QUANTUM

Quantum is a Brazilian symphonic prog act, very much in a Camel-esque vein, with some slight touches of jazz that are spread in some passages of the album: as a kind of analogy, I can describe Quantum's music as a compromise between "Moon Madness" and Sinclair-era Camel, but always keeping a subtly constrained spirit, never getting too mesmeric or too complex. It is this latter factor that makes them stand a bit close to the neo-prog structure, but generally speaking, Quantum's offering is more closely related to the melodic flavours of 70s symphonic prog than the modernized reinvention proposed by the neo ideology. Their 1983 debut album is entirely instrumental, so the whole trick lies in the appeal of the musical ideas and the effectiveness of the musicians' interplay: and indeed, both these factors work quite well since the compositions are evidently pleasant and the performance level is quite solid, despite the fact that the material isn't notably challenging. The overall good taste that inspired the melodic beauty of all compositions turns out to be the main key to this album's major qualities. The repertoire, as a whole, preserves a tight cohesion without reaching a boring sameness, given the fact that the material's appeal works on fluidly on a permanent basis. The 9-minute long opener 'Tema Etéreo' starts sweet and dreamy during its first half, then turning to a more up-tempo mood for the latter half: it is then followed by 'Chuva', a brief, eerie nocturne based on an recurrent chord progression on guitar. 'Acapulco' and 'Inter Vivos' are, IMHO, the most impressive tracks in the album since they comprise the most attractive musical ideas and portray Quantum's artistic essence in a truly confident manner - the elegant fluidity of the guitar-keyboard interplaying and the sensible precision of the rhythm section speak for themselves as the band moves along through shifting motifs and moods. 'Sonata' is yet another not- too-long eerie composition: a really beautiful one, indeed. This one serves as a sort of prelude to the official repertoire's up-tempo closure, whose title is the band's name itself: even though it doesn't equal the magic of tracks 3 & 4, it sure is catchy enough to keep the listener's attention right until the end. The CD edition contains a bonus track, 'Presságio', which finds the band exploring a slightly poppier side of their prog - nice, but nothing special. For the official repertoire alone, the "Quantum" genuinely deserves to be regarded as great to excellent: 3.75 stars.