EQUILIBRIO VITAL

''Kazmor el prisionero'' displays all the good and bads of the first album, this time though Equilibrio Vital sound a bit more confused, we can't accuse them of course, when trying to play Prog/Art Rock and the calendar says it's year 1984.Nine original compositions in here and a few of them are practically hot and flaming Hard Rock, performed on guitars and synthesizer and featuring some extra flute soloing, which still reminds of JETHRO TULL, but do not expect something close to Prog Rock.Alternating, irritating and occasionally high-pitched male and female vocals and explosive electric atmospheres, but the overall sound hasn't aged well.Longer pieces are more experimental, if I could use this word, surfacing the progressive qualities of the previous work in a consistent basis, the guitars are still following a hard and fiery approach, but the arrangements showcase some complex ideas with good vocal lines and great guitar solos, sometimes flavored by nice flute work.Keyboards are reduced to minimum and that's not a positive factor, the band sounds a bit sterile at moments, not helped by the period, mediocre production, the music though is decent, even if the Hard Rock elements prevail over the proggier sections.

Mediocre Hard Prog and not as good as the eponymous debut.Too melodramatic and harsh with the progressive moments being rather reduced.Extremely expensive original LP, CD reissue out on Musea.

I am not among this band's fans. But I respect them and admire their fight against adverse situations like difficult recording facilities, various political turmoils and the passing of one of their funding members.

Most compilation albums is by the very nature of them a mixed bag. This album is not an exception and it is by no means a greatest hits album too. This album has some unreleased tracks too. Genre wise, this compilation mostly contains stadium rock with some jazz and symph prog vibes too. You get a couple of cigarette-lighter ballads intertwined with some racy rockers too. There are some Rush references too, but not many.

The vocals is both male and female and the instrument setup is the normal tangents, guitars, bass and drums. Some flutes has also been added. The sound is not that good, but it is still acceptable.

The quality...... well, maybe stadium rock is not thing, really. But the quality here is not good by anyone's standards. There are not really any good songs here and nothing I really find appealing. But this is an OK album, but nothing more. I guess the stadium rock and AOR fans here will like this album better than me. Sorry !

2 stars

This band from Venezuela is still alive to my knowledge. I interviewed them last year. This is their debut album from 1983 and that makes this band approx 30 years old.

The music on this album is a mix of latino rock/pop, AOR, hard rock and some symphonic prog. It most of all sounds like 1983. The sound is good and not a problem at all. The instruments is the usual drums, bass, keyboards and guitars. The Spanish vocals are both female and male. Reference points are perhaps Rush, The B 52's, the Spanish scene and the 1970s Rock Progressivo Italiano scene. There is a lot of RPI in their music, in fact.

Due to the lack of funds and recording premises in Venezuela at that time (the 1980s), it is pretty obvious that only the best musicians from that scene was recorded. In the case of this album; that shows. The musicianship is excellent throughout. The quality of the songs is good throughout without really leaving an everlasting impression on me. But it is obvious that the songs here are far better live than on a sterile recording. This is though one of the better records from this era and worth checking out. If I had been listening to this album back then, I think I would had added another star, at least. It is a good effort, anyway.

3 stars