Although Citron is generally known as one of the most influential heavy metal bands in Czechoslovakia, the truth is that they explored several flavors of rock and metal through the years. The Ostrava-based band arguably had its biggest successes as a heavy metal band whose sound finds itself somewhere between late-seventies Judas Priest and the Scorpions at their heaviest, though they started out in the mid-seventies playing surprisingly American-sounding classic rock. It wasn’t until drummer Radim Pařízek took over leadership of the band in the early eighties that Citron really went for the hard rock muscle.

Citron has not had any original members since 1981, but Pařízek has been the solid backbone of the band from 1979 until his death in 2021. As one would expect from a band that has been around for so long, Citron’s history is rife with line-up changes. They never released two albums that feature the same musicians in a row, and more than once, Pařízek was the only musician remaining from the previous album. Several members had multiple stints with Citron, however, including highly popular lead singers Standa Hranický and Ladislav Křížek.

The band is still active, with bassist George Rain and guitarists Pavel Hanus and George Erič – all of whom joined the band in 2015 – making up the core of Citron, and Radim Pařízek Jr. leading the band. His mother, rock singer Tanja, also frequently performs with Citron. The band appears to mainly be kept together for concert purposes these days. I’m not sure how I would feel about them recording under the Citron banner, though in all honesty, my opinion might be different if the album Hanus, Erič and Rain had recorded with Citron wasn’t my least favorite.

8. Rebelie Rebelů (2016)

Since ‘Rebelie Rebelů’ is one of only two Citron releases that unequivocally is a metal album, it may come as a surprise that it doesn’t rank higher. Truth be told, it could have, but the album is downright messy. Somehow, ‘Rebelie Rebelů’ is simultaneously horribly overproduced and in dire need of a critical producer to tell the band to cut back on some arrangement choices. This big, bombastic Roland Grapow mix works for Helloween or Masterplan, but Citron would benefit from something a bit more modest and workmanlike. Ladislav Křížek returns in all of his theatrical, over-the-top glory, but some of the songs could have used a smoother, more restrained delivery. Also, the incredibly dense arrangements go at the expense of the memorability of the songs. A decent album of crunchy modern power metal, but not much more than that.

Recommended tracks: ‘Píseň Ztracených’, ‘Na Křidech Andělů’, ‘Ma Zpověd”

7. Sex Bomby (1992)

The final Citron album before taking a break from recording original material for nearly two decades sees the band diving head-first into a sleazy glam metal sound that, apart from obviously the Los Angeles scene of the late eighties, appears to draw a fair share of inspiration from AC/DC. While I personally am not the biggest fan of this particular style of hard rock, the conviction with which Citron tackles it on ‘Sex Bomby’ is admirable. What definitely helps is that Aleš Hubáček delivers a vocal performance that elevates the material, with just the right amount of grit and sleaze for the style. The guitars of Libor Kozelský and Ladislav Krečmer have a metallic edge that gives the music some additional power. By no means an essential Citron album, but it’s enjoyable for what it is.

Recommended tracks: ‘Sráč’, ‘Nevina od Vína’, ‘Nejsem Tvůj Houpací Kůň’

6. Bigbítový Pánbů – Gods of Rock (2010)

‘Bigbítový Pánbů – Gods of Rock’ brings all the surviving Citron members who appeared on 1986’s ‘Plni Energie’ back together – guitarist Jindřich Kvita sadly passed away in 1997. It was also the first album of original Citron material since ‘Sex Bomby’. Some things have changed in the meantime, others have stayed pleasantly familiar. One of the things that changed for the better is Standa Hranický’s voice, which has become much rougher-edged in the meantime, at times sounding like a particularly harsh Bon Scott. The album as a whole has a more earthy hard rock sound than ‘Plni Energie’ had, though it can still get very energetically metallic during its best moments. ‘Bigbítový Pánbů’ is a surprisingly powerful late-career album, though it does feature too many ballads. The rockers are generally very enjoyable, however.

