Acclaimed as one of the most talented guitar player in Austria, Milan Polak’s “Dreamscape” album showcases the multi talented man. Like other modern guitar heroes, Polak let his talent shine not only by an excess of technicality, but more by a true ability of letting feelings flow through his music, from the fast guitar riffs to the slow and highly emotional solos. But let not be fooled by this description. Polak knows how to play technical guitar parts and also, how to incorporate other counties musical influences in his music, like the highly addictive “Spanish Romance” track. I will leave it to you to discover from where this song gets its influences from. There is nothing more that can be said about this kind of musicians. They are true professionals of their instruments and while they enjoy writing articles in acclaimed magazines and teach their instruments to future guitar heroes, it is with this kind of medium that they excel the most in showcasing their true guitar talent. (Online November 26, 2005) © 2000-2013 The Metal Observer. All rights reserved http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=8797
Milan Polak's Dreamscapes is a very interesting instrumental album on the Finnish Lion Music label, with something for everyone finding its way on to this 13-song adventure. The tune "4 A.M." is jazz-flavored flamenco guitar that Muzak stations of old would have adored. It's beautiful and lulls the unaware listener, who will be jolted when the metallic "Shadowdance" follows, resplendent in Black Sabbath style riffs -- Polak having studied the work of original Ozzy guitarist, the late Randy Rhoades. It could be Sabbath merged with a jazzy version of Deep Purple in their Perfect Strangers period. So very different from the pretty acoustics of "Contrapunctus III," just two songs before it, which could fit nicely into a Tangerine Dream set -- a band Milan Polak toured with as guitarist. As a latter day musician for the late Austrian star Falco, of "Rock Me Amadeus" fame, one can understand the diverging styles on this impressive disc. The album opener, "Panic Room," is hardly an indication of what's inside -- the music is as varied as the life of the man magazines have called "the most talented guitarist of Austria." The titles themselves seem to come from American movies: "Panic Room" and "Joyride," the former a charging hard rocker which shifts genres, the latter a superb pop song which, with some lyrics, could be a hit for a reconstituted Bachman Turner Overdrive (their lighter and more accessible side), or even Todd Rundgren. Polak's life, detailed on his web page as having been lived in Korea, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Germany, Singapore, Italy and the U.S.A., certainly is reflected in the multiple musical episodes exhibited here. The only "voice" appearing on the album is the telephone call from an alleged groupie which opens up "Girlfriends," a solid progressive pop tune with big-hit potential. "Dreamscapes" is Tangerine Dream dropping the ostentatious synth air and the hard rock -- but you won't hear that in the sound -- so very different from their wanderings, the vibe is more in the spirit of the performance. Again things change with "Straight Ahead" (not the Hendrix tune from First Rays of the New Rising Sun ), which is, as the title says, straight-ahead. "Sometimes I Still Miss You" closes things out with an eerie majesty, a fitting conclusion to a very well-planned and produced collection of ideas. Milan Polak is an artist to watch very closely; an imaginative composer with potential to bring the instrumental back into vogue. © Joe Viglione © 2014 AllMusic, a division of All Media Network, LLC. | All Rights Reserved
Milan Polak is a name I’m unfamiliar with which is unsurprising seeing as I don’t generally like instrumental music, and at first glance, he seems to be one of those guitar prodigies that Lion Music and Shrapnel Records love so much. Sure enough, DREAMSCAPES has been released by Lion Music. Anyway, Milan Polak is no new upstart guitarist, no, he has been around for quite some time doing his thing, attending school at the Schubert Jazz Conservatory, as well as the American Institute of Music back in 1991. The guy has credentials, that much is sure. His metal pedigree comes from the years he spent playing with a wide variety of musicians, ranging from Dimebag Darrell, Marty Friedman, Jeff Waters, and members of G ‘N R. For his sake, we’ll just overlook the fact that he spent some time playing in Falco’s band (you know, the guy who had the hit “Rock Me Amadeus”). Of course, we all know that ability does not translate into good music, as a legion of boring as all hell guitar hero albums has shown. Thankfully, it seems that Milan Polak is one