips and others. Both albums are outstanding.
Solaris 1990 is a brilliant CD of prime progressive rock driven by keyboards and punctuated by very proficient flute leads. These guys have taken a leaf out of the books of Camel, ELP and the like, and have added orchestral backing on some tracks to create a 70-minute masterpiece.
I'll say it again, I love these guys! Great instrumental prog-rock. Should appeal to fans of Jethro Tull and Camel. Definitely worth the expense.
The band Solaris was formed in 1980 by some university and college students: Istvan Cziglan (guitars), Robert Erdesz (keyboards), Attila Kollar (flute), Attila Seres (bass), Vilmos Toth (drums). This formation has only one recording, the song "Solaris" which appeared on Rockhullam (I don't if this is a single, album or a Hungarian rock collection) and later on the Marsbeli kronikak. In the next year Attila Seres and Vilmos Toth left the band and they were replaced by Gabor Kisszabo on bass and Ferenc Raus on drums and came another guitarist, Csaba Bogdan. This new formation released another single and had about 10 radio recordings. Then came some other changes in membership the band remained: Istvan Cziglan on guitars, Robert Erdesz on keyboards, Laszlo Gomor on drums, Tamas Pocs on bass and Attila Kollar on flute. This formation recorded and released The Martian Chronicles, had a lot of concerts and was broken up because the one and only Hungarian recording company wasn't interested in progressive rock. Some of the members formed the popular group Napoleon Boulevard (or Napoleon Bld.), a popular band which played pop music, not a very bad one, but pop. Seeing their succes (over 1 million LP-s sold in three years) THE recording company invited them to make another Solaris LP. A part of the contract was the releasing of the old materials. This was Solaris 1990, a double LP which appeared later on a single CD without the B side of the second disc. Later, the whole material appeared on a double CD with two bonus tracks included. Then came another long silence, the band's existence practically came to an end, the members joined other formations, when they received an invitation to the Progfest in L.A. The material of this concert appeared in their Live in Los Angeles album. This concert was followed by another at the Rio Art Rock Festival, The Martian Chronicles was released in Japan and these gave the band the courage to make a new album: Nostradamus (without Laszlo Cziglan who died meanwhile).
Solaris' music is a bit "lumpy" with an instrumentation what remindes me to the early heavy metal bands. Something like Barclay James Harvest, but more aggressive guitar and drum playing. The band uses many instruments, but not in an orchestra-like way. Every instrument is accentuated, has it's own "personality", without suppressing each other, altogether the music sounds good. It has an electric sound, like ELP or Tangerine Dream. The drums give a strong rhythmical base, with a low-key bass what the guitar, keyboards and flute are doing their job on, with much fantasy. Overall, it's a good music with a powerful and quite unique sound. -- Balint Akos