Category: Albums
Soviet-era rock albums that defined and shaped the musical landscape—spanning influential releases, landmark achievements, and enduring classics for enthusiasts and newcomers alike.
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Aquarium — The Triangle (1981)
When you want something—not consciously, but with your whole being—it comes true. In the spring and summer of 1981, in a studio that quite literally fell from the sky into…
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Jimi Hendrix’s Cherry Garden: The First Soviet Psychedelic Rock Album (1973)
Despite Tropillo’s confidence as a pioneer, the album format in the USSR likely emerged a bit earlier than during his active period. Yuri Morozov, a musician and sound engineer who…
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The First Soviet Original Album Cover Art: On the Wave of My Memory (1976)
Until the 70s, Melodiya sleeves were pretty much all the same, except for a few rare ones that were sold abroad. Some were used as advertising space for Soviet monopolies,…
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Aquarium — Radio Africa (1983)
Two summers had already gone by with mass late-night bike rides through the then-popular resort of Solnechnoye (see Music of the Silver Spokes). That’s how the album began — first in…
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Aquarium — Thirst (1987)
One of the first 7-inch rock albums legally published on Melodiya, recorded by Tropillo. About a year after 10 arrows, Alexander Florensky was asked to design another record — this…
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Aquarium — 10 Arrows (1986)
The studio went under renovation (as it turned out later—forever), but the songs demanded immediate recording. (Maybe I’m wrong, but it always seemed to me that if a song is…
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Aquarium — Blue Album (1981)
In the summer of 1980, a barely familiar figure named Andrey Tropillo appeared out of nowhere and said, “I’ll help you.” The first sign of that help was a homemade…
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Kino — 45 (1982)
The debut Kino’s album was recorded at the Pioneers’ Palace, which later became the AnTrop studio, assembled by Andrei Tropillo from equipment collected from various organizations. Tropillo had already seen Tsoi and Rybin at an apartment concert,…
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Mify (Myths) — The Way Home (1980)
Mify’s hiatus lasted until 1980. A year earlier, Andrei Tropillo had set up what soon became the famed underground recording studio AnTrop and—after a year of experimenting with live tapes…