Optimizm

1985 studio album by Grazhdanskaya Oborona

Optimizm

Studio album by

Grazhdanskaya Oborona

Released| 1985, 1988
Recorded| Summer 1985 / 12–22 January 1988
Studio| GrOb Studio
Genre|

* Post-punk
* noise rock
* garage punk
* garage rock
* lo-fi music

Length| 31:00 (1988 original)
46:01 (2006 CD reissue)
Label| GrOb
XOP/Moroz (1996 CD/MC reissue)
Misteriya Zvuka (2006 expanded CD reissue)
Producer| Yegor Letov
Grazhdanskaya Oborona chronology
| Poganaya molodyozh'
(1985)  | Optimizm
(1985)  | Myshelovka
(1987)

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Optimizm (Russian: Оптимизм, Optimism) is the second studio album by Soviet/Russian punk band Grazhdanskaya Oborona. The album was released in 1985 and was recorded concurrently with its follow-up Poganaya molodyozh'.

The original versions of Poganaya molodezh and Optimizm were recorded in 1984 with Yegor Letov and Konstantin Ryabinov (Kuzya UO, Кузя УО) and intended to be a Posev album. According to Letov, the two albums represented two parts of one big release and published together on a single tape. This tape was produced under the title "Grazhdanskaya Oborona" or "GO-85". The album was recorded in 1984/1985, but was re-recorded in 1988 by E. Letov and Kuzya Uo. Participants in the recording of the album in 1985 was Andrey Babenko (Boss), Oleg Ivanovsky and Valery Rozhkov, who played the flute in the song "Optimizm".

The album is lighter and more lyrical in comparison with the debut album and made in the genre of post-punk and garage rock. The song "Sobaka", "Na nashikh glazakh" and "Optimizm" was played in the genre reggae and folk. Songs of this album were composed by Letov and Kuzya Uo back in the band «Posev» in 1983. Subsequently, these songs were re-recorded and included in the compilation of Grazhdansakaya Oborona "Posey" in 1989.

The album had no cover until the 1999 release on XOP, because it was originally distributed via magnitizdat. The basis for the album cover was the figure of Letov drawn specially for the cover of the album in 1985.

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

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1.| "Ya bespolezen ("I’m useless")"| Yegor Letov, Oleg Ivanovsky, Kuzya UO| 3:14
2.| "Ya blyuyu na vashi dela ("I don’t care about what you do")"| Letov, Andrey Babenko, Kuzya UO| 2:11
3.| "Na nashikh glazakh ("Before our eyes")"| Letov| 3:05
4.| "Klenoviy list ("Maple leaf")"| Letov| 2:08
5.| "Ey, babishcha blevani ("Hey, hag, puke!")"| Letov, Ivanovsky, UO| 2:57
6.| "Kto ischet smisl ("Who searches for sense")"| Letov| 3:30
7.| "Sobaka ("Dog")"| Kuzya UO| 3:55
8.| "Eto ne ya ("That's not me")"| Letov, UO| 2:04
9.| "Optimizm ("Optimism")"| Letov| 2:06
10.| "Detsky doktor skazal: "Nishtyak" ("Pediatrician said: Cool")"| Letov, UO| 4:12
11.| "Ne nado ("No need")"| Letov, UO| 0:36

## Personnel

[edit]

* Yegor Letov – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, drums, production
* Konstantin Ryabinov (Kuzya UO) – vocals, guitars, bass guitar
* Valery Rozhkov – flute («Optimizm»)

## External links

[edit]

* Optimizm at Discogs (list of versions)
* Album on official site

* v
* t
* e

Grazhdanskaya Oborona

* Yegor Letov
* Natalia Chumakova
* Aleksandar Chesnakov
* Pavel Peretolchin

* Dmitry Selivanov
* Oleg Sudakov
* Yanka Dyagileva
* Alexander Andryushkin
* Sergey Letov

Studio albums|

* Poganaya molodyozh' (1985)
* Optimizm (1985)
* Myshelovka (1987)
* Vsyo idyot po planu (1988)
* Russkoe pole eksperimentov (1989)
* Instruktsiya po vyzhivaniyu (1990)
* Zvezdopad (2002)
* Zachem snyatsya sny? (2007)

Related artists and bands|

* Yegor i Opizdenevshiye
* Kommunizm
* Instruktsiya po Vyzhivaniyu

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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