TÉMPANO

From South America-VENEZUELA comes TEMPANO ,a sensational prog rock band,in the vein of old Brit school prog rock-YES,GENESIS,GENTLE GIANT,PINK FLOYD sometimes ,just to mention a few prog icons that gave a sense to TEMPANO's musical direction!!! This is a come back album after 11 years of silence and the too long wait worth plenty,because EL FIN DE LA INFANCIA is simply outstanding!Very ,very intelligent and mature song writing,the perfect example of good and mature music made by musicians with a solid experience and musical culture!The title song is astonishing,an aetherial journey trough the most important moments in the life of a human person,from birth to the primary childhood,then the teen years and all the questions and worries that a young startd to put himself!text and music are so perfect together.being a very solid and united example how the richness of some intelligent musical ideas have a beautiful form in the end!Wonderful vocals performed by PERDO CASTILLO which is heavenly gifted and has a passionated and sincere voice,very expressing in his message!The whole band sounds excellent under all aspects,solid musicianship and brilliant technical skills,undoubtedly this album is a major one,in my opinion,in the prog rock area!The guitar especially,sounds marvelous and we feel sometimes the David Gilmour influence ,and in the next musical section of the song we have the flavour of some Metheney tone!CASTILLO is really impressive and complex in his interpretation,but all the other muscians are top class! A seroius answer to the Mexican icons-CAST,Tempano hit strong with this fabulous complex album!The jazzy parts are so well executed and the Spanish lyrics are very beautiful together with the music!Spanish language is very melodic and full of senses ,giving to TEMPANO music that "JE NE SAIS QUOI,"-which made even more attractive the album!I repeat a true pearl,in my opinion a must have for every collectioneer of good prog music worldwide! 5 STARS to a pure masterpiece!

I admit I'm pretty much undecided by this album. Even though it is very diverse, it has that retro sympho vibe that I'm usually not very wild about. Not that I don't like symphonic prog, I hardly listened to anything else for years, but the world has turned since then and I've moved on to pastures less green. Now, I can enjoy backwards looking music that is done very well like Änglagard, but with Tempano, I don't know which way to turn.

First of all the production is not good, the balance is uneven, the drums and guitars are badly recorded. But more importantly, the mosquito-buzzing moog gets on my nerves. What do so many prog fans have with this instrument? I don't get it. Also the vocalist should try a bit harder: too many predictable melodies and generally a non-emotive delivery. As an example for my issue with the vocals, you could check out The Blind Crow.

Now, before you accuse me for being in a grumpy mood, there are many things to enjoy here as well.

A first reason is that they have created a very personal sound: something between '76 Genesis, RPI and some fusion maybe? And also, the album is very diverse. It has lots of excellent guitar and at its best instrumental moments it slightly reminds me of Djam Karet. Well, if they keep that moog silent, the music gets very enjoyable at times. A Van Der Graaf inspired song like Irus is a good example of their unique and appealing mood. That is until they break the effect with that toy-moog again.

The free distribution of this album makes it extra sympathetic but I can't let that fact cloud my judgement. It's almost 3 stars, with a bit more attention to detail or a good producer, they might have trimmed this to a good 50 minute album. Now there are too many moments that bring it down.

Very unique album. When I see somewhere so high rating, I always think that it's little bit too overrated and am trying to make my own decision. Yep, it may be sign of quality, but I feel like being pushed to do something, rate in a way I don't want to. Yep, wise saying says: "When reviewing, don't look to reviews and ratings of others.". But after hearing this, I began to think that there's probably some truth in these high expectations.

Crossover prog indeed, but think about better meaning of this word (that it has a lot of prog styles inside, not that it's half prog, half pop for example), one of the most variable music that lies here. The Farmers is perfect example of how great song can be. Together with little bit of Latin rhythms (at least it seems like it to me), guitar solos, keyboard solos, melody twists, perfect vocal work (pleasant to hear, yet strong to prove you its worth). Or Iris, opposite to previous song, doing it in calm way, presenting something familiar, yet new and also in new way done.

