AMAR CABALLERO

I wouldn't categorize this band as Heavy Prog! Well, I've only heard their two first (and most classic) albums, and neither of them is very heavy as a whole, especially not this one. It's not directly prog rock either, instead one hears various musical styles such as funk and jazz here - which nevertheless justifies calling it a proggy album. The proggiest one is the 3-part 'Amar Caballero' which includes nice Spanish approach.

I enjoy some songs on both albums, not all. Janita Haan is a rather ballsy female vocalist, comparable to Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane and the singer in an obscure early 70's band Affinity. But she's quite flexible too, as this album demonstrates. She's great on calm pieces ('Amar' and beautiful, mysterious-feeling 'Broken Cloud'), though her voice could be mixed more up front there. Surprisingly I like also the funky opener 'Lady' (in general I'm not fond of funk). It has really delicious horny and jazzy sound. The rest of the album leaves me quite cold. The production is uneven. I'm giving this 2½ stars, rounded up due to the rare atmosphere of 'Broken Cloud' and the closer's Spanish touch one don't hear too often.