Aquarium's Boris Grebenshchikov
Just days after federal tanks rumbled across the borders of the Chechen republic, St Petersburg's two top rock stars openly voiced their protest.
Both Boris Grebenshchikov of Aquarium and Yuri Shevchuk of DDT were quick to express their dissent against the military action at their joint Christmas concert.
But following this outburst of shared disgust, they went their own ways -- reflecting the inherent differences between their personalities.
Shevchuk set off on a spontaneous and unsanctioned trip to Chechnya to see everything "with his own eyes," as he later commented.
He played to the young Russian soldiers along the front line, saying, "they are not to blame" and poured scorn on the "fools" who suggested this could be interpreted as a gesture of his support for the invasion.
While in Chechnya, he made a documentary, which was later screened on local TV.
But now he describes his step as ill-conceived and is considering recording an album of love songs, called "Love," which will express his spiritual reactions to what he experienced.
Grebenshchikov, as a true Buddhist, felt no need to go anywhere. He wrote a few new songs, which were somewhat gloomier than his usual compositions, using images such as the "cemetery of my Motherland," but he avoided making any moral judgements.
He included the material in his new album, "Navigator," which the now-reformed Aquarium recorded in London.
Released in September, the CD bears the dedication, "In the hope that all the good within this album will serve to put an end to wars both in Russia and beyond."
Musically, the album contains some very diverse material --folk-style songs, waltzes and rock numbers -- and was hailed as one of the best Russian releases of 1995.
In addition, two of Aquarium's seminal albums from the early 1980s were re-released on CD, while the recording of an early concert was pirated by a Moscow label.
Having played their Christmas show, which was probably their best concert of the year, Aquarium left for London to start work on their new album.
Grebenshchikov refuses to reveal any details of the project or give TV interviews.
Aquarium's rivals, DDT, celebrated their 15th anniversary with a record-breaking stadium concert in June, following the release of their new album "That's All," as well as a series of re-issues.
The two bands have their roots buried in the 1980s and are already well-established, but what of the younger generation?
Most of them were busy imitating Seattle-style "grunge," singing in English and waving their hair from side to side in a manner more than faintly reminiscent of Soundgarden.
Some enjoyed moderate success among the fashion-conscious audiences, who make every effort to follow Western trends, but are inevitably a few years behind the times.
On the local club scene, only Tequilajazzz really made the big time by signing a deal with the Moscow-based FeeLee record label, releasing a couple of CDs, and, by the end of the year, winning the wholly commercial competition "Generation '95."
With their intensive "jazzcore," they probably stood out from the crowd of syrupy pop kitsch singers, the like of whom could be heard in any cafe or shop around the city.
But, then again, although the band is fairly new on the scene, frontman Yevgeny Fyodorov once played for The Object of Mockery, which was popular in the late 1980s.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.