5(-), word "interesting" is screaming all over the album. Instant love on first sigh(t), I mean listen.

Essential

Since about four years ago I'm familiar with the Venezuelan band TEMPANO, always recognized the quality of their music but never reviewed one of them because there was nothing that I could found spectacular....Well now I confidently go with "Selective Memory" which I consider a complete masterpiece, so will make something I have never done, give a perfect rating of 5 stars before writing the review.

"Victoria Pírrica" (Pyrrhic Victory) is a very complex opener, even though you can perceive the typical GENTLE GIANT dissonances, KING CRIMSON complex structures. Atmospheres in the style of Gabriel's GENESIS plus heavy guitars and a strong melody, it's the perfect balance between the experimental and melodic.

The tempo changes are extremely radical while the heavy atmosphere falls as a thick mist over the listener. Giuglio Cesare Della Noce combines Mellotron, Hammond B3 and Moog as few keyboardists are able, and is supported by the distorted guitar of Pedro Castillo, excellent way to start a great album.

"Falling Senses" begins as a point of encounter between the acoustic and the electric, the soft but mysterious breaks are complemented with fluid organ passages with a GLASS HAMMER mood.

But not everything is soft, heavy and frantic sections with a sort of electric Flamenco touch and drumming in the vein of Carl Palmer jump one after the other. The vocals are absolutely unusual and even the strong accent is adequate for the atmosphere, not a weak moment.

The acoustic guitar intro "Argos" and the organ solo remind me of ·"On to Evermore" by Glass Hammer, the mood is almost the same albeit more elaborate due to the excellent use of Mellotron that makes the difference,

"Despair, Shout" is the most mysterious track up to this moment, with a heavy atmosphere and haunting chorus introduce us into Jazz territory, but the organ creating weird sounds that are complemented by the guitar and bass, after this dense and long intro a soft "scat" passage with some violent screams introduced randomly, lead to an almost Post Rock section without loosing the Jazz atmosphere. Four songs, four masterpieces.

If this wasn't enough "A Farewell to the Seasons" rises more the level of the album, the dramatic and powerful intro where piano, vocals and violin are combined with great skills is something no music lover can miss. The vocals give a bit of relax but not for long, because an elaborate explosion of music and dissonances take us to another level of complexity.

"Irus" continues in the dark mysterious mood, again with radical and abrupt changes and dissonant passages a great contrast with the lighter "The Blind Crow", more melodic with massive use of Mellotron in the style of Genesis.

"Path" is clearly inspired in KING CRIMSON (Larks' Tongues in Aspic era) with excellent keyboard performance and strong drumming, extremely complex and elaborate.

"Embestida" (Attack) reminds me strongly of the Peruvian band FRÁGIL, based mostly in the strong keyboard performance and a GENESIS inspired sound...Well, at least until the middle when they approach to the jazzier side in a beautiful and imaginative contrast.

In "Cristalizado" TEMPANO surprises us more with a Space Rock sound based in heavy atmospheres and a fluid performance with gradual changes to end with a strong guitar section, but everything has to finish and this excellent album is closed with "Aguas Redondas" (Round Waters) a soft and unexpected track with lyrics in Spanish, again enhanced with Mellotron and Moog.

Don't have much to add to what I said in the first paragraph of his review, an essential masterpiece that deserves no less than 5 stars

good overall album/recopilation from this latam group. i can hear hints of rush (to be more precise from the tom sawyer era), in some places floyd- also touches of Yes (but not only for the mood but keyboards), influenced this venezuelan long time musicians. great intrincated keyboards with rythm guitars also can be found. i´ve heard a very differrent other group-parallel mind - comes to mind when i heard this one. anyway a good selection for a moody and enjoyable listening. not to mention the great art cover which some how reflects the idiosyncraise of the music here offered. my rating:4 ish.. ****`bright ones.