of the few who can actually do it right. Ranging from full-on assaults like “Quicksilver” to more subtle songs like “Spanish Romance”, DREAMSCAPES runs the gamut of styles, but the one thing that ties it all together is the fact that this are actually good songs. This isn’t just a guitar wizard showing off (though Polak does get in a huge amount of guitar fireworks), but he has taken time to make sure that the songs are enjoyable on their own. Guitar fans will surely love DREAMSCAPES, and even those who don’t normally go for these things (like me!) will most likely find something to enjoy on this disc. DREAMSCAPES is a refreshing listen, and one that will hopefully put some life back into the stale instrumental metal genre. Reviewer: & © Waspman Rating: 4.0/5 © 2009-2012 Metal-Rules.com. All Rights Reserved. http://www.metal-rules.com/review/viewreview.php?band=Milan+Polak&album=Dreamscapes
Dreamscapes sees guitar whiz Milan Polak unleash his fresh music vision for a new generation of guitar fans. The 13 tracks Dreamscapes has to offer showcase the impressive compositional skills and stellar production values that are making Milan Polak one of the hottest players on the guitar instrumental scene. Reviewer Eric Van Den Bosch had this to say, "it's high time this guy gets more famous with others than just his peers. Instrumental guitar albums are released almost constantly, most of them with lots of muscle flexing, but this is one of the better ones. Especially since Polak regularly takes it down a notch for some nice dreamy blues, a lovely bit of acoustic guitar or even a jazzy intermezzo. His style shows some kinship with Steve Lukathers solo work: lots of variation, songs that don't need 10 notes a seconds, and often somewhat dreamy in atmosphere. As far as I'm concerned Polak is one of those guitarists that deserves a wider audience." © Guitar9 http://guitargods.altervista.org/Polak_Milan.htm
A diverse instrumental guitar rock album that has something to offer for everyone. Milan’s music encompasses pop, acoustic, jazz, Latin, fusion, heavy rock and classical elements. Some of Milan’s influences include Paul Gilbert, Steve Lukather, Shawn Lane, David Gilmour, Vinnie Moore, Allan Holdsworth, and Larry Carlton. ‘Dreamscapes’ received incredibly positive reviews worldwide. It ranked no. 1 in four different categories of the guitar nine-charts including 'Most Popular Overall', 'Most Popular Fusion', 'Most Popular Hard Rock' and 'Most Popular Heavy Electric' with a popularity rating of 100.0. A well known English online magazine dedicated a special edition to Milan and ‘Dreamscapes’ for the first time in their history. In an interview, Milan Polak said “You know, these days it is cool to not know your instrument and be a complete retard and the masses will love you. Not only in the music market. And media is selling people with those crappy star search, pop idol shows that everyone with no talent whatsoever can be a star. I even wrote a song about this phenomenon called ‘Superstar-Mania’ which will be on my vocal CD. We live in a ‘fame for 5 minutes’ society and I sometimes feel like I have to be ashamed of or apologize for the fact that I know my instrument, am able to speak, read and write more than one language and have some cultural background”. In May 2008 Milan Polak was voted one of the world’s 50 fastest guitarists by "Guitar World Magazine" but this album is not about speed, just brilliant compositional skill, great melodies, and amazing guitar technique. Check out Joel Rivard, Alessandro Benvenuti, & Milan Polak’s brilliant "J.A.M." album and Milan’s 'Straight' album. The fabulously talented drummer Thomas Lang appears on “Dreamscapes”, and you can check out some of his work on this blog [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 112 Mb]
TRACKS
1 Panic Room 5:17
2 Girlfriends 3:49
3 Dreamscapes 4:20
4 Spanish Romance 3:39
5 Quicksilver 3:49
6 Slowgold 4:31
7 Joyride 3:26
8 Contrapunctus III (Die Kunst der Fuge)2:31
9 4 A.M. 3:48
10 Shadowdance 5:36
11 Ground Zero 3:00
12 Straight Ahead 3:52
13 Sometimes I Still Miss You 4:18
All tracks composed by Milan Polak except Track 8 by Johann Sebastian Bach
MUSICIANS
Milan Polak - Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Piano, Voice
Peter Schonbauer - Bass, Fretless Bass
Bernd Fuxa - Bass
Thomas Lang, Florian Holoubeck - Drums
Metin Meto - Percussion
Stefan Jungmair – Saxophone
BIO
