ANABELAS

Firstly, I'd like to say thank you ProgArchives for introducing me to this fantastic album! I found this album due to the 'PA Top Seller' banner advertising this album, sometimes found at the top of the webpage. At the time I was very surprised to hear of prog coming from such exotic countries as Argentina! Reading the reviews and listening to some on YouTube, I found the album on Amazon for under £5 and quickly snapped it up.

I have to say, I really wanted to like this album as much as the other fans who have already reviewed it, and I think repetitive listens have got me there. It's not a 'one listen and you're in love' deal at all. It would be rather difficult in any circumstance to immediately fall in love with a 20 minute mammoth of an instrumental with many intricate parts. The aforementioned track, El Cortejo de un Día Amarillo is absolutely wonderful. Writing twenty minutes of continuous instrumental music of such a high calibre must take a musical genius. It is Bubu's tour de force of prog music. Not once in the track is it dull, and more often than not you feel captivated by the music's power or beauty. One of the coolest things about this group is that their music uses a violin, a flute and a saxophone, on top of the standard bass, guitar and drums ensemble. These are probably the three most used 'extra' instruments in prog. About a third of the way in, the three members of the group playing these instruments take it in turn to give a high powered solo. In my mind, this track is flawless, leaving you wanting nothing more (perhaps the second side).

The second side presents us with just two tracks. Although these tracks are not instrumental, the ratio of instrumental to non-instrumental is very high. This is very good news for those who do not understand Spanish.

El Viaje de Anabelas (literally 'The Voyage of Anabelas') is definitely a voyage! This song takes you through so many progressive twists and turns and even through a very rock and roll verse. Much praise can be given to this song, but I must admit I prefer Sueños de Maniquí. Starting with a very dreamy section, this soon becomes an intense instrumental which will have you on the edge of your seat. This is brought swiftly to a halt by a moody sounding verse. While it is the instrumental of this track I particularly enjoy, I must say there is no falt anywhere on the rest of this track, or on this disc for a matter of fact.

The entire thing is packaged in a very proggy gatefold album sleeve, which has artwork worthy of Roger Dean. All in all, there is not a single bad thing I can say about this album. Even the fact that the lyrics are in Spanish is great, because if it were sung in English, you'd know the group were trying to cater to English speaking listeners, whereas prog shouldng be geared to cater to anyone except people who love it. The liner notes suggest that the composer of the music drew heavily from King Crimson, and I have to say that, while elements from '21st Century...' can be heard, the group sound totally original. In fact they sound original, whilst also sounding like everything you love about prog. A true South American gem!