Well I don’t know much about this band but I do know just a few things about progressive rock music, and this is the real deal. Wow – talk about a flashback to the seventies! Everything a proghead could want is here: complex and ranging arrangements; detailed and complex instrumental passages; heady themes that are sometimes mildly spiritual, often abstract and nearly always thought-provoking; and musicianship that is absolutely superb and nearly flawless in its execution.

Well, ‘nuff said – go buy it. Even better, download it from the band’s website if it’s still there, or do both.

I take it from reading some biography information that Tempano were a Venezuelan symphonic rock band who had the misfortune of forming as the progressive monuments overlooking the musical sea were collapsing into flotsam and being swept away under the currents of punk, disco and later New Wave. The band persevered during the eighties, but only through drastic lineup changes that left just the drummer as an original member and with a repertoire that seemed to be comprised of mostly contemporary rock and even dance music.

Enter the 21st century though, which found the band’s original quartet reunited and back to putting out their version of the kind of music so many of us grew up on some 30-40 years ago. But this isn’t nostalgia, even though all but the opening track are remakes of older Tempano tunes. No, these tracks have been resurrected, dusted off and re-recorded with new interpretations that seem as fresh as the day they were first played, back when nobody was paying attention.

There are a handful of middle-aged guys running around these days making modern progressive rock that strikes deep to the heart of the sounds of the giants they grew up with: Yes, ELP, King Crimson, Genesis, VgGG, Pink Floyd and Gentle Giant, among others. The Tangent, Salem Hill, Flower Kings, Glass Hammer, IQ, Ezra and Proto-Kaw all fall into this category. They are dudes approaching middle- age (or are already there), yet with enough youthful exuberance (and more than enough musical talent) to put together modern prog music that is both approachable and majestic at the same time. This is talent, and Tempano belong in that group.

There’s not much point picking through every track, and to do so would either require me to make extensive notes or shift focus from listening to the music, so I choose to do neither. I will say that the keyboards and guitar are particularly stunning here, as is usually the case with excellent progressive rock. The odd and complex timing and tempo shifts of drummer Gerardo Ubieda combine with Giuglio Cesare Della Noce’s wall of keyboard sounds to paint a gorgeously lush musical landscape for the lead guitar and other instruments to play within. This is truly grand music.

Della Noce seems to have made it a point to collect just about every type of keyboard ever used in the seventies, from farfisa organ to a B3 to a Wurlitzer electric piano to mini-Moog to a Rhodes MKII to a Rhapsody string synthesizer and even to a clavinet. This guy either spent a ton of money at yard sales or had to dust this stuff off when he pulled it out of some long-term storage facility. Either way there are few bands still around today who put this kind of authentic detail into their sound.

There’s a mellotron too (woodwind sounds and possibly some strings), played by guitarist/violinist/ vocalist Pedro Castillo. All these guys are multi-instrumentalists, with even drummer Gerardo Ubieda getting in some keyboard work on “Cristalizado”.

Despite being Venezuelan there is very little that sound Latin here; possibly some of the guitar soloing on “The Farmers” (which also features the most prominent clavinet passage), but that’s about it. The rest is clearly in the vein of the European masters. “The Farmers” also has some vocal and moog parts that could pass for early seventies Pink Floyd outtakes, and “The Blind Crow” bears more than a passing resemblance to something Peter Gabriel might have arranged, and that Dave Gilmour might have played guitar on (how’s that for a dream combo?).

This whole album is a joy from start to finish. There really are no weak tracks, and for fans of traditional and full-frontal pretentious prog rock, you won’t do much better than this, at least in this century. I can’t think of any reason not to give this album five stars, although like some modern prog bands there’s always the chance their appeal could wear thin when subjected to the test of time. I doubt it (and hope not), but if necessary will revisit the five stars assessment if it becomes necessary. In the meantime, highly recommended to just about any kind of progressive music fan, but especially neo-prog, symphonic, eclectic, crossover and heavy prog fans (I guess that’s just about every kind of prog fan now that I think about it – Zeuhl nuts might want to take a pass I suppose). The rest of you will all find things to love here.

peace

Nothing in this album is new at all, except for the opening song, the rest of them are unreleased tracks from some recording sessions, mostly for the Odyssey and 7 Samurai albums.