Recommended tracks: ‘Bigbit’, ‘Jen Se Hýbnout’, ‘Spěchej Lásko Má’

5. Jen Si Od Plic Zanadávej (1982-1985) (2013)

While I don’t want to make a habit of including compilations, none of the songs on ‘Jen Si Od Plic Zanadávej’ appeared on any of Citron’s studio albums, and it is quite an interesting release historically. It compiles the early singles of the line-up that would eventually go on to record ‘Plni Energie’, and as such, it documents their transition from a seventies rock band to a more Judas Priest-inspired band. ‘V Tu Ránu’ is even a Czech-language cover of ‘United’. One of the worst Priest songs, but whatever. Interestingly, the B-sides are generally placed more prominently on the album than the safer, more conventionally accessible A-sides. A few tracks may be even more metallic than anything on ‘Plni Energie’. One of them, ‘Revizor’, is one of the best songs Citron ever recorded. That alone makes this compilation worth a few spins.

Recommended tracks: ‘Revizor’, ‘Když Už Jsem Se Narodil’, ‘Koncert’

4. Plni Energie (1986)

Citron’s sophomore album is their first foray into actual heavy metal. To be fair, it is largely an accessible kind of metallic hard rock comparable to what Judas Priest was doing around 1980 – ‘Rock, Rock, Rock’ even sounds suspiciously similar to ‘Hell Bent for Leather’ – though ‘Plni Energie’ does get surprisingly speedy at times. Opening track ‘Ocelové Srdce’ is pure speed metal with its ‘Fast as a Shark’ levels of intensity, and ‘Už Víme Svý’ scorches the ground as it blazes by. Most of the rest of ‘Plni Energie’ consists of fist-pumping eighties hard rock anthems, but Citron tackles them with such sincerity that it’s hard not to enjoy the album. ‘Plni Energie’ was also released in English as ‘Full of Energy’, though that version weirdly lacks two of the Czech version’s best songs.

Recommended tracks: ‘Už Víme Svý’, ‘Ocelové Srdce’, ‘Nechod’ Dál’

3. Obratník Raka (1983)

‘Obratník Raka’ is the album that most deviates from the sound Citron is known for. The hard rock sound on their debut album is rooted in what one would hear on American rock radio in the seventies, occasionally even having a slight southern rock flair due to the use of acoustic guitars and the fairly lengthy guitar solos. While this may not be what later Citron fans would want from them, it is done exceptionally well. The songwriting is great, the production is warm and authentic, and Vladimír Kubala’s vocal performance is excellent. Although the album was originally released in English under its translated title ‘Tropic of Cancer’, it is obvious that the songs were originally written in Czech; when they were finally released as such in 2017, Kubala sounds even more convincing. That version also contains Citron’s early singles, which range from good to downright fantastic.

Recommended tracks: ‘Výtah Se Má’, ‘Svátky’, ‘Máme Tu Pouť’

2. Vypusťte Psy (1990)

Enter Fany Michalík, who I think is easily the best singer Citron ever worked with. He has an impressive range, an expressive delivery, a great deal of control and a generally smooth voice, though a rough edge is easily applied when the music calls for it – look no further than ‘Uteč, Dokud Se Dá’ for evidence. It’s truly a pity that ‘Vypusťte Psy’ is the only album Michalík recorded with Citron, because his fantastic voice elevates even the less distinctive material here, such as the underwhelming ballads. The album is one of Citron’s best, and it might have been my favorite if it was just a little more focused. Especially during its first half, it almost sounds like Citron is carefully exploring all corners of eighties hard rock and heavy metal before deciding to settle somewhere exactly in the middle of those styles for its fantastic second half.

Recommended tracks: ‘Uteč, Dokud Se Dá’, ‘Snadné Žití’, ‘Červený Smích’

1. Radegast (1988)

For metalheads curious about Citron, there is no better album to start with than ‘Radegast’. It is quite a unique entry into their discography, as it is quite dark. While I suspect Pařízek had been wanting to take Citron in this direction already, especially since ‘Radegast’ is a concept album, the arrival of Ladislav Křížek must have given him the definitive push. Křížek loves to scream at as high a pitch as possible, which combined with the dark riffing gives part of the album a bit of a King Diamond vibe, albeit more straightforward compositionally. There is some more conventional eighties hard rock and heavy metal on ‘Radegast’, and a lot of it is really good, but it’s the crazy stuff listeners will remember. ‘Vypusťte Psy’ has the better highlights, but ‘Radegast’ is the overall best Citron album experience.

Recommended tracks: ‘Setkáni s Radochem’, ‘Zase Dál’, ‘Moravská Děvčátka’

Most of Citron’s discography is available through Kalemegdan Disk in Germany.