Enigmatic (album)

Enigmatic
Studio album by Czesław Niemen
Released	January 19, 1970
Genre	Progressive rock sung poetry
Length	36:17
Label	Polskie Nagrania Muza (LP)
Czesław Niemen chronology
Czy mnie jeszcze pamiętasz? (1969) Enigmatic (1970) Niemen (1971)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Teraz Rock	[1]

Enigmatic is the fourth album by Czesław Niemen released in 1970. It is considered to be the best Polish rock album ever.^[2][3] Inspired in 1968 by Wojciech Młynarski, Niemen decided to make his new album with Polish poetry as lyrics. Recorded in 1969, the album became very popular and was awarded with a golden record in 1971 (in Poland, Golden Records were awarded for selling 160,000 album copies). As of 2012, the album has sold in excess of 5 million copies around the world and remains very popular.

In 1974 "Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod" was rerecorded by Niemen in New York and issued by CBS Records International as "Mourner's Rhapsody". The supporting musicians included Michał Urbaniak of the original crew, John Abercrombie and some members of the famous Mahavishnu Orchestra.^[4]

In 1977 the "Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod" intro from the 1970 initial issue was bootlegged by the West German rock band Jane as intro for their elegiac album "Between Heaven and Hell"^[5] also immediately achieving golden record status.

Track listing[]

1. "Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod" - 16:27 (music Czesław Niemen, lyrics Cyprian Kamil Norwid)
2. "Jednego serca" - 7:45 (music Czesław Niemen, lyrics Adam Asnyk)
3. "Kwiaty ojczyste" - 7:25 (music Czesław Niemen, lyrics )
4. "Mów do mnie jeszcze" - 4:40 (music Czesław Niemen, lyrics Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer)

Personnel[]

• Czesław Niemen – vocal, Hammond organ
• Zbigniew Namysłowski – alto saxophone
• – bass
• – guitar
• – drums
• – tenor saxophone
• Michał Urbaniak – tenor saxophone, flute
• Alibabki – background vocals

References[]