Victoria Pirrica starts the album with a wonderful mix of styles ranging from Symphonic to jazz and a bit of psychedelia.

Falling Senses starts with an explosion of energy and then it continues until the end with a mellow feeling but with the same jazzy reminiscence with which the album started.

Argos is an acoustic track that remembers me Greg Lake's ballad in each ELP album, of course without the vocals and in a less accesible style, but follows the concept of having at least one acoustic track in the album. Followed by Despair, Shout, a coplex disonant track full of insanity, great drums and magnificent guitars joined by the allways great keyboards.

Irus starts with a piano-drums energic duo that is followed by the mellow feeling of the last half of Falling Senses but with a more complex, magnificent and sometimes disonant background followed by The Blind Crow, a more accesible track with vocals and a 70's reminiscence and Path is a continuation of the previous track. Embestida is a great keyboard driven track with the jazz feeling of Victoria Pirrica but with a new magnitude.

Crystalizado is another powerful mellow track and masterpiece. Then the album finishes with Aguas Redondas with a reminiscence of the good old symphonic prog and the great Castillo's vocals.

This is a great album and almost a masterpiece from the best venezuelan prog band and a good introduction to Tempano and the best of all is that it is FREE!. 4.5/5

After just my first contact with TEMPANO,I can honestly say that they belong to the major league's art rock bands.They were formed in 1977,suffered from several line-up problems and ended up as a quartet,who recorded and released ''Atabal Yemal'' in 1979.This work is an absolute heaven for classic progressive rock fans,as it contains six elaborated,extremely well-played and complicated compositions,which start from symphonic sessions filled with beautiful keyboard sounds and end in jazz/fusion complex parts with fantastic interplays.Imagine a blend of early STEVE HACKETT works blended with smooth RETURN TO FOREVER-like jazz rock.The 1998 release presented here contains also three bonus tracks,where the band push their skills even more with a more complicated and challenging sound of their late-90's era.An absolutely essential release!

This was a comeback album for this Venezuelan band,as it had been 11 years since their last release.This is a good symphonic record, but for me nothing more.The guest cello from Peter Pijtsik(AFTER CRYING) is a nice touch on several tracks,but the bass player is the star on this album.There is some orchestration sprinkled in here and there as well. Tres is a short introduction track with drums and bass leading the way and cello playing overtop. Timorato features more great bass to open with a full sound arriving quickly.The tempo shifts a lot on this one.Cello 2 minutes in as bass throbs.Tribal-like drumming to end it. Lugar De Casas Nuevas is my favourite track by far.The most symphonic in my opinion with a wonderful addictive keyboard melody throughout.The bass is once again prominant in this catchy,bright song.Some tasteful guitar after 2 1/2 minutes as drums pound. Sin Retorno opens with strummed guitar with vocals and a mellow sound before a minute.Some vocal melodies and nice guitar that comes and goes.The best part is the instrumental section 4 minutes in.Not a fan of the light vocal ending at all. Grillos is kind of jazzy until 2 minutes in when it gets heavier.The drums and bass stand out.It settles back down before it ends. El Fin De La Infancia is the almost 25 minute epic.It takes a while to get going,but hey they have lots of time right? There are actually a lot of different moods to this one early.Then some classical guitar,orchestration and even a haunting section after 16 minutes.More fat bass lines 21 minutes in as they truly throw everything but the kitchen sink at us.I hate to say i was underwhelmed but... Escape Para El Hombre Comun is mellow to start but it does get a little heavier.Mellow again to end it. En La Via opens with slow paced piano melodies.A nice uptempo rhythm a minute in with more fantastic bass.I really like this tune.If you listen to the vocal melodies and the heavy bass lines you'll find a very zeuhl-like flavour to this one.Check it out after 5 minutes.The song ends as it began with piano. Like i said this is a good one,it just failed to capture my prog-imagination in any way.

