Nachalnik Kamchatki (Russian: Начальник Камчатки, lit. 'Chief of Kamchatka') is the second studio album by Soviet rock band Kino. The name of the album is a play on the title of the 1967 Soviet film Chief of Chukotka (Russian: Начальник Чукотки, romanized: Nachalnik Chukotki).
Contents
Production
The album was recorded on a multitrack tape recorder in the AnTrop studio. Andrei Tropillo supervised and engineered the recording. Musicians from Aquarium and the AnTrop studio collective played alongside Kino. The album was initially released in 1984 and distributed as magnitizdat.
"Posledniy geroy" was written by the band's frontman, Viktor Tsoi, from 1982 until 1983. According to drummer Georgy Guryanov, "Posledniy geroy" is Kino's main song: "It's ironic, but [it's] the one from which an entire movement grew. It [the song] contains all [of] the band's heroism."
Release
The song "Posledniy geroy" (Russian: Последний герой, English: The Last Hero) was first released on Nachalnik Kamchatki (English: Chief of Kamchatki) in 1984. Other arrangements of the song were included in the albums Noch (1986), Posledniy geroy (1989), Neizvestnyye pesni (1992), and 12_22 (2022).
The song was also performed by the group Kolybel as part of the project "KINOproby," and by the Russian artist Slim as part of the project "KINOproby Rap Tribute."
Reception
A review of the album appeared in issue 7 of the rock samizdat journal, Roksi.
"Posledniy geroy" took 22nd place in the list of "100 best songs of Russian rock in the 20th Century," according to the radio station Nashe Radio.
Personnel
Viktor Tsoi – vocals, guitar
Yuri Kasparyan – guitar
Alexander Titov – bass guitar, percussion
Boris Grebenshchikov – drum machine, Casio PT-1
Additional personnel
Sergey Kuryokhin – keyboards
Petr Troshchenkov – percussion
Vsevolod Gakkel' – cello, drums
Georgy Guryanov – percussion
Igor Butman – saxophone