EL DIA DE LA TORMENTA

After their very good 1974 debut which earned them the nick of "the Spanish Deep Purple", from late 1975 the band members had to leave for the then compulsory military service, losing some three years in the process. By the time they could all come together again, 1978, the music scene had changed radically and that heavy prog with Hammond, Blackmore-esque guitar and furious drumming was out of fashion.

With a new bassist Pedro Garcia replacing Jose Torres they attempted to adapt to the new times but there was a clear hesitation regarding the musical direction to take and the result was rather disappointing.

The Hammond is replaced by synths, the early 70's Deep Purple sound is totally gone and it's quite impossible to recognize that this is the same band that recorded that 1974 debut album. The lyrics are now in Spanish, and rather poor by the way.

The style is a rather inconsistent mix of mid 70's prog such as Pink Floyd, commercial pop rock, flamenco-rock (Triana had been very successful in the previous years) and the soft heavy rock made popular at the time by bands like Scorpions or Rainbow.

The opener Este Mundo is far from great but it's decent, you could think of a hard version of Pink Floyd.

La Luz De Tu Voz and Desde El Mar y Las Estrellas are decent ballads but nothing remarkable.

The instrumental Saeta Ensayo, split in two parts by the LP format with Part 1 on side A and Part 2 on side B was probably intended to be the link to prog, it explores some variations on the main keyboard melodic line but it's rather weak.

Lejos De La Civilizacion and El Dia De La Tormenta are simply dispensable pop songs.

This was the last album by a band who should have delivered much more, the talent was there but they fell prey of the weak economics in Spain at the time, the military service break of its members and the fall of prog in the second half of the 70's.

Keyboardist Luis Genil died in 2004 and while the band has reunited for some gigs it does not seem likely that they will be back with good prog music on studio.

Unfairly frequently dismissed simply for being such a complete change in sound from their minor- classic hard-rocking proto-prog debut (although it was late to that game by arriving in 1974!), Spanish band The Storm, formed by brothers 'ngel (guitars) and drummer Diego Ruiz, delivered a tasteful and reliable follow-up `El Dia de la Tormenta' (`The Day of the Storm') in 1979 that actually has plenty going for it. The band switched back over to their native Spanish language and headed in more of a `proggier' direction, and they ended up offering a set of highly melodic dreamy rock tracks, pleasing ballads and even some gentle symphonic instrumental pieces on this more than worthwhile follow-up.

`Este Mundo' is a cool opening rocker full of atmosphere and pensive mood, with plenty of whirring keyboard variety and bashing drums throughout, and although not quite as heavy blasting as the debut, there's still a welcome grunt to the guitars that instantly calls to mind that first album, given an extra touch of bite during the solos. `La luz de tu voz' is a slow-burn rocker with nice floating synths and a sweetly grumbling tone to the guitars, but the standout spot is a repeating infectious chorus where the lead voice soars with confidence.

The band definitely play their prog-card on `Saeta ensayo (1st Parte)', a lightly proggy instrumental that probably wouldn't have sounded out of place on the Camel albums of the same later Seventies period. A slow fade-in reveals crisp guitar runs chugging in unison alongside fanciful synth themes, with the lightest of dance-like flavours to the drumbeats to help it maintain an infectious and up- tempo energy the whole time, and there's plenty of wailing soloing throughout.

So enjoyable is the close of the first side that the band kick right back in with a second run at `Saeta ensayo, and `2nd Parte' reprises similar moments but also slows down for some more powerful gutsier spots, but before too long it's all galloping riff guitars soloing madly alongside frantic synth wig-outs. The freewheeling and joyful `Lejos de la Civilizacion' is a lightweight but spirited pop-rocker, and `Desde el mar y las Eestrellas' is tougher but holds a firm romantic quality with epic guitar soloing straight to the heart around the warmest of humming synths, and just listen to the sweetly murmuring bass throughout! Closer `El dia de la Tormenta' is simply another pop- rocker, the highlight being some almost trilling reprising synth-pop breaks from the keyboards.

The Storm would fold soon after this album, and sadly this second release is completely overshadowed by the hard-rocking debut (although that one's reputation is well deserved!). Because `El Dia de la Tormenta' has such a strong `pop' melodicism throughout it will likely be a bit too easily dismissed by stuffier proggers, but it retains a great dignity with strong vocals, intelligent and restrained yet dynamic playing and easy to enjoy rock tunes given light prog touches. It actually shows a lot more depth, variety and thought than the debut, and it just might be (whisper it!) the better of their two albums!

Absolutely a three and a half star album well worth the listen for the more forgiving of prog fans. A great album!