Ω Omega "Idõrabló/Time Robber" 1976***

As I've written before, Omega were Hungary's greatest rock band and a significant musical export, mainly in Central Europe. Like most bands from the former "Soviet Bloc" they sang in their own language, probably to please the commissars. But who else in the whole world would willingly listen to rock sung in Hungarian? So they made a point of dual releases, one for the home crowd and one in English for export. This CD sensibly gathers both versions of their classic "Time Robber" album. The cover is certainly not the original of the international edition, which was a typical space rock affair. These Boney M-join-the-Cossack-cavalry outfits must have been the height of kitsch even in the 70's. What am I saying - they'd even be booed off the stage in an 80's Eurovision contest (even as I wrote it I realized that's not true - of course nothing can be too kitsch for Eurovision). Anyway, even if this was the original Hungarian LP cover, one would expect them to hide their hideous fashion crimes from the CD generation, but I guess there's a threshold beyond which kitsch becomes a form of expression. You never know, maybe Lady Gaga will wear one of these outfits on next year's Grammys. But enough about the cover, let's review the music. First of all, the English and Hungarian versions are identical except from the vocals. Opener "Napot Hoztam, Csillagot/House Of Cards" is an atmospheric song with gentle acoustic guitar and spacey moog keyboard. Singer Janos Kobor's English is accented but not bad, it certainly goes down easier than his native Hungarian. What bothers me most with the vocals are the echo effects. I think they heard this effect on a Pink Floyd album and decided to use it everywhere. Bad idea (although nowhere near as bad as the costumes on the cover). The first three tracks are actually connected to form a song suit, so "House Of Cards" blends into "Idõrabló/Time Robber", a song with an almost Southern Rock feel in the vocals and guitars (great bluesy solo here) while the 3rd part "Ablakok/ House Of Cards (Part Two)" reprises the moog-heavy atmospheres of the first. "A Névtelen Utazó/ Invitation" is a nice hard rocker with top-notch guitar and drums but almost ruined by a few seconds of intrusive spacey electronic effects in the beginning, middle and end. It's an otherwise radio-friendly song and was indeed a moderate hit in Germany. "Nélküled/Don't Keep Me On Waiting" is a psychedelic ballad with a heavy Pink Floyd influence, with excellent Gilmour-esque guitar and spacey keyboards. "A Könyvelõ Álma/An Accountant's Dream" is fast glam rock track with vocals reminiscent of Alex Harvey, Steve Harley or even Ziggy-era Bowie. "Éjféli Koncert/Late Night Show" has a similar vocal but a more complex composition. The first half is more of a glam power ballad while the instrumental second half is rich and atmospheric with great harpsichord and choral female vocals. Once more Omega prove themselves the equals of English/West European prog rockers. This CD (or just its English counterpart "Time Robber") should satisfy fans of Eloy, Pink Floyd, Uriah Heep etc. Plus there's certainly some added comedy value in the cover. 

***** for Nélküled/Don't Keep Me On Waiting

**** for Napot Hoztam Csillagot/House Of Cards, Éjféli Koncert/Late Night Show

*** for Idõrabló/Time Robber, Ablakok/House Of Cards (Part Two), A Névtelen Utazó/Invitation, A Könyvelõ Álma/An Accountant's Dream