While Łukasz Wewiór from Teraz Rock praised the arrangements as "very reasonable", critic Robert Leszczyński [pl] questioned the band's credibility and originality, accusing them of commercialism.
In 2000, a long-awaited Perfect concert, originally announced in 1987, was supposed to take place, with tickets being sold at the Stodoła Club [pl] in Warsaw.
[8] The performance did not occur due to the band members' family issues and significant lineup changes since 2000 (leader of the band, Grzegorz Markowski [pl], mentioned in an interview that the ticket proceeds were donated to a foundation supporting aspiring musicians and that he attempted to contact the guitarist, Zbigniew Hołdys [pl], about the concert, but he refused to speak with him).
Zbyszek also refused this.On 1 January 2001, Perfect released Live 2001 [pl], containing archival recordings of three concerts performed by the band in late autumn 1999.
The album featured an unconventional structure – in addition to live-recorded tracks, it included several unedited monologues by Grzegorz Markowski.
[8] Due to the album’s poor sales, Markowski stated in an interview that he intended to remain an active musician for only the next five years.
Markowski saw this diversity as the source of the recording's uniqueness and originality: If these arrangements had been written by one person, our album might have been a bit boring.
That was manageable, but then the proposal came to perform a series of concerts, and that was a huge challenge.The only fully instrumental track, In an integration and an adoration, was composed by Wojciech Zieliński during the first recording session.
Conversely, Chcemy być sobą, the song promoting the album, was judged by many critics as the worst of the presented material.
There can't be any glitches...On 30 October 2001, Perfect performed a concert with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra at Warsaw’s Arena COS Torwar, where they presented the first versions of the song arrangements.
In the meantime, Perfect publicly released the first teaser of the album Schody under the name 1055, due to a brief sponsorship takeover by Netia.
[10] The group also recorded a track titled K2, dedicated to the Polish Winter Expedition Netia K2 team, which attempted to climb the K2 peak in the 2002/2003 season.
Eventually, although the album isn't cheerful, we found a sponsor – Netia...In Poland, the album was released with colorful artwork that included a detailed list of songs (with lyrics and music credits), images of the band members, biographies of the arrangers, and a condensed history of Perfect and the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
[20] Shortly after the album’s release, the group embarked on a brief concert tour, performing in venues such as the Congress Hall and in Poznań.
[21] On October 13, the band held a rooftop concert on a building near the Roman Dmowski roundabout [pl] in Warsaw, inspired by a similar event by The Beatles in 1969.
After playing a few songs, the band was removed from the roof by police officers and had their identities checked, with Markowski being detained and released from the station after an hour-long interrogation.
Łukasz Wewiór wrote:[5]I think it is not necessary to repeat once again that Grzegorz Markowski is like wine (the older he gets, the better vocalist he becomes), that Dariusz Kozakiewicz is an excellent guitarist and proves it again.
Whatever the musicians' inspirations were, it worked!The album also received favorable reviews from Marcin Cichoński, an expert from cgm.pl, who highlighted the seamless transition from rock parts to pleasant symphonic sounds.
The critic stated that the slower, the better, and selected Gdy mówię jestem, Niewiele Ci mogę dać, and Idź precz as the best tracks.
There is no doubt that creators like Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz could 'turn the arrangement inside out', free the song from its rock rawness, and bring out its beauty and atmosphere using different means.
It features unchanged arrangements of Perfect's existing songs (performed with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra), along with one new track, Póki mam jeden sen.[25] The album was released in a limited edition.
At the end of February 2007, Perfect performed at the Rock Arena festival in Gorzów Wielkopolski alongside musicians like Marek Piekarczyk and Robert Brylewski.
'We are strong with your strength' – Grzegorz Markowski said goodbye around 1 am and indeed left the stage undefeated.On 4 March 2007, Tadeusz Nalepa, a longtime member of the band Breakout, which included Dariusz Kozakiewicz [pl], passed away.
We recorded and released this album with the participation and co-production of Polskie Radio, so initially, logistically and financially; if we had executed such a plan, it would have been several hundred thousand PLN at the start.
The album appeared on the market, fragments of various tracks were played, such a little advertisement for this album (and 'Perfect Symfonicznie' sold almost 50,000 copies in five years).In interviews, Markowski emphasized the need for perfect synchronization between the orchestra and the band during concerts, where it is possible to deviate from the rhythm, make mistakes in playing, or extend a chord.
[39] Shortly after the album's release, the band suspended its activities for a few weeks, related to Patrycja Markowska's pregnancy and childbirth.
From the end of December 2007, the group played several concerts with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra (including at the Congress Hall and in Gdańsk).
[41] On 19 October 2009, Perfect released a live version of the album with a recording of the concert held on 26 April 2009 at the Centennial Hall in Wrocław.
[42] The album was recorded with the participation of the Witold Lutosławski Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Wojciech Zieliński [pl]).
[41] Regarding the concert in Warsaw, Michał Bigoraj from Teraz Rock magazine wrote:[41] The audience, filling the Congress Hall to the brim, heard (...) songs such as: 'Idź precz', 'Ale wkoło jest wesoło', 'Chcemy być sobą', 'Kołysanka dla nieznajomej', 'Niewiele ci mogę dać' or 'Niepokonani'.