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Gruppa krovi (Russian: Группа крови, lit.'Blood type'[ˈɡrupːəˈkrovʲɪ]) is the fifth studio album by Soviet post-punk band Kino, first released in 1988. Released at the height of Perestroika and Glasnost, together with a crime thriller titled The Needle released in the same year starring lead vocalist Viktor Tsoi, it would go on to be the band's most popular album both inside and eventually outside the Soviet Union, with songs from the album, including the title track[ru], commonly being listed among top 100 lists of Russian music.
Work on the album began in 1987. Most of the recording took place at Georgy Guryanov's apartment, and was completed at the studio of Alexey Vishnya. The sound of the recording is overstated compared to the albums, thanks to the use of modern reverb in the studio.
The album was highly praised by critics upon release and continues to be considered a notable event in the history of Russian music. In 1999, Nashe Radio published list of "100 Best Songs of Russian Rock in the 20th Century", including several songs from this album and giving the song "Blood Type" the first place.
Background
At the end of 1985, bass player of the group Alexander Titov, who was also a member of Aquarium, discovered that it was difficult to work with 2 bands at the same time, and consequently left Kino in favour of Aquarium. The remaining musicians rarely commented on Titov's departure, considering it to be a betrayal to some extent. According to Kino drummer Georgy Guryanov, Titov did not fit into their team and always considered himself a member of Aquarium, working with Tsoi's band only as a guest musician.
To prevent his departure from affecting the group's performance at the planned Leningrad Rock-Club festival, Titov offered Igor Tikhomirov, a former member of the art-rock band "Jungle[ru]" as a replacement. Following Tikhomirov's arrival, the group's lineup and morale would settle, with the composition of the band remaining unchanged until Tsoi's death in 1990.
Before work began on Gruppa krovi, the band attempted to record a separate album. However, due to noise complaints and the perceived lack of a cohesive style, production was postponed indefinitely. Despite Viktor Tsoi's desire to destroy recordings from the album, the rest of the band entrusted the recordings to Alexey Vishnya, who, together with Marianna Tsoi, released the recordings along with demos recorded from 1982 and 1986 for an abandoned album named Posledniy geroy (not to be confused with the 1989 album of the same name) under the title of "Unknown Songs" (Russian: Неизвестные песни) in 1992. In 2020, Maschina Records remastered and released the recordings for the album separately as "Love is no joke" (Russian: Любовь — это не шутка!).
Production
Recording of the album took place alongside the filming of "Assa", primarily within Georgy Guryanov's apartment. Thanks to a broader range of instruments acquired via Joanna Stingray, the wife of guitarist Yuri Kasparyan, the band was able to experiment with various styles and genres, including reggae, funk, and hard rock.
History
After the Soviet release, the album was released in the United States in 1989 by Capitol Records. The album's title song "Gruppa krovi" is about the constant selfless struggle for what is right, as well as a kind of anti-war anthem. At the request of a U.S. fan, the song was also translated and recorded in English as "Blood Type".
Album cover
The Russian theatrical poster for ‘Dr Mabuse, The Gambler’, which influenced the album cover's design.
In 1989, Gold Castle Records released the album on CD, audio cassette, and vinyl in the U.S.
On 21 November 1989, Victor Musical Industries released the remastered album (with the 9th track "Prokhozhiy") on CD in Japan.
In 1991, Russian Disc released the album on vinyl for the first time in the Soviet Union.
In 1993, General Records re-released the album on CD without digital remastering in Austria.
In 1995, MF Records, a label owned by Mikhail Fridman, re-released the album on CD without digital remastering in Germany.
In 1996, Moroz Records re-released the digitally remastered album (with the 9th track "Prokhozhiy") on CD and audio cassette.
In 2003, Moroz Records reissued the album as part of a box set collection containing 15 CDs.
In 2012, Moroz Records re-released the album on vinyl.
In 2019, Maschina Records restored the album from original master tapes and released it on LP, CD and CS along with bonus material.
In popular culture
"Gruppa krovi" was featured in Grand Theft Auto IV's soundtrack, but was removed in April 2018 after the ten-year license expired.
American heavy metal band Metallica covered the title track “Gruppa krovi” live at a concert in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on July 21, 2019, twenty nine years and a full month after the band had last performed there live before Tsoi's car accident later in 1990.
A remix of "Gruppa krovi" was used by the video game War Thunder in a trailer for the update "Drone Age".
Yuri Kasparyan – lead guitar, keyboards ("Poprobuy spet' vmeste so mnoy")
Igor Tikhomirov – bass guitar
Georgiy Guryanov – Yamaha RX-11 drum machine, backing vocals, bass guitar ("Zakroy za mnoy dver', ya ukhozhu", "Mama, my vse soshli s uma", "Poprobuy spet' vmeste so mnoy", "Prokhozhiy")
Additional personnel
Andrei Sigle – keyboards
Igor Verichev – backing vocals ("Prokhozhiy")
Alexey Vishnya – mixing and mastering, backing vocals ("Gruppa krovi")
References
↑Allmusic review - "Listeners who did speak Russian could attest to Tsoi's subversively poetic lyrics…any Russian hearing it would think immediately of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which was still in progress as this song was recorded"
↑Zinkevich, Vadim (1989). Для тех, кто любит рок. Группа «Кино»[For those who love rock, the group "Kino"] (in Russian) (4ed.). Musical Life. p.31. ISSN0131-2383.
