Black Album (Kino album)
The unnamed[1] album (known colloquially as Black Album (Russian: Чёрный альбом, Chorny albom, and sometimes just named Kino) is the eighth and final studio album of the Soviet rock group Kino. It was released in December 1990 by Metadigital on vinyl. The rough demo version was recorded in the Latvian village Plieņciems shortly before the death of the frontman Viktor Tsoi in a car crash. The remaining members of Kino completed the album as a tribute to Tsoi.
Kino | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 1990 | |||
Recorded | 1990, Plienciems, Latvia | |||
Genre | New wave, post-punk, gothic-rock | |||
Length | 48:08 | |||
Label | Metadigital Moroz Records (1999 remaster) | |||
Producer | Yury Kasparyan Igor Tikhomirov | |||
Kino chronology | ||||
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The album's producer Yuri Aizenshpis[2] said that the demo tape survived inside Tsoi's car when he crashed fatally. But the band's guitarist Yuri Kasparyan disputed this and stated that it was in his own car.
It was originally released on vinyl by the studio Metadigital in December 1990. On this original vinyl issue, no track names were given, just the text Producer: Yu. Aizenshpis and a photo of the band. A lyric sheet was included, but the songs were just titled 1 to 8. The track names were revealed on the 1994 CD reissue on Moroz.[3]
The album is best remembered for the song "Cuckoo" ("Кукушка"), which many fans consider to be a (even if unwitting) swan song for the band. Themes the song touches on range from mortality to existential guilt. It became one of the band's most well-known songs.
Track listing
- "Кончится лето" (Summer is Ending) – 5:55
- "Красно-жёлтые дни" (Reddish-Yellow Days) – 5:49
- "Нам с тобой" ((For) You and Me) – 4:49
- "Звезда" (Star) – 4:29
- "Кукушка" (Cuckoo) – 6:39
- "Когда твоя девушка больна" (When Your Girlfriend is Ill) – 4:20
- "Муравейник" (Anthill) – 5:17
- "Следи за собой" (Watch Yourself) – 4:59
- "Сосны на морском берегу" (Pines at the Sea Shore) – 5:16
- "Завтра война" (War Tomorrow) – 0:35
Tracks 9 and 10 were added to the 1998 remaster by Moroz. As stated above, the tracks did not have names until 1994, so fans made up their own names for these songs.
Personnel
- Viktor Tsoi (Виктор Цой) – Vocals, Guitar
- Yuri Kasparyan (Юрий Каспарян) – Lead Guitar
- Igor Tikhomirov (Игорь Тихомиров) – Bass Guitar
- Georgy Guryanov (Георгий Гурьянов) – Drum Machine
Covers
The song Кукушка (Cuckoo) was covered by Polina Gagarina in the 2015 movie Battle for Sevastopol and by Zemfira.
References
- Калгин 2016, p. 528.
- Летопись: Виктор Цой Archived 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine
- В последнюю осень уходят поэты…