Kino Кино | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Leningrad, Soviet Union |
| Genres | Rock, New Wave, Post punk |
| Years active | 1981–1990 |
| Labels | MOROZ Records |
| Past members | Viktor Tsoi (deceased) Yuri Kasparyan Igor Tikhomirov Georgiy Guryanov |
Kino was a Soviet rock band. Formed in Moscow as "Гарин и гиперболоиды", the band was initially a trio consisting of Tsoi (singing, guitar), Aleksey Rybin (guitar) and Oleg Valinsky (drums). After the latter's muster in the army, the duo released their debut album, 45, which was both critically and commercially unsuccessful. Regarded one of the most influential and famous Soviet bands of all time, Kino released seven studio albums, three live albums, several bootlegs and over one-hundred songs. After the death of headliner, main song-writer and music arranger Viktor Tsoy in a car crash, the group officially split up, marking the end of their nine years active career.
Stylistically, the band abandoned many traditional elements of Russian rock and instead often included diverse electronic effects, such as drum machines and rhythm composers, which gave Kino a disco- and pop-like sound. A common characteristic is the repetition of the same words or verses. The lyrics reflects the adolescent troubles and worries about love, leading to their nickname of "New Romantics". Later main themes were heroism and inner protests, which expressed the masculin civil responsibilities.
The popularity of Kino steadily increased over the years; while the band first performed on house concerts and received negative reception by the press, the band progressed at the end of the decade, their records became million-sellers and they were more popular on concerts than anytime before. The so-called "Kinomania" became a component of the youth generation especially after the death of Tsoy; an example is the famous "Tsoy Wall" in Moscow, on which fans have wrote quotes from the songs. Contemporary columnists and musicologists often regarded Kino as a part of the mass culture.