For this part of the "Niemen story" we leave the "Niemen Od Poczatku" boxset and turn to a separate CD. The album presented here is not included in the boxset for a simple reason: it was not published in Poland at the time and has only recently became available there. For many years Niemen's "foreign" albums were in his own country a matter of legends and speculations and were virtually unknown to the general population. Only those who travelled to "The West", had enough "hard currency" and the wish to buy those albums could really appreciate this music. Well, some of their friends could too, but it still remains a shame that such great recordings done by Polish artists were not easily available in their native country. Yes, this was only one of the lesser "effects" of The Iron Curtain. Then, it was an annoyance. Now, it is a good example of life and its paradoxes during the bygone years...
At a first glance it might look like this is just an English language version of Niemen's first album recorded in Poland in 1967. At least the title might suggest that, "Strange Is This World" is just an English translation of "Dziwny jest ten swiat". But make no mistake, this is a completely different album. Even the title song is not easy to recognize being so different from its 1967 original. After all it was five years later and Niemen's music changed so much over these years. Besides, this album was recorded with a completely different group, basically the same musicians who recorded the album "Marionetki". However, this is not the same kind of music as on "Marionetki" either. Somewhat less into jazz and avantgarde (although those are still there), this is a true example of a great prog-rock, one that can be easily compared with the greatest prog albums of that time.
Track list:
1. Strange Is This World
2. Why Did You Stop Loving Me
3. I've Been Loving You Too Long
4. A Song For The Deceased
Lineup:
Czeslaw Niemen - organ, vocals;
Jozef Skrzek - piano, bass guitar, organ, harmonica;
Helmut Nadolski - double bass, cymbals;
Antymos Apostolis - guitar;
Jerzy Piotrowski - drums.
Although a little late (just a bit over 30 years :) ), this, and other Niemen's "foreign" albums, deserve to be known better, especially in the country where they would be most appreciated, but were not available...
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