"Spread the word, the verse, the note, the melody,. This album is yours" - this message appears on the Témpano website from which you can download their latest album "Selective Memory" ("Memoria Selectiva" in Spanish). Strictly speaking, this is not a new album but a collection of older compositions, most of which were used by the band to create their entries for the "Odyssey" and "7 Samurai" multi- group concept-albums. The more concise format in which they had been originally written appears now in tracks 2-8 and 10. Track 9 dates back from the "Agony & Ecstasy" days, while the closing track is from the "Atabal-Yemal" era, never before recorded although performed on stage many times. Only the opener is a new piece specifically written and produced for this album: 'Victoria Pírrica' sets the mood for the some of the overall atmospheres predominant in the album, a combination of symphonic prog, chamber-rock, jazz, space-rock and Gentle Giant-ish tricks that can be already recognizable as Témpano's signature sound. Most of the tracks remind us of the essential sonorities encapsulated in "Childhood's End", while bringing some of the ambiences displayed by the fractal projects Odrareg and iX. This really shows you how well amalgamated are the band's general vision and the individual members' creativity. Despite the fact that lots of vintage keyboards are used (Hammond and Farfisa organs, Moogs, mellotron, Wurlitzer and Fender electric pianos.) and the band's claim that the recording process was designed to simulate the 70s MO, the album's production bears a modern feel right from track 1. 'Falling Senses' bears a more powerful mood during the strong passages, which really helps to create a special contrast with other more constrained moments: there is also a noticeable enhancement of the jazzy factor, especially in the swing provided by the rhythm section. The closing section is full of solemnity, in no small degree created by the mesmerizing Hackett-meets- Gilmour guitar solo. Later on, in track 5, the jazz element will prevail. 'Argos' is a relaxing acoustic ballad augmented by a punchy synth solo that builds a hypnotic atmosphere wrapping around the overall track. Also relaxing but more experimental is 'A Farewell to the Seasons' (an undoubted highlight), which alternates a soft development of dissonant motifs and the elaboration of calm moods: traces of GG, PF and Yes can be noticed here, always under Témpano's unique vision. 'Irus' bears a family resemblance with 'A Farewell to the Seasons', although not equaling its splendor: all in all, the amazing guitar solo that emerges from minute 4 creates a dynamic climax that complements the track's general ambience. 'The Blind Crow' is less dense and more serene than any of the preceding two tracks, with an evident retro feel and a surprising finale of hand clapping and tribal chanting. 'Embestida' is the mandatory Happy the Man-inspired track (there's always one or two in each Témpano album): the basic motifs are playful and lyrical, with an interlude that sets a pertinently contrast of controlled weirdness and an increase of the jazzy element when the track approaches its closing - another highlight. 'Cristalizado' brings back the dreamy aspect that had been so prominent in the most solemn parts of the preceding tracks: it included a magnificent (albeit regrettably brief) classical guitar duet, plus an electrifying guitar lead. Pedro Castillo is a master musician who knows how to combine eerie textures, architectural pyrotechnics and stylish phrasing. 'Aguas Redondas' further explores this trend of calmness and sophistication, providing a contemplative closure for the album: the keyboard layers, the acoustic guitar arpeggios and the electric guitar continuing leads create pure bucolic magic, as if it were a homage to the good old days of Genesis and Yes. Both these tracks, whene appreciated as a continuum, feel like the album's glorious highlight. An excellent ending for an excelling prog item that is "Selective Memory" - Témpano remains one of the most creative progressive bands still active around the world (let alone South America!), still capable of writing and producing musical masterpieces such as this.