{"id":46046,"date":"2014-10-15T13:53:47","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T18:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=46046"},"modified":"2014-10-19T08:13:22","modified_gmt":"2014-10-19T13:13:22","slug":"mr-pollack-black-hawk-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/mr-pollack-black-hawk-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr Pollack | Black Hawk<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Mr\u201cIt\u2019s all in the family,\u201d you might have thought when looking upon the family affairs that\u2019s been the core of many a rock band throughout the history of the genre. Think brothers Duane and Gregg Allman crossing the border between the blues and Southern Rock in Allman Brothers Band, or Angus and Malcolm Young who went on forming AC\/DC \u2013 on to some less obvious examples. One of these projects run by rock-oriented siblings is Mr Pollack, formed in 1989 by two brothers from Mielec, Poland \u2013 Jacek and Grzegorz Polak. Twenty five years later, the discography of the talented siblings was enriched with yet another effort entitled Black Hawk<\/em>, a fine piece of contemporary rock.<\/p>\n

The first track \u201cBlack Hawk Mielec Rock\u201d says a lot about the entirety of the album, laden with fine soft rock melodies against the wall of perfectly crafted guitar sounds. \u201cStand Up And Run\u201d is the one to follow, gravitating towards more funk-ish manner. It\u2019s a groovy track with feisty verses and melodic choruses that perhaps reveal some black music-related fascinations of the Polak brothers. \u201cThe Plan B\u201d is based on a thrumming bass line and low-tuned guitars, with a surprising acoustic solo in the middle, whereas \u201cSocrates\u201d goes funky all the way again in a manner that\u2019s kind of reminiscent of Glenn Hughes solo works. It\u2019s one of the most varied songs on Black Hawk, with the pounding, meaty sounds squeezed out of the rhythm section, Hendrix-infused guitar licks and prog rock-oriented interludes on keyboards. And speaking of diversity in terms of sound \u2013 a ballad-esque \u201cThe Wheel Of Life\u201d is the one to feature some rapid changes of pace and mood, from the mellow acoustic intro to the emotionally-laden, melodic solo and all the way back. <\/p>\n

\u201cGold And Money\u201d is more feisty and guitar-oriented as it features the guest participation by Grzegorz Skawinski (Kombi, ex-O.N.A., ex-Skawalker), one of the most talented Polish guitar players and singers\/songwriters. Next is \u201cI Know You\u201d, characterized by the interesting riff and equilibristic solo, that is followed by \u201cPower And The Glory\u201d \u2013 the mid-tempo verses of the latter are in vivid contrast with the monumental, heavy choruses. The guitar solo sounds surprisingly contemporary, being a rare example of Jacek Polak abandoning his old-school roots in favor of modern-day rock sound. However, the guitar aficionados would probably prefer the final track \u201cSunday Track\u201d to this one anyway, as it features one of the most dynamic, fiery solos on the entire album. The remaining tracks are the bonuses \u2013 five songs being the Polish-language version of \u201cBlack Hawk Mielec Rock,\u201d \u201cStand Up And Run,\u201d \u201cThe Plan B,\u201d \u201cSocrates\u201d and \u201cThe Wheel Of Life,\u201d all adding up the element of linguistic curio to the content of Black Hawk. <\/p>\n

The biggest asset to Mr Pollack\u2019s Black Hawk is the well-balanced sound of the album, one that\u2019s neither too modern nor too old-school and repetitive. The Polak brothers apparently have little inclination towards chasing the most \u201ccurrent\u201d trends in rock which, as every kind of fad, are here today and gone tomorrow \u2013 but they\u2019re not into dusting off and recycling the old, forgotten patterns that were \u201con\u201d thirty years ago, too. Another strong point of Black Hawk<\/em> is the album\u2019s diversity expressed by various song arrangements and flavors to particular songs on the record, especially these gravitating towards more funky side of things. Having added their experience and maturity to this as well as the duo\u2019s undeniable talent appreciated all around the world from their homeland Poland to China (where they toured recently to the great acclaim of the local audience), Mr Pollack is a well-performed melodic rock piece that is worth being checked out. Recommended.<\/p>\n

Genre: Rock, Melodic Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJacek Polak: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
\nGrzegorz Polak: drums
\nBartek “Gibson” Filip: bass guitar<\/p>\n

Additional musicians:
\nGrzegorz Skawi\u0144ski: guitar (track 6)<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1. Black Hawk Mielec Rock
\n2. Stand Up And Run
\n3. The Plan B
\n4. Socrates
\n5. The Wheel Of Life
\n6. Gold And Money
\n7. I Know You
\n8. Power And The Glory
\n9. Sunday Track
\n10. Black Hawk Mielec Song [bonus track]
\n11. Jak skala [bonus track]
\n12. Plan [bonus track]
\n13. Sokrates [bonus track]
\n14. Ko\u0142o zycia [bonus track]<\/p>\n

Label: Independent<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.mrpollack.pl<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — \u201cIt\u2019s all in the family,\u201d you might have thought when looking upon the family affairs that\u2019s been the core of many a rock band throughout the history of […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":46083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[10122,2317,2901,10121,2387],"class_list":{"0":"post-46046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-black-hawk","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-melodic-rock","11":"tag-mr-pollack","12":"tag-rock"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}