Comrade Lenin
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Comrade Lenin was a Soviet era Heavy Metal band that was formed in the summer of 1976 and formed it's final line up in 1978. The band formally dissolved on November 15, 1997, 2 days before a show in Moscow on November 17 as a tribute to the November revolution
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[edit] The Humble Beginnings
Comrade Lenin, known then as November Revolution gathered together on the outskirts of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) at Drummer Gervert Triktovich grandparent's farm in the summer of 1976 with 3 Bolshoi/Sovtek Premier amps, one Brochev Cossak electric guitar, a Vroege 8-string bass, and an illegally obtained western Kramer broad-caster drum set. Little did any of the band members or any one in their small underground following for that matter know that by the spring of 1985 that they would become one of the most famous eastern European heavy metal band in the world.
[edit] line up as of 1976
The 1976 line up for November Revolution:
Lead Singer/Bass Player: Alexandr Martove- born in the Volga river valley in 1957 were shortly after his birth his family moved to the city of Leningrad. By the age of 17 Alexandr had obtained a his signature Vroege 8-string bass and had become a fan of the progressive western rock band Rush (specifically Geddy Lee) after he caught his older brother listening to their latest album.
Lead Guitar: Vladimir Krischev- Born in 1956 in a small town in northern Finland Vladimir began playing and studying classical guitar by the age of 8 and by 14 had obtained a worn Ural electric guitar and began teaching himself to play a mix of classical guitar and heavy metal.
Drums/Percussion: Gervert Triktovich- The only member of the band to be born in the city of Leningrad. Not much is know about his past other than his parents die tragically when he was 7 and he was there after sent to live with his grandparents on their farm out side Leningrad.
Synthesizer: Dimitri Korchiv- born in Ukraine in the fall of 1958, Dimitri was the youngest member of the band and his past remains unknown.
Side note: It is rumored that Boris Grebenschikov of Aquarium fame was the original lead guitarist and singer of the band for a short period of time until he was removed from the band for complaining about the bands pro-communist stance as well as their preference for electrified instruments. All though this myth has never been proven to be fact by either Gremenschikov or the members of Comrade Lenin it remains one of the most popular stories surrounding the band.
[edit] The Final Line up (1978)
Lead Singer/Bass Player: Alexandr Martove- born in the volga river valley in 1957 were shortly after his birth his family moved to the city of Leningrad. By the age of 17 Alexandr had obtained a his signature Vroege 8-string bass and had become a fan of the progressive western rock band Rush (specifically Geddy Lee) after he caught his older brother illegally listening to their latest album.
Lead Guitar: Nikolia Ulyanov- born in Moscow in 1955, Nikolia had shown a natural affinity for the guitar at an early age so his father gave him his grandfather's old Vroga acoustic guitar and began teaching his son classical Russian guitar and By the age of 19 Nikolia had switched to electric and purchased his prized Vroege Hammer Special which garnered a lot of respect for him in the underground scene.
Backing Guitar: Vladimir Krischev- Born in 1956 in a small town in northern Finland Vladimir began playing and studying classical guitar by the age of 8 and by 14 had obtained a worn Ural electric guitar (replaced in 77 by a Brochev Cossack) and began teaching him self to play a mix of classical guitar and heavy metal. With the introduction of Nikolia Ulyanov into the band Vladimir switched to backing guitar.
Drums/Percussion: Gervert Triktovich- The only member of the band to be born in the city of Leningrad. Not much is know about his past other than his parents die tragically when he was 7 and he was there after sent to live with his grandparents on their farm out side Leningrad.
Synthesizer: Dimitri Korchiv- born in the Ukraine in the fall of 1958 Dimitri was the youngest member of the band and his past remains unknown.
[edit] Discography (1985-1995)
[edit] Revolution (1986)
The debut album of Comrade Lenin was pressed by the Mosrecording label on April 7th 1986. The Album was intended to be recorded at the Mosrecordings MRU (Mobile Recoding Unit) but due to an electrical fire in mid December of 1985 which resulted in the destruction of the unit special permission was obtained from the state to begin the recording of Revolution at the prestigious Bolshoi Theater in Moscow Between December 18, 1985 and May 6, 1986. In all 42 tracks were recorded during the Bolshoi sessions and of those 42 tracks 22 were final takes ready for mixing and of the 22 tracks 18 were chosen to mix and of the 18 tracks mixed 11 were chosen to be released on the Album.
Track List:
- Side I:
- 1. Comrade Lenin (5:01)
- 2. Revolution (3:31)
- 3. The Winter Palace (4:24)
- 4. Fallen Heroes (3:06)
- 5. The Kremlin (4:44)
- Side II:
- 1. The Iron Thrash (3:31)
- 2. Exile (4:56)
- 3. Siberia (4:36)
- 4. Russian Blues (4:33)*
- 5. Soviet Slide (3:34)
- 6. Reformation (4:40)
- 7. Petrograd Rising (2:59)
- *Unreleased bonus track added to the 1989 CD reprint
[edit] Don't Press The Bear (1987 Live In Red Square)
The Second album from Comrade Lenin was a 3 LP album containing a live only album that covered the first two records while the third record contained encores of songs off their first album as well as a few live version of some unreleased Bolshoi session tracks. The Tone of Don't Press The Bear was a far cry from the completely Instrumental Heavy Metal Ballads of Revolution. The album focused on the growing tensions between Soviet republics and the mother land as well as the rising tensions between Russian and the rest of the world (the US in particular). Though the Moscow concert was the third show on the tour it was the Moscow recordings that were used for the album all thought most of the pictures on the inside of the tri-gate fold are from the Finland and Amsterdam shows.
