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Serú Girán - Bicicleta CD (album) cover

BICICLETA

Serú Girán

 

Prog Related

4.17 | 91 ratings

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Zitro
Prog Reviewer
5 stars 4.5 Stars rounded up.

"Bicicleta" is usually called their best lp. It is easy to explain why. The maturity they have reached here has not been topped after Bicicleta. In addition, The progressiveness has increased here, with the clear example being the opening track and masterpiece "A Los Jovenes de Ayer". Other improvements are the vocals and lyrics, which combine the aggressive ones from "La Grasa" with the poetic ones from their debut.

Talking about "A Los Jovenes de Ayer", it is a progressive rock song that prog fans will most certainly enjoy a great deal. It is my personal favorite composition from Charly Garcia in his whole career. The epic begins with a very extended and dynamic instrumental overture that combines classical music, jazz-rock and even tango. After the overture, the epic turns into a ballad with unforgettable melodies and an odd approach on bass-guitar arrangements (considering this is a ballad).

"Cuánto Tiempo más llevara" starts as a mellow tune filled with beautiful melodies from all instruments and vocals. To the surprise of the listener, the song suddently turns desperate and heavier with loud vocals and frenzied drumming. It then turns to its previous state and finishes with a very nice guitar solo.

"Canción de Alicia en el País" is a political song. It is mid-tempo and its main emphasis are the lyrics. The instrumentation compliment those lyrics very well and never dominate, creating a musical story.

"La Luna de Marzo" is basically a three-minute long synthesizer solo, but it's pulled off brilliantly. I especially like the tone Charly could get his synth to sound like and the restraint in the solo. The instrumentation in the background is a repetitive semi-acoustic guitar and synthesizer walls of sound.

"mientras Miro las Nuevas Olas" is both a rocker and a ballad and they managed to go back and forth coherently. Some lyrics are very fun:

"Te acuerdas del tipo que rompía las guitarras (Do you remember the dude who broke the guitars) cuando nadie tenía un miserable amplificador? (When nobody had a damn amplifier) ¡Hay miles ahora!. (there are thousands now!)

"Desarma y Sangra" is a pure ballad with melancholic piano themes. I feel like I've been repetitive using the word "melody", but it applies here as well, it is what makes these songs so good.

"Tema de Nayla" reminds me a bit of Chick Corea due to the prominent use of the Rhodes electric piano. It is a mellow npn-mainstream song with an uptempo jazzy instrumental section near the end.

"Encuentro con el Diablo" is a political song that manages to meld reggae, rock, and blues. It sounds very unique and not forced at all. Instead of inaccessible, it is a very fun and catchy song with a cool main riff.

Another brilliant album from Serú Girán. Unfortunately, their creativity plummeted after this.

Zitro | 5/5 |

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