WHY ?

With this stunning debut, Máquina! scored heavily for posterity as this is the first known ROCK album to come from Spain and what an astounding one it is!!! Really these guys made one hell of rebellious record given the context in which Spain was being submitted to Franco's dictature. A stunning artwork depicting a clock rising from a croissant was clearly a call for Spanish youth to wake-up (and have a good breakfast) and get ready for a new day. Quite a revolution knowing the ultra conservateur nature of El Caudillo, even if by that time Spain was letting loose things as European tourist money was flowing in (including this writer spending a few Easter holidays as a kid around those years;-) but although the end was near, it was incredibly risky.

Stylistically, we are dealing with a psych/prog rock with extended and excellent interplay, somewhere in between live Cream (with KBs) and early Floyd or even a live Grateful Dead. The twin guitars are one of the features but one of them played bass when the bassist was busy with the flute or singing. The opening track is simply a superb atmospheric instrumental with organ-piano KB attack doubled by a superb and orgasmic guitar, a pure delight! Then comes the 25 min title track (broken over the two sides of the vinyl) with superb organs, twin guitar attack and rather enjoyable but muffled-in vocals, the whole thing going on an not too extended jam and evolving to one of the more entertaining drum solo I have ever been given to listen - maybe because it is not a pure solo as the KB outlines a few phase here and there. The second part of Why? opens the second side of the vinyl and picks up where the first part had left: a superb mostly instrumental enthusiastic prog-tinged rock jam. Quite enjoyable, especially when discovering this in 05, some 35 years after it was recorded. There are some particularly exhilarating moments in this track! The last track is yet another great tune

The two bonus tracks are the afore-mentioned single tracks and although a bit different than the album (especially in the vocal dept but the Earth's Daughter track sounds like some David Bowie spin-off), they do not interfere in the continuous ambiance of the album and they add to the album's incredibly short duration. This album is a relative minor gem for progheads but is a 24-carat nugget for the psych-jam group fans!! Impressive, although I must be careful in not over- rating it!! But I think rounding it up to the upper star is not insulting the album or the proghead.

I must start by saying that I'm not very keen on proto-prog, and if you like this sub-genre you will most likely add one more star to my rating, perhaps even two.

I have often seen Maquina!'s Why? described as "one of the best rock albums ever made in Spain". Well, that's an opinion I certainly do not share for what concerns the quality of the music as such, but what is true is that this was an album of great historical significance, in spanish rock there would be a "before Why?" and an "after Why?".

Spain was still under the dictatorship of Franco (until late 1975) and everything which looked or sounded too modern or libertarian was censored, so all the true aspects of rock came late and watered down. Sure enough there was some late 60's beat and psychedelia, but it was a carefully sanitized version of the real thing, with all the guys / girls looking nice and tidy, the songs still kept short, not too wild and with innocuous lyrics. Maquina! from Barcelona in the region of Catalunya were the first band to portray a genuine free and hippy attitude, with really long hair, long instrumental jams and non-commercial stance (in parallel Smash would do the same in the southern region of Andalucia). They achieved this partly by singing in english and by avoiding any political connotations in their lyrics. The term Prog was not yet used and this music became known in Spain as "Underground".

The music is proto-prog, influenced by the likes of Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth, Brian Auger, Hendrix etc, with a trippy rhythm section filled up with fuzz guitar and Hammond.

The opener I Believe became quickly popular by its distinctive ¾ beat, still not very widespread in those times. The title track Why? accounts for nearly 25 minutes which in those times in Spain was unheard of, and it was splitted in the 2 sides of the LP, the first part of 12 min in side A being the main song theme and the 13 min in side B being mainly an instrumental jam with a reprise of the song theme in the end. Really something special for Spain in those times. The last song on the LP was Let Me Be Born, something more like a Beatles song.

In the CD edition there are 2 bonus tracks, Earth's Daughter and Look Away Our Happiness, originally released as a single in 1969, the first one very much influenced by The Beatles and the latter more similar to a Brian Auger fast-rhythm soul track.

Regarding the cover art with the clock stuck on a croissant, it has been frequently interpreted as a methapor "calling Spain to wake up from the Franco dictatorial regime" but its author bassist Jordi Batiste explained in an interview that it was not so intentional, he just wanted to do something in the style of Dali, he took some croissants he bought from the bakery and started playing with them, pinched them with screwdrivers, electric switches etc until he came up with the clock. The popular interpretation was nice but reality was more mundane.

Their next release "En Directo" would be quite different due to line-up changes, more jazz- rock-soul oriented and with much more brass.

