Omega Gammapolis (LP)

Logically, Omega didn't plan to divide their career into genre phases back then. Music journalists and fans - and among them especially statisticians - do that later. According to their interpretation, the second half of the seventies is considered the space rock era of the Hungarian band. It is represented by the trilogy “Time Robber” (1976), “Skyrover” (1978) and finally “Gammapolis” (1979).

Although spherical sounds could already be heard in the work of the Budapest quintet before and after this, Omega only really showed themselves to be so conceptually focused on this triple. If you continue to take the successful LP “Time Robber” as a measure of quality, “Gammapolis” also effortlessly kept up. The compositions of the group around singer Jànos Kòbor had become more melancholic, the bittersweet melodies flattering. This was particularly true of the seven-minute opener “Dawn In The City” (“Hajnal a város felett”), the title track “Gammapolis” and “Silver Rain” (“Ezüst esö”).

There are a few small differences between the Western European, English-language version and the Hungarian “original”, apart from the vocals and language, in the track order and song length. Minimally, Omega let the instrumental passages of some songs flow longer on the native language version. For the Western European Omega record buyers, however, these subtle differences had no relevance, as most of them were not even familiar with the Hungarian songs. Nor were they likely to have noticed that GAMMAPOLIS was the best-selling LP of the band's career in Omega's home country, selling almost three quarters of a million units. However, the German cover artwork differed considerably from the Hungarian version: while the Bacillus / Bellaphon version showed the silhouettes of the musicians in front of a night sky cut through by anti-aircraft searchlights, the Pepita album apparently depicted a futuristic but barren world on an alien planet.