Another thing that was strange about this particular album was that it wasn't followed by a tour. I think for CMX this was a chance to try out strange styles and experimentations without having to play these songs live. The Beatles had famously found similar kind of approach inspiring. I think this approach has worked particularly well for some songs on this album, but then again, there are also songs on the album I definitely wouldn't have published. The album is a double CD with 22 songs and as usually is the case with these long albums, I think they could've done better work by just releasing the better half of the songs.
The album starts with a beautiful instrumental synthesiser bit Kreetan Härkä, which is probably the best thing on the whole album. It kind of reminds me of German electronic bands of the 70s, such as Tangerine Dream. It sounds nothing like the rest of CMX though, which makes it a strange choice for the opening track. Kansantalouden saavutusten näyttely is more traditional CMX with heavy guitar riffs and the lead singer A.W. Yrjänä's deep baritone vocals. Ei koskaan is a ballad that at least to me is an example of CMX at its worst. The song has really cheesy organ sounds and the lyrics sound like they're artificially complex without a deeper meaning. Pelon enkeli is another ballad but it works a lot better. There's a menacing pulsing tempo in the song along with distorted vocals that make the song sound like Black Sabbath's amazing song Planet Caravan. Ilmestyskirjanpitäjä is a folky acoustic bit with suspiciously upbeat melody despite the gloomy lyrics. Kylmänmarja is a heavy sounding slow song that plays with old melancholic Finnish folk song aesthetics. CMX has done this quite a lot on their albums. The song also has some massive choral singing parts. Baikonur is an over ten minute epic with almost ambient sounds. The guitar solos towards the end sound like Mike Oldfield or post-Waters Pink Floyd. Jatkuu niinkuin sade was the biggest hit from this album and fair enough, it is the most mainstream sounding song on the album. Luuhamara has some proper progressive rock rhythms and riffs along with some wild bongo drumming. The sounds are really heavy. Tämän runon tahtoisin unohtaa on the other hand sounds like a massive stadium rock song with very cheesy melodies. Karsikkopuu has some fresh synth sounds accompanied by even deeper vocals than usual. The result is surprisingly good. Olkoon täysi sinun maljasi is one of the most progressive rock -oriented songs on the album. It's 10 minutes long and filled with strange rhythm changes and solos. The album ends with a massively rising song Tähdet sylissään.
Back in 2000 there were several music video programmes in Finland, which means that I saw quite a few CMX videos. I remember the video for Jatkuu niinkuin sade. It's not a particularly interesting video, but it's very professionally shot. It shows the band playing the song in a dark room. The lead singer Yrjänä appears as very old in one of the choruses where he sings "ja elämä jatkuu loputtomasti niinkuin sade", which translates as "and life goes on forever like rain". Later on, his old and young face intertwine into a strange mess of two faces.
CMX is one of those bands that were hugely popular when I was growing up, but that became sort of embarrassing later on. Now I'm not embarrassed about having listened to them, but I can honestly say I don't really listen to the band anymore. I'm annoyed about slightly off-key vocals and the unnecessarily artsy lyrics. Also, the type of music they play doesn't really appeal to me anymore. I still have to say that this album features some great songs, so I guess all the experimentation paid off.
Listen to the album on Spotify.
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