PIRAMIS - "PIRAMIS" (1977)

Piramis was the most popular rock band in Hungary during the late Seventies.
This is their debut album, their only one that I would classify as progressive rock, just before switching into a more conventional hard rock sound.
The band had a strong appeal on male rock music listeners, thanks to their powerful and elaborate arrangements, but also among the female audience, with frontman and singer Sándor Révész being considered a sex symbol. 

Their lyrics had to satisfy the authority, avoiding subversive slogans and political suggestions, but this didn't prevent them from producing great music, incorporating in their songs funk, jazz fusion, and classical elements, but also local influences from the likes of space-prog legends Omega. 
Every member helped during the songwriting process, with keyboard player Péter Gallai being the main composer. He also provided lead vocals in songs such as "Ki tudja, hol van", with its adorable cabaret atmosphere.

The album sold more than 100.000 copies at the time, and the ballad "Ha volna két életem" is still one of the most popular Hungarian songs ever.

Péter Gallai: vocals + keyboards

Lajos Som: bass

Závodi János: guitars

Miklós Koves: drums

Sándor Révész: vocals (and some guitar, I suppose, since he's credited as one of the composers of the instrumental jam "A fénylő piramisok árnyékában")

DOWNLOAD (kbps: 320)

INDEXI - "INDEKSI" (cassette, 1972)

This rare, never-reissued cassette was Indexi's first full-lenght release. It wasn't a proper album, but more of an anthology of unreleased songs recorded from 1969 to 1972. 

This garagey proto-progressive style was already surpassed by the time of its release, but the songs were still powerful, dynamic, and perfectly crafted. 
In fact, some of them are so amazing that I prefer this record to the symphonic prog classic "Modra rijeka" (1978), which is usually considered Indexi's masterpiece.

The delay between some of the recording sessions and the cassette release must be taken in account too. The epic suite "Negdje na kraju, u zatišju" may have sounded dated in 1972, but it surely wasn't in 1969, when progressive rock was at the beginning.

Sadly, the cassette didn't sell well, and these songs remained an underground affair, despite Indexi being the most popular band from Bosnia at the time.

Tracklist:
1. "Dan kao ovaj" (1970)
(Fadil Redžić/Boriša Falatar)
2. "Hej ti" (1972)
(Ljupčo Konstantinov/Maja Perfiljeva)

3. "Da li postoji ljubav" (1971)

(Milan Đajić/Nikola Borota) 
4. "Najljepše stvari" (1969)
(Slobodan Kovačević/Nikola Borota)
5. "Ja odlazim sutra" (1971)
(Slobodan Kovačević/Nikola Borota)
6. "Negdje na kraju, u zatišju" (1969)
(Slobodan Kovačević/Želimir Altarac)
7. "Galijom sna" (1969)
(Fadil Redžić)

Indexi were:
Davorin Popović - vocals (all tracks)
Slobodan Kovačević - guitar (all tracks)
Fadil Redžić - bass (all tracks)
Miroslav Šaranović - drums (all tracks)
Ismet "Nuno" Arnautalić - guitar (tracks 4, 6, 7)
Ranko Rihtman - keyboards (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7)
Enco Lesić - keyboards (track 2)
Đorđe Novković - keyboards (track 4)
(Keyboard player on track 5 is uncertain. Probably Rihtman or Lesić)

Please note - I uploaded some tracks in two versions: one straight from the old cassette and one from the digital remasters. Unfortunately, tracks 3, 4, and 7 have never been remastered.

DOWNLOAD (kbps: 320)