Originally born in Vienna, Austria on May 10th on Mother's Day Milan grew up and lived in a lot of different places all over the world such as Korea, Kenya, Saudi-Arabia, Germany, Italy & U.S.A. which gave him the opportunity to get in touch with a lot of different cultures and musical styles. Of course, this experience had a major impact on his view of this world as well as his music. The only problem he had to face time and again was that to survive as a musician in his country you either have to be a prostitute or produce crap which both just wasn't his thing. They say that if you want to become famous in Austria you either have to die or leave the country - well, Milan wasn't ready to die yet... So, he decided to move to Germany. Milan has always wanted to be a musician. Originally, he wanted to become a drummer but never got a drum set because his parents said it was too expensive and that he didn't have any musical talent anyway. So, he began playing the guitar when he was about 13 but the love for grooves remained just the same. He had a song book called "Beatles Complete" and that's how he learned strumming the first few chords on an acoustic guitar. He also grew up listening to guitarists like Al Di Meola & Paco De Lucia as well as a lot of classical music. And having a natural ear helped him to progress at a fast pace. Soon he got his first electric guitar and got into AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Van Halen. Then a friend turned him on to Randy Rhoads and after hearing him, Milan knew that he wanted to become a serious guitarist. He spent hours trying to figure out Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert and Randy Rhoads solos by ear (yes, at that time there were no instructional books or videos available, so he had to do it the old-fashioned way) and must have worn out a couple of tape decks. In 1985, after two years of serious playing, Milan started to get into the local scene and got himself a name. Local Magazines started to call him "the most talented guitarist of Austria". After high school he attended the "Schubert Jazz conservatory" but left after a few months because things were not moving fast enough for him. Around the same time Jazz guitarist Les Wise opened up the "American Institute of Music", the European pendant to MI & Berklee College. There he went on to study jazz/fusion with Wayne Brasel and was one of the first students to receive a professional diploma in Feb. 1991. Milan's demos started to create some interest and he received a lot of kind feedback from various magazines and books like "The Modern Guitarist" by Matt Williams. Around that time he also sent a tape to John Stix of "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" who reviewed it and featured Milan in his column "Resume" in Dec. 1990. In 1991 Milan also accepted an offer to teach at A.I.M. and became co-head of the rock department until the school closed down in 1995. There he met some cool musicians like Rich Kern, Lale Larson, Todd Duane, Joey Tafolla, Shawn Lane, Deen Castronovo, Frank Gambale a.m.o. Around that time Milan used to hang out at the local rock club a lot and got the chance to jam with people like Jeff Waters of "Annihilator", Dimebag Darrell of "Pantera" and Dizzy & Matt Sorum of "Guns n' Roses" who all came to that club after their concerts. In Feb. of 1993 Mark Varney released the third CD of the series "Guitar On the Edge – the World's Hottest Guitarists" which featured Milan's tune "Where Were You Tomorrow?". It was followed by the release of No. 4 in 1994 featuring "Absolutely Positive". The next two years Milan spent teaching, doing studio & live gigs, playing at music fairs and writing & recording songs for both his solo career and his band "New World", a four piece band that sounded like a mixture of "Dream Theater" & "Pantera". In 1994 he signed a record deal with "Rock the Nation" for "New World" and a solo album, two CD's were released in 1995 – "Guitar 2001" & "Changing Times", which both received very good reviews all over Europe. Unfortunately, the record company had some financial problems and "New World" broke up frustrated. On the 12th of July 1995 Milan played with the band "Tangerine Dream" in Los Angeles at the SIR Theater to present their release "Tyranny of Beauty". Between 1995 and 1997 he had the great opportunity to meet and play with some of the world's greatest musicians such as Billy Sheehan ("Mr. Big" & Steve Vai), jazz bassist Steve Bailey, Marty Friedman ("Megadeth") and Ken Hensley of "Uriah Heep". In 1996 Milan played guitars for a musical called "Blondel" and recorded a CD with Austrian songwriter Sigi Maron called "Raps und Rübsen". In the year of 1997 he became the guitarist of Falco, Austria's only internationally successful pop star up to date who even had a No.1 smash-hit in the U.S. billboard-charts called "Rock me Amadeus". Falco had been looking for a guitarist for about a year and just prepared to go to England because he was convinced that he could not find a suitable guitarist anywhere else anymore. A mutual friend recommended Milan and Falco gave