With Polish progressive rock enjoying renewed international acclaim these days, it's worthwhile for students of the genre to revisit Poland's prog past. Essential to that playlist would be Collage, a neoprogressive band that formed in 1985 and arguably disbanded too soon – but not before leaving behind Moonshine, considered a symphonic-rock masterpiece in some circles. Changes was originally released in 1995 under the Polish title Zmiany as a collection — or a musical collage, if you will — of rare and previously unreleased recordings. It now resurfaces 11 years later in remastered format with an English album title and English song titles (despite the fact that most of the songs are sung in the band's native tongue), plus two previously unissued bonus tracks and two videos. Collage spread itself out over vastly more complicated arrangements than some of its British brethren, creating cinematic music that offered listeners a wide array of savvy instrumentation. Even on this collection of outtakes and demos, it's easy to hear that Collage was aiming for a slightly higher musical realm.
Drummer Wojtek Szadkowski would later go on to form Satellite with fellow ex-Collage members Robert Amirian on vocals and Mirek Gil on guitars, making music similar to Collage but not as exciting. Of course, a liner-notes essay would have explained all of this in much more detail than I ever could. But, alas, the booklet contains only a track-by-track roster of musicians and several photos. Still, Changes remains a credible if supplemental entry in Collage's catalog.
Track Listing:
1) Changes
2) Lullaby '87
3) We Wizards
4) The Night Falls
5) You and Me '88
6) Just Like Heaven Part 1
7) Just Like Heaven Part 2
8) Midnight Flyer
9) 38/39
10) Conversation '86
11) Lovely Day '92
12) The Blues '92
13) Sun Meadows
14) Old Romantic Style (Previously unreleased bonus track)
15) Living in the Moonlight (Previously unreleased bonus track)
16) God – Collage Live 1995 (Video)
17) One of Their Kind (Video)
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