Trettioåriga Kriget - Hej Pä Er!


Year of Release: 2004
Label: MNW/NEG Network Entertainment Group
Catalog Number: MNWCD 2004
Format: CD
Total Time: 55:35:00

Trettioåriga Kriget's third release, Hej På Er! is a brighter release, the dark, heavy tones that permeated their first two aren't here. Dark tones are still present (listen to Stefan Fredin's bass in "Natten Som Ailtid"), but on this outing guitar (Christer Åkerberg) is much more prominent and displaying crisp, silvery tones. There's an almost danceable, disco-ish feel to "Stan Tur Och Retur"; that owes to Rhodes and the shimmery, wide-open keyboard textures (Mats Lindberg, also sax). But during the verses, it closes in to be a tight guitar/vocal piece and gets a funky-crunchy-70s-style groove for a section about halfway through. The year this was released was 1978/1979, and more so than disco, it is 70s rock a la Ambrosia, Player, etc. that one might think of (it's the snickering percussion in "Moln Pa Marken," and the jazzy, tight guitar soloing mostly).

It's a little more accessible, still complex, but a little more direct. Tracks are short, mostly in the 3 - 4 minute range (2 exceed 5 minutes), and yet a lot is packed into those few minutes without seeming cramped, or too "easy" either. Most tracks were written by Stefin Fredin (bass, rhythm guitar, bass pedals) and lyricist Olle Thörnvall. The sound that was heard on Elden Av År is heard here with the rocking title track. For brief moments, "Natten Som Ailtid" sounds a bit like the Guess Who's "No Time" and Grand Funk's "We're An American Band," but otherwise is a mid-tempo piece, with a bit of a folky feel. "Ser Du Mej" is churning rocker, with tinkly, xylophone-like keys, dark toned, dual guitars, throttling back for the verses to percussion, sparse keys and vocals where Robert Zima verily croons. "En Dag Om Natten" is heavier, the heaviest piece perhaps here, with its stuttering, sultry rhythm; some nice twin guitar leads intertwine. I swear that Marillion guitarist Steve Rothery must have heard this album, and copped the guitar solo that opens "Sugar Mice" from "Andra Sidan," because the opening guitar solo here - light, resonant and chiming - sounds quite a bit like the solo there, certainly in tone... In truth, I suspect its mere coincidence. The other prominent element is percussion, shimmery, silvery, and providing this piece a steady backbeat... Soft keys enter the mix soon after in a piece that could pass for Vangelis if you squint your eyes (or ears, in this case) and glide over its smooth surface. It's an instrumental, and develops into a soaring keyboard dominated piece (though the keys hint at parpiness and a smidgen of shrillness peppered throughout).

Versions of "Moln På Marken," "Dagspress" and "En Kvåli Hos X" appeared as bonus tracks on the reissue of Krissång, and the versions here on Hej På Er! don't vary wildy... though I'd say the sax on "Dagspress" as harsher, brassier tone, and it seems a bit more fusiony. The bonus tracks on this release, are the poppy, upbeat "Mot Alla Odds" (think a sunnier The Cure, oddly enough, mixed with the Kinks... ; at least that what came to mind for me), which becomes a rollicking rocker, letting Fredin let 'er rip on a fat bass line to lead the track to it's rave up ending; "Rapport," which has a throbbing bass and tart, soloing guitar to set things off; when vocals appear, it's a Swedish version of Talking Heads (think "Life During Wartime"); "Hur Stå Det Till?", written by Lundqvist and Thörnvall, a funky, tart-guitar, slinky-bass piece, that simultaneously sounds retro, like classic Bruce Springsteen (even down to Lindberg's sax playing), and yet also ahead of itself (parpy keys); it even manages to mix in lots of classic rock motifs and, just complete the picture, sci-fi laser-gun effects; and "Rockgift," which also has a 60s vibe to it, though here by way of a both a super-tight, screaming guitar and, at times, dark-surf guitar.

Hej På Er! is fun to listen to, quick-moving, yet still a 70s prog release that might just be their most accessible album ever. Well, any more accessible and the prog term would have to be dropped. A great addition to your prog collection, one you can dance to (though dacing to "Rockgift" might be exhausting, even at 2m 45s).

As with the Mellotronen reissues, this has a booklet - which regretfully I've either misplaced somewhere, or it was missing when it arrived, so I'm assuming that there are pictures and liner notes detailing the history of this album; previous liner notes were written by lyricist Thörnvall and gave a nice overview of the band's history and where the bonus tracks play their role.


Tracklisting:
Hej På Er! (4:30) / Natten Som Alltid (4:00) / Stan Tur Och Retur (4:00) / Moln Pä Marken (3:20) / Dagspress (4:15) / En KväLl Hos X (5:35) / Ser Du Mej (4:38) / En Dag Om Natten (3:14) / Andra Sidan (5:30) / Bonus Tracks: Mot Alla Odds (3:54) / Rapport (4:48) / Hur Stå Det Till? (4:27) / Rockgift (2:45)

Musicians:
Stefan Fredin - bass, rhythm guitar, bass pedals
Dag Lundquist - drums, percussion, violin
Robert Zima - vocals
Christer Åkerberg - electric and acoustic guitar
Mats Lindberg - keyboards, saxophone Olle Thörnvall - lyrics

Discography:
Trettioåriga Kriget (1974/2004)
Kriss&aing;ng (1976/1992/2004)
Hej P? Er (1978)
Mot Alla Odds (1979)
Kriget (1980)
War Memories (1992)
Om Kriget Kommer (1996)
Glorious war - Recordings from 1970-1971 (2004)
Elden Av År (2004)
I Börgen Och Slutet (2007)
Efter Efter (After After) (2011)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin SE

Added: May 16th 2006
Reviewer: Stephanie Sollow
Score:
Artist website: www.trettioarigakriget.com
Hits: 2457
Language: english

  

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