him a shot just the evening before he flew to London. It was love at first sight and Falco started to introduce Milan to people as his new guitarist before he had even seen him play just because he had listened to the songs "Dreamscapes" & "Spanish Romance". The next morning he still left to London for about three weeks saying that if he could not find a better guitarist there, Milan would have the job. These three weeks became some of the most exciting times in Milan's life... Tragically, the collaboration quickly came to an end when Falco died in a car accident on the 6th of February in 1998. That same year the instructional series "Guitar Heroes – Real Technique" was also released. Milan had started to write it in 1997 as a product of his intense teaching experience. A Falco-CD called "Verdammt, Wir Leben Noch" was released in 1999 featuring Milan on the song "Poison". The year of 2000 was heavily occupied by a project called the "Falco cybershow" – a huge event that combined elements of a rock concert with elements of musical plus technical madness such as water walls, laser show, etc. A CD with the O.S.T. was released the same year. In 2001 Milan was asked to join forces with Haddaway, a relict of the dance scene of the 90ies, who once had a big hit called "What Is Love" and was trying to re-launch his career. A concert at "Stars & Bars" in Monaco followed as well as the CD "My Face", which was also Milan's first job as an international producer. 2002 saw Milan getting back more to the "guitar-hero-thing" again when he turned in the instrumentals "Sometimes I still miss you" for an album called "The Alchemists" (Liquid Note Records) as well as "Utopia" for the Jason Becker tribute "Warmth In The Wilderness Vol. II" (Lion Music), which also featured great musicians such as Steve Vai, Marty Friedman, Randy Coven a.m.o. In 2003 Milan was involved in the two productions "Mit Grosser Sorge" by De Luca and the Falco cover version "Rock Me Amadeues" by Missterious which entered Austrian and Swiss Top Ten-charts, before relocating to Hamburg, Germany in July. He had also started to work on the project album "J.A.M." featuring the great talents of Alessandro Benvenuti and Joel Rivard. This was interrupted by Milan's relocation to Germany in July 2003 and was finished in his new studio in Hamburg. "J.A.M." was released in May 2004 and received great acclaim worldwide including 'Album of the Month', a no. 2 chart position in the Jazzwise UK charts and 'best overall selling CD' at guitar9.com. Milan also started to work on a crossover project with the renowned classical violin player Lidia Baich which was never finalized, unfortunately. Excerpts can be found in the music section. In March 2005 the renowned label Lion Music released Milan's long awaited 2nd solo CD "Dreamscapes" worldwide followed by "Guitar Odyssey" in October 2005, which is a re-mastered version of the sold out CD "Guitar 2001" featuring an extra bonus track. Both CD's received raving reviews from magazines all over the world which can be found in the discography section. But by this time Milan had already started to write new songs taking a step into another direction. Realizing that playing instrumental guitar music only offers limited possibilities, he decided to write songs with lyrics and vocals to reach a wider audience. By the end of 2005 he got together with drummer John Macaluso & bassist Randy Coven and flew to NY to record his next album called 'Straight' featuring Milan on vocals & guitar. Both additional recordings including bassist Fabio Trentini as well as mixing took place in 2006. The result received great feedback by both fans & press and the pre-release CD made it into one of the 'Top 10 albums of 2006' lists of the Dutch magazine File Under ranking at no. 3. By the end of 2006 Milan signed a contract with Lion Music to release "Straight" world-wide in April 2007. "Straight" received a lot of great feedback including "Album of the Month", "Top 10 Albums of the Year", "Top 30 releases of 2007" and Milan was voted "Best Guitarist of 2007". Also the song "The Glowing Of A Cigarette" was voted no. 2 of the "Top 200 songs of 2007" charts by the renowned Fireworks Magazine, UK. Around April/May of 2007 Milan was also asked to help the German gold-selling act Subway To Sally with their next album. Milan co-wrote 10 songs and played all the acoustic & electric guitars on the album "Bastard" which entered the German album charts at 7. In spring 2008 the band won the German Bundesvision Song Contest with their song "Auf Kiel" which Milan Polak co-wrote. In the meantime Milan had started to write & record demos for his next album. © http://guitargods.altervista.org/Polak_Milan.htm
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