Track Listing:
- Record 1
-
- Side I:
- 1. The Soviet Anthem (7:67)
- 2. No Comrades of ours... (6:45)
- 3. The Hords At The Wall (5:55)
-
- Side II:
- 1. Don't Press The Bear (10:01)
- 2. The Face That Lies (4:03)
- 3. Atomic Reckoning (3:02)
- Record 2
-
- Side III:
- 1. Pravda (3:02)
- 2. The Deadly Truth (5:08)
- 3. Untold Dreams and Fears (6:05)
- 4. Soviet Sunrise (3:36)
- 5. The East (2:56)
-
- Side IV:
- 1. The Mother Land (4:32)
- 2. No Looking Back (2:54)
- 3. A New Dawn (4:47)
- 4. Khrushchev (7:45)
- 5. The Other side (3:04)
- Record 3
-
- Side V:
- 1. Soviet Slide (5:50)
- 2. The Kremlin (4:56)
- 3. KGB (3:30)*
- 4. Exile (4:58)
- 5. Petrograde Rising (3:26)
-
- Side VI:
- 1. The Iron Thrash (6:23)
- 2. Red November (3:46)*
- 3. Revolution (4:34)
- 4. Russian Blues (4:44)*
- 5. Siberia (4:45)
- *Unreleased tracks
[edit] Bolshevik (1988)
Originally titled Revolution in November (an obvious reference to the Bolshevik revolution as well as the bands original name) the third Comrade Lenin album was a 2 LP record and it was also their second studio recorded album, it was again published by Mosrecordings. All though the bulk of this album was made up of brand new material a portion of the tracks off this album came from a unfinished recording project that the band had started at the Bolshoi theater after they finished work on Revolution, before the Bolshoi License expired and because of this fact the unfinished takes of KGB, Trotsky, Prolaterian, The Unbreakable Union, Red November, and Power struggle had to be finished at the Mosrecording studio and the distinct resonance of the Bolshoi theater had to be electronically recreated to mix the necessary instruments "seamlessly" into the preexisting recordings.
Track Listing:
Record 1
Side I
1.Lenin (1:04)
2.What is To Be Done (2:57)
3.Prolaterian (3.43)
4.Red November (4:54)
5.Inside The Kremlin Walls (5:36)
Side II
1.Civil War (3:56)
2.Victory (2:12)
3.The Unbreakable Union (4:34)
4.Politburo (1:45)
5.Soviet International (6:45)
Record 2
Side III
1.Assassin (3:02)
2.KGB (2:34)
3.Kamenev (2:56)
4.Trotsky (2:23)
5.The Tomb (4:12)
Side IV
1.Power struggle (10:05)
2. Stalin (0:34)
3.The Purges (1:56)
[edit] World Tours and European tours
Comrade Lenin only did one world tour and that was the 1987 Don't Press the Bear Tour. The European leg of the tour was quote "very enjoyable" for the band but that would change upon their arrival in the united states were the band was met by a group of angry protester shouting anti-Russian slogans like "Commies go home" etc. The rest of the tours would be fraught with more anti-Russian protesters and venue issues (Like the arena in Aurora backing out of the deal because the band refused to not play their version of the Soviet Anthem) that the band would only make it the the fourth US city on the tour (Aurora, IL) were they played at an old corn field behind Comrades as seen in Wayne's World (the real Comrades was not actually in the city of Aurora but on the out skirts in the middle of old farm land)
The band would continue to do European tours (and a South American tour in 1992) for the next 4 albums but would not venture a US/European tour for the remainder of their music careers.
[edit] Mic Events
- Nikolia Ulyanov with David Lee Roth
Following the 1986 release of Revolution the band went on temporary hiatus until their future with Mosrecordings was secured. Only Nikolia Ulyanov and Alexandr Martove stayed in Leningrad for the majority of the hiatus. After bumming around Leningrad for a few month Nikolia decided to visit his family in Moscow and seeing as Alexandr had never been to Moscow he decided to tag along. Shortly after their arrival they ran into with future Russian heavy metal stars Boris Marschev (Lead Guitarist of the band Khrushchev) and Andrew Petrov (Drummer for Leningrad Soviet)at a local night club.They were soon after approached by a local concert promoter who was funding a concert for a big American Rock Star (David Lee Roth) who's backup band was a no show for the concert. Nikolia and Alexandr agreed and asked both Boris and Andrew to come along.
Nikolia and Alexandr were stunned when they discovered the American Rock Star was former Van Halen front man Diamond Dave. Roth was rather impressed with Nikolia Ulyanov's guitar skills and was said to have remarked "That Eddie couldn't play shit" compared to Nikolia. The album Diamond Dave behind the Wall was pressed in low number in the summer of 1987 due in part to the fact that all the artists on the album excluding Roth were Soviet making it one of his rarest concert albums.
- Путешествие возрожденное СССР (The USSR revived Tour)
It was announced over the summer of 2006 that Comrade Lenin would do a European reunion tour in the summer of 2007 with many of the old Soviet heavy metal bands that toured with them the late 80's and early 90's, as well as a few more contemporary groups. The band has recently expressed wishes to give a world tour another go, though it is very unlikely that this idea will go any further than that.
