ANABELAS

Nope, not the traditional music played by the Temne people of Sierra Leone and not Yogi bear's cartoon sidekick! This is the band from Argentina and one of the most unique sounding bands in all of prog and unfortunately all we got out of them is this one exquisitely performed album titled ANABELAS.

BUBU were masters of taking all of the prog influences that came before ranging from Crimson, Genesis, ELP, Yes, Italian symphonic and countless others and weaving it all together into an amazingly cohesive and satisfying set. I agree with those who refer to this as King Crimson playing with Anglagard might be the closest analogy.

Only 3 long tracks compose this album "El Cortejo De Un Día Amarillo" - The procession of a yellow day. "El Viaje de Anabelas" - The journey of Anabelas "Sueños de Maniquí" - Dreams of a dummy (the kind ventriloquists have)

There seems to be no South American influences like tango or bossa nova. This can be airy or bombastic and doesn't rely on melodic development for the most part. There are occasional lead vocals and haunting choirs but most of all it is complex instrumental interplay between up to eight different instruments including excellent lead guitars and violin.

This is another one of those growers. No way to discern it all on first spin. The more I listen to this the more I love it! A genuine smorgasbord of prog and an absolutely amazing piece of work!