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Pekka Pohjola - Urban Tango CD (album) cover

URBAN TANGO

Pekka Pohjola

 

Jazz Rock/Fusion

3.76 | 45 ratings

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Progbear
Prog Reviewer
3 stars I maintain that Pekka Pohjola has never made a bad album, but this one is certainly one of the...shall we say, less essential PP albums.

For the first time, Pohjola is using synthesizers extensively (and exclusively) for orchestration. It's by no means the first appearance of a synthesizer on one of his albums (that would be KEESOJEN LEHTO), but it's the first time they would dominate the musical palette. In fact, the album features three synthesizer players (including Pohjola himself and guitar synthesist T. T. Oksala), making this by far the most electronic album he's produced.

The album starts off very strongly with "Imppu's Tango". In fact, "New Impressionist" is one of his artistic high points, a lengthy epic track with much to recommend it.

The big dent in the façade is "Urban Caravan". Not counting Sally Oldfield's wordless voice pictures on KEESOJEN LEHTO, this is the first appearance of vocals on a Pekka Pohjola tune. One Kassu Halonen fairly spoils the song with some highly inappropriate heavy-metal screaming. I can only wonder what anyone involved was thinking, letting that man in the recording studio!

The CD includes a second vocal track, "Silent Decade", but the vocals this time (by Esa Kaartamo), thankfully, are far more sympathetic. For all that this set a bad precedent, Pohjola seemed to learn from his mistake, and vocals never reappeared on a Pekka Pohjola album.

Listeners everywhere breathe a sigh of relief.

Progbear | 3/5 |

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