Boris Grebenshchikov - Returning East (1991-1996)

Returning East (1991-1996)

Disillusioned in the possibility of exporting the Russian song-writing tradition to the West, BG returned to Russia and entered a phase of returning to his Russian roots. The year 1991 saw him come out with a Russian album (Russkiy al'bom), backed by an all-new, eponymous BG Band. The album featured a line-up of songs very "Russian" in both lyric and tune, and wasn't initially met with much public appreciation (in retrospect, however, it is considered by most critics one of his best records). BG was defiant, however, and went on record as having flipped a bird off the stage toward someone yelling demands for him to perform songs from the Classical period. His career since has proved time and again that he is not fond of rehashing the past, however glorious.

No matter the defiance, the Aquarium brand was too strong to eschew and even the next two albums, one mostly filler (Favorite songs of Ramses the 4th (Lyubimye pesni Ramzesa IV)) and one all B-sides (Sands of St. Petersburg (Peski Peterburga)), were released under the name Aquarium. By the time of 1994's Kostroma Mon Amour BG's mastery of folk melody and lyric has grown to new heights, and a new band lineup was going full steam.

The band's next three albums (effectively BG's solo albums published under the band's brand) - Navigator, Snow lion (Snezhniy lev), and Hyperborea - also have a stylized Russian feel. Navigator especially is widely recognized as a classic example of Russian songwriting, albeit with notable touches of blues and French chanson. The songs are melancholic bordering on heart-rending; the lyrics are either drenched in Byronic spleen, or full of BG-branded variant of Russian irony steeped in a sense of separation between self and the world.