Detailed Review [Zodiac - Overall View / "Zodiac" CD ]

Line-up: Janis Lousens - keyboards; Andris Reynis - drums; Ayvars Ashmanis - bass; Andris Silis - guitars; Zane Griva - drums

Line-up: J.Lousens - keyboards; A.Reynis - drums; Ivars Pilka - bass; Ayvars Goodrice - guitar (9 - 11, 13); Dzintars Sagens - guitar (8, 12, 14)

This disc of Zodiac, which for sure is well known by almost all of you, was released by "Boheme" at the end of last year and includes their first and second vynil records of the "Melodiya" label from the first half of the '80's (I've kinda heard that Zodiac has something else in stock, but plainly don't know). Well, space- rock is space- rock as this style (regardless of the fact that such music has existed before) was named after the widely famous and pretty popular French group Space. The last time I heard them was very long ago, when I was a barely clever schoolboy – just at the peak of their popularity. As long as I remember, hearing Zodiac then (and how could it be not to hear them?) it seemed their music was even slightly more complex than Space's music (by that time I had been already listening to Genesis, Yes, Black Sabbath, etc for a long time, so I was able to discern things). While too sugary keyboard passages of Marouani eclipsed all the rest, I noticed as well a good play of Zodiac guitarist beside Griva's passages a-la Marouani. Space hit upon an idea of an active guitar and altogether more or less solid creative work only when reforming Space into PFT (Paris-France-Transit). In a word, if till now Tangerine Dream (everywhere) is related to Progressive, - the band whose only early works are really of interest in their own way, then the level of progressiveness of either Zodiac or Tangers of the same time (i.e.the first half of the 80's) is quite comparable (I had to listen to Tangerine things of the '80's lately). The second album of Zodiac with its variety of themes may not give up to the first, though serious changes in the line-up did occur. On the whole, it's the same space-rock, but again with a more or less intensive guitar playing (in contrast to many spacey acts, where keyboards run almost every show). Using the term for cigarettes' strength, I can say the following: Zodiac is one of the most melodic specimen (spacemen?) of (not even Neo, but still) Light Progressive space-Rock.