MADRUGADA

A keyboard-lead trio, Madrugada's (Dawn in Portuguese and Saanish) first album came out relatively late (74) in comparison with the band's birth (1970) and the previous 60's credentials (Le Bugie, Gruppo 3, Fuchs, I Condor & Mat 65) and their previous incarnation Terza Classe; and certainly even more in spite of the outside help of singers like Paoluzzi and Vecchioni. So these late bloomers produced their two albums in a short span, a sort of artistic boom, but even then most of the tracks on the first side of the present debut (graced with a normal artwork) are written by the pair, the rest being attributed to "piglet", which I assume is the trio together. But Madrugada is not your typical KB trio in the ELP style

Starting out a bit as if it was a Supertramp album with piano over wind noises, the eponymous track is a short intro leading into a 5-mins Camminar a folksy ballad, showing a poppy side of the group. Vieni Nella Strada is just as pop with a extended chorus and tape effects. Clearly the A-side's highlight Uomo Blue (Blue man) has a distinct electric piano sound and reaches calmly and subtly into Canterbury territory.

The flipside starts on the delightful DMT, and if it wasn't for this hugely neglected cymbals overpowering the whole sound, this track would be their best of the album. The cymbals/hi-hat sound was a problem a bit all over the album, but in this track, it really becomes atrocious. The 10-mins instrumental Mandrax is the album's highlight with its constantly changing soundscapes and Canterbury penchants, while the closing eponymous outro is sung, unlike its intro companion.

Four bonus tracks for this Mini-Lp reissue, two of them of great interest since they are correct live versions of the album's best tracks. Of lesser interest (but still) is an early longer version of Comminar, but we are again plagued by the cymbals problems, but the 06 reunion track (at least I think it is) Reborn is rather pleasant and proggy as well. Had this album not have its cymbals sounds problem, I'd not have such a hard time saying which of their two albums I prefer. Would this album have that problem corrected, the debut would clinch this, but I'll leave it as a draw.