Painted soul

In 1999, the first album of the group was released on the Manchester Files label of the production company Bomba Peter , which received the same name as the musical group Kukryniksy . He brought certain fame to the group: the video shot for the song “It Doesn’t matter” fell into the rotation of the Russian MTV , followed by tours, concerts, invitations to festivals - in particular, in January 2000, the group took part in the largest of those held in St. Petersburg. Petersburg rock festival "Fuzz" ^[1] . However, soon problems began in the group. The media effect from the first album was not enough to gain steady popularity; the team, although it gained a certain recognition beyond the borders of its native St. Petersburg, still has not gained wide national fame. In addition, certain disagreements have ripened in the group due to the fact that the music for the songs was written by Alexander Leontiev , and the lyrics by Alexei Gorshenyov and their vision of creative development did not coincide ^[2] . In April 2000, Leontiev left for “ The King and the Jester ”, with whom he had previously collaborated as a session musician; in October 2001, drummer Maxim Voitov transferred to “ MultFilms ”. By the spring of 2001, the Kukryniksy had actually collapsed ^[2] .

Despite problems, Alexey Gorshenyov and Dmitry Gusev continued to write material for the new album. In June 2001, a new group formed, which, in addition to Gorshenev and Gusev, also included Viktor Bastrakov (guitar), Dmitry Oganyan (bass guitar, vocals) and Ilya Levakov (drums), who previously played as part of the Flame Fly band. In September of the same year, the team at the Neva recording studio began recording a second album, the name of which was borrowed from the song “By the Painted Soul”. Unlike the first album, which was dominated by straightforward plots and lively melodies, “The Painted Soul” turned out to be substantially lyrical-melancholic, sometimes even philosophical, with significant notes of reflection ^[2] . The release of the album allowed the group to regain popularity and gain all-Russian fame. In August 2001, even before the release of the album, the group was invited to one of the most representative Russian rock festivals " Invasion ", where the song "Roads" from the new album was performed. Immediately after the festival, the composition “Roads” was included in the charts “ Chart Dozen ” of “ Our Radio ”, holding it until the end of the year and ending up in the tenth place in the final rating. In addition to "Roads", several more songs of the album got the rotation of various radio stations. “Roads”, “According to the Painted Soul”, “The Greedy Sea”, as well as the song “It Doesn’t” included in the bonus tracks from the first album of the group and a cover version of the song “Sorrow” of the “ Kino ” group from the tribute album “ KINOproby ” rated by critics as hits ^{[2] [3]} . A video clip (director Vitaly Mukhametzyanov) was shot for the song “By the Painted Soul” in 2002.

Words and music of all songs - except Alexei Gorshenyov noted.

• Alexey Gorshenyov - vocals , music , lyrics , acoustic guitar (9).
• Victor Bastrakov - guitar , acoustic guitar (3, 5).
• Dmitry Gusev - guitar , keyboards .
• Dmitry Ohanyan - bass , backing vocals , cello (11).
• Ilya Levakov - drums .
• Stanislav Mayorov - sound engineer .

Invited members (in the recording of bonus tracks)

• Alexander Leontiev - vocals , guitar .
• Maxim Voitov - drums .

The recording was made at the Neva studio in September - December 2001.

In his review for InterMedia, Alexey Mazhaev described the album as soundly made, noting the energetic guitar section, confident vocals, accessible, but not primitive lyrics, the presence of several tracks that claim to be hits (“According to the Painted Soul”, “Roads”, "The greedy sea", "It does not matter"). In general, Mazhaev rated the album as the quintessence of the average statistical Russian rock of 2002, while lamenting that this average statistical level was “painfully average” ^[3] . In a review on music.com.ua, Sergey Sorokin also noted the soulful lyrics of the album, framed in energetic rhythm sections, but at the same time criticized the monotonous similarity of melodies ^[4] .

• Album on the official website of the group (neopr.) . Date of treatment September 6, 2018.
• Andrei Burlaka . Rock Encyclopedia: Popular Music in Leningrad - Petersburg. 1965-2005. - St. Petersburg: Amphora, 2007. - T. 2. - 396 p. - ISBN 978-5-367-00458-8 .