Band: Kino
Release: 1982, 1996 (bonus track)
Runtime: 43-44 minutes for any album printed after 1996. Approximately 42 minutes for a Soviet or Early Russian release.
I will preface this review that it is hard to truly describe what makes this album special to an English speaking audience, so a bit of context.
There was a time in the USSR that "rock" music was banned, or rather, the culture that surrounded rock music during the 1950s and 1960s. Though this did not prohibit the existence of rock music it did create a system of bands that were state endorsed. State endorsed bands would be broadcasted on both television and radio, as well as having an effective monopoly on official and legal record and, later, audio cassette sales. This meant that all other bands without a state endorsement were stuck performing in places like restaurants. hat said, things started to change around the middle of the 1970s, when underground bands started becoming more prevalent. Concerts would usually occur mostly in private, oftentimes in basements and the like and audience groups were always kept small. That said, the popularity did not really start to reach its peak until the early 1980s, which is when the tale of Kino's debut album begins. Simply put, it was at the right pace at the right time.
While the music might sound dated to some, the music is more or less traditional for a smaller underground band, featuring two guitars, though these are played at a variety of tempos and in a few different styles. What really shines through, though, is the subject matter, which is what ultimately launched the band to fame, that is, it covered much of Soviet life that state sponsored bands were told not to cover, things such as poverty and (manual) labor in particular. As a result, this album receives a positive endorsement of this website. 8/10.