SBB

Greatest Polish (maybe even Eastern European) prog-rock band. At their earliest stage they were heavily influenced by Hendrix, Cream, Ten Years After, Canned Heat and other blues-rock groups. Their first albums show a great affection for the Mahavishnu Orchestra and some King Crimson with fantastic drumming, long guitar solos, distorted bass and beautiful piano playing. Late '70s output is kind of symphonic prog, with Skrzek's ever-growing keyboard collection dominating. Unlike their western peers they didn't have an embarassing 80s phase simply because they broke up in November 1980. They came back in the early 90s, released some live stuff. Proper reunion came about in the 2000s, with Paul Wertico on drums. The albums in the new millennium are somewhat lacking their early enthusiasm, and astonishing playing, yet are full of good compositions nevertheless, As of March 2018, almost 50 years after their formation the group is playing in their original trio lineup. Their archive radio recordings as well as live performances are constantly released (not unlike DGM's King Crimson's Collector's Club, or Deep Purple archives). Basically everything from the 70s is worth listening to, both regular albums, as well as archive live performances. Post reunion albums worth getting: The Rock and Za Linią Horyzontu.