This was super enjoyable! Right up my alley. Thanks for sharing!
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If you like 70s music, highly recommended!
https://open.qobuz.com/track/44394719
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That album cover… 
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Ha! They’re great, but the albums covers look like ‘Awkward Family Photos’ or from one of those ‘Worst Album Cover’ ever articles! A lot of great 70s synth, prog, heavy Pink Floyd / Uli Jon Roth (slowed way down) - like guitar. They were huge in Hungary apparently.
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Back in that era, many local, independent, low-budget music publishers imitated the major labels as well as they could. They often made money too. I think these guys got pushed into doing it (see the Johnny Cougar → John Mellancamp story). This cover aims for the Led Zeppelin, Queen, Aerosmith feel, but was executed using costumes from a high school play. The photographer didn’t even know how to get them to have conscious facial expressions. Producers forced many other bands into following awkward contemporary styles in the 1980s (especially hair metal) and 1990s (especially grunge/alternative) too.
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Lol, my wife asked what I was laughing about. I showed that album cover and paraphrased @generic’s priceless explanation. She said, “looks like a turkey. Perfect for Thanksgiving.”
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@generic - they were in Hungary in the communist era, really kind of underground at the time when the very idea of ‘rock music’ there was pretty radical and subversive. Also they were space rock, so combine that with an isolated Soviet-controlled scene and you’re going to get some weird looks! (They’re still active to this day.) And maybe because of limitations, the production of the music, although hi-res not available, sounds really very good on streaming.
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Is it just me or does the guy on the lower left look like Conan O’Brien?
Anyway you talked me into it @tjg. I decided to check them out. After all, according to their bio they are “The most successful Hungarian rock band in history.”
Judging from these album covers, I’m not sure they always take them seriously:
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I take back what I wrote to @tjg. This band was obviously sarcastic and imitated the low budget look on the turkey cover. These covers are great.
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The music is pretty good too! If you’re into classic rock.
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Doing some nostalgia - for when I visited Argentina for a year 1968-69
I was in secondario, about 9th-10th grade in US terms. One of the classes we had as a phys-ed non-elective was baile folklorico - or folk dancing.
We learned Queca, Zamba (Argentine style) and several other styles. I can still recall trying to get the footwork right to the beat of “salchichas con pan”
One of the classic groups was Los Chalchaleros. I recommend listening to Viva Jujuy.
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Thanks cpp (that type treatment and lightning bolt just begs checking out the artist!) I dug through the Alvin Lee catalog and really liked Friday the 13th on the album Rocket Fuel from ‘78 too.
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@generic - Oh I’m sure they were trying their best to be ‘cool’ for the time when they shot that turkey cover! But I like the music anyway.
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Anyone else getting a huge amount of graininess/distortion towards the end of Johnny Cash’s cover of Hurt?
I’m trying to figure out if it’s just me or if they mastered it that way.
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It’s the album, not your setup. Very flat and grainy – the vocals were boosted during recording or mastering. I use I Hung My Head from that album (“American IV”) to assess the impact of the Loudness Wars. A wide variety of music released between the late 1990s and 2010 was very poorly mastered. This content is too loud, has no dynamics, and sounds very harsh. Post-2010 music was also often heavily compressed, but generally uses better production methods.
I use music from the 1980s and before to contrast with more recent (and damaged) content. See this thread for more:
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That’s very unfortunate.
I’m glad it’s not my setup, but it’s a shame that that song fell victim to the loudness wars as well.
Thank you for the recommendation! I’ll check that thread out.
On a brighter note, I’ve been enjoying the h#ck out of Moe Shop on the Focal Elegia.
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