CUENTOS DEL SUBSUELO

"Cuentos del Subsuelo" is Redd's sophomore effort. It took so many years before it was eventually released as a CD, when plans were intended for a 1980 release as a regular vinyl. Anyway, the pros and cons of independent efforts. Redd had already stated a clear musical path in their debut album "Tristes Noticias del Imperio", and "Cuentos del Susbuelo" pursues a similar dynamics and sound. Only this time the band has a permanent keyboardist on board and a stronger vocalist: the latter and the new drummer together replaced Juan Escalante, the founder member who left the band after the recording sessions of "Tristes Noticias". I said that the band's dynamics and sound remained the same, but definitely the sound is fuller and more robust, which is clearly due to the newcomer keyboardist: with him in the band, the guitar riffs and harmonic bases can bear a slightly louder fill (something important for the climatic and fast passages), and the band as a whole can elaborate a more orchestral vibe, which is good for the preservation of melancholic moods in the predominant slow songs and the enhancement of sonic elegance for the climaxes. In terms of writing and arranging issues, the band is more consciously engaged with melodic beauty than ever - this is, indeed, my favorite Redd album. The album's opener is 'Como la Esmeralda', a definitive Redd classic that states a solid, melancholic ambience, properly augmented by the bluesy guitar's lead phrases and the subtle keyboard deliveries, very much like Invisible-meets-romantic Camel. The emotion is given an extra dose of passion with 'El Padre de Ícaro', arguably the most amazing song that Redd has ever written. Revolving around Dedalus' infinite sadness for his son's foolish death, this song displays a series of haunting instrumental and vocal lines that frontally reflect a sense of despair drowned in a restless quietness. The final vocal lines delivered by Imhoff are the pure incarnation of sadness (even if the words relate the emotion in the third person), and the instrumental coda brings the final drama. Awesome! Things get heavier and lighter with the good spirited song 'Los Entretenimientos de Medianoche del Dr.Frankenstein' states an ironic tale of domination through science with a mixture of heavy prog and psychedelia, including some satiric soliloquy. The album's last two pieces keep on exploring the stylish melancholy of 'Como la Esmeralda' and take it to the most expressive level. 'El Asesino Sentimental' is a soft prog blues with a momentary hard rocking break, relying mostly on atmospheres and emotions - Imhoff's passionate vocals shine here with special brightness. And the same applies to 'Dedos Tristes', although this time the instrumentalists state a more aggressive approach - the strength is constrained, though, in order to keep the nuclear melancholy vivid and not turn it into anger. This song really captures the album's most recurrent mood, so it is only coherent that it should close it down. The 3 bonus tracks are taken from a live performance in the early 80s. The songs (2 from this same album and 1 from the debut) are given a bigger expansion in their live renditions: it's a pity that the sound quality is so lousy, since you can really suspect that the band's live stamina gave an extra intensity to the pieces. Well, all in all, "Cuentos del Subsuelo", by building up from the musical scheme developed in "Tristes Noticias", brought Redd's vision to its ultimate expression. An excellent album by a band that left good memories in the Argentina's rock scene.

Well Argentinean fans probably know the history of this band far better than I do so I won't attempt to try and unwind the various permutations and lineup changes from their brief existence or the 2002 "reunion". It's enough to note that this record was first recorded as the band's sophomore effort in late 1979/early 1980 but not released until RPW finally put out a digital version in 1996, fifteen years after the band itself had ceased to exist.

Guitarist Luis Albornoz and bassist Esteban Cerioni remain from the trio that recorded the first (and excellent) debut record, and are augmented by a dedicated lead vocalist in Óscar Imhoff, a new drummer with Marco Pusineri and keyboardist in Juan Pollo Raffo. It's interesting to note that Juan Escalante filled all three of those roles on the band's first album.

The synths are much more prevalent here than on the band's earlier work, although everything I've heard from them features a fair amount of keyboard and synth work. With a full-time lead singer there are also a lot more vocals, and Imhoff has a very strong voice although for me the band's music is good enough on its own that they didn't really need to add much singing.

The original recording is rather brief with just five songs that blend together quite well except for the somewhat light and silly "Los Entretenimientos de Medianoche del Profesor Frankestein" which includes some hopped-up vocal echoing and turgid keyboard/guitar passages apparently intended to give off a sort of old-time monster-movie vibe. I'm not sure what the point was of this track and while the music is well done it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the songs.

On the other end of the spectrum is the roller-coaster trip titled "Asesino Sentimental" which ranges from heavy guitar/bass riffs to almost lounge-like electric piano/jazzy vocal passages and slowly fades at the end with a saddish jangle of electric guitar and segues into the closing stilting synths and guitar work of "Dedos Tristes". That one features some beautiful guitar flourishes that call to mind some the great guitar-hero bands and albums of the late seventies and very early eighties. A perfect ending that pulls this album up from just a 'pretty good' level to something quite memorable.

The three bonus tracks are live recordings from the early eighties right before the band dissolved. The sound quality is poor but the extended treatment on "Matinée" from their debut record is especially worth listening to. "Reyes en Guerra" is also from their debut and is for the most part faithful to the original, while "Dedos Tristes" is a live version from the same track on this album and shows the band's ability to extend the various instrumental passages though in the end doesn't add a whole lot to the original.

I've been wanting to listen to this album for a long time after being introduced to Redd from Esteban Cerioni's later effort known as Redd Land. In total the music here is worth seeking out for the beautiful instrumentation and extended arrangements of most of the songs. It's not a masterpiece as far as my ears are concerned, but definitely deserves recognition as something of a lost remnant of a style of music that was sadly in decline by the time Redd recorded it to close out the seventies decade. Four stars out of five is a good and fair rating, and well-recommended to fans of Argentinean 'folk' prog music.

peace