In summary, recommended for fans of proto-prog or those curious for the development of prog in Spain, but far from essential in my personal book.

The sole studio release from Barcelona's Maquina, Why? was one of the earliest Rock albums to come out of Franco's fascist Spain; a remarkable thing, though not too unfamiliar, given all the 'wayward' and 'dissident' art officially disowned by one earlier, more famous autocracy... It's interesting to think what may have come out of the country given different circumstance. Coming off the heels of the earliest Progressive Rock, and specifically by way of the Moody Blues--in this general way--I was struck by the separation of its title track, continuing after a disc-flip to Side 2. Where the Moodies gave us the cohesive original Psych-Prog song cycle throughout Days of Future Passed at least two years prior (1967)--see also the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow (1968)--the multi-side movement is something that wouldn't really be seen in Prog Rock at large until Tull's iconic spite-piece Thick As A Brick (1972), followed up by A Passion Play ('73), or, from that same year (1973), Tubular Bells and Remember the Future. Interestingly, it is their supposedly expressed love of early Tull which influenced their sound here; broadly that does show. The version here under review includes two 1969 singles; I'm very happy it does.

"I Believe" is a fuzz-filled waltz, featuring more of the wonderful flavors of popular music at this time; the warmth of the bass here... Lovely. And then, around the midpoint, Hammond organ enters, lightly changing in tone, only becoming slightly harsh as the guitar, as seen for the whole track, continues to solo most bluesily. Next, to already wrap up our first side, is part 1 to our title track, "Why?"; our first taste of bassist Jordi Batiste on vocals, they're also responsible for the wonderful, conceptual artwork for the album. His voice (with English lyrics, by the way) is honestly so high in register and soft in delivery, I was at first convinced he was a lady; I'm into it, genuinely. This is a very of-the-time groovin' number, the drums from Josep María Vilaseca being especially choice to my ears. Approaching minute 8 is this crunchy, fuzzed-out wah-guitar (Lluis Cabanach), married (simultaneously) to another would-be guitar solo (Josep Maria Paris). I would classify this jam compositionally as fairly standard Psych-Blues-Rock; progressive, of course, in its exploratory, extended length. As we approach its partial close, the drums are once again on display, Vilaseca getting his own solo; a fine solo it is, in my opinion. Altogether, great Proto-Progging here and now.

Flipping over to Side 2, we get "Why[?] (Continuacio)". Without a hitch, we're picking up, it feels, from where we left off from its first part. Instead of a traditional starting-out, we begin with said psychedelic jam. I don't know why, but I already dig it significantly enough more. After minute 2, we get this long crescendo, with shimmering organ underneath pulsing drums and wriggling lead guitar; that's right, ladies and gentlemen(!), it's Adjectives Time! This crescendo falls away to nothingness, essentially, the organ playing a bluesy, neo-classical arpeggio. As this shifts eventually to a single, pedaled chord, the rest of the band flips their proverbial wig. What follows is very memorable, the band shifting chromatically and darkly from chord to chord. I think this is a much more interesting jam than the one in the last half+ of regular old "Why?", and one I would recommend checking out in the least. Finishing out for its final minute or so, we get the return of vocals, and in a likewise much more welcome fashion, too. Finally, as for original album tracks, "(Continuacio)" is followed by "Let Me Be Born", twice featuring a sample, I assume, of Elvis's "Jailhouse Rock". Batiste's vocals enter in, via the tin can he showed up in, while the band is down low with minimal oddball percussion and a cool yet simple bass. We're back into the groove then, and we also get some lovely close Psych-Pop-ready vocal harmonies. Batiste likewise performs a solo on recorder! Delightful, honestly. With the sample alone, it was interesting, but to me this track really has it going on.

Included in this version are two singles from '69, first of all "Earth's Daughter", a David Bowie-style orchestral / Traditional Pop song (maybe at times a la Scott Walker) (at rarer times maybe Harry Nilsson). Nice melodies--likewise overtly Bowiesque--and overall a nice song for the nearing end to the Psychedelic Era. Lastly is "Look Away Our Happiness", a live rendition of a song which immediately brought early Bee Gees to my mind. And then... as verse falls away, we have this insane avant-garde noisefest. What then follows is expectedly groovy and cool, some absolutely stellar Jazz-Rock! Honestly, this would have killed on the album originally, but blessed are we to hear it tethered thus; to fellow fans of early Jazz-Rock and Fusion, genuinely a near-essential.

True Rate: 3.75/5.00