ASFALTO

Among the popular Rock bands from Spain, Asfalto from Madrid emerged from the group Tickets in early-70's, but it wasn't until the mid-70's when the group had a stable core on Jose Luis Jimenez (vocals, bass), Julio Castejon (guitar, vocals), Enrique Cajide (drums) and Lele Laina (guitar, vocals).In 1976 the band performed a tribute album to The Beatles, entitled ''Homenaje a Los Beatles'', and the next year they were signed by Zafiro.In 1978 Asfalto made their self-titled debut on Zafiro's sub-label Chapa Discos.

The debut of Asfalto was a full-blown Hard Rock album with slight prog inspirations, featuring dual guitar leads, expressive Spanish vocals and definitely among the more deep bass works to find in the genre.Most of the tracks are short and catchy with some impressive guitar parts and good solos, while even the vocal melodies sound pleasant.A Hard Rock sound with a nice balance between stronger and lighter moments is here and there supported by a proggier style.''Capitan trueno'' is a beautiful Symphonic/Spanish Rock with a beautiful flute melody repeating among its rockier parts.The short ''Todos los dias'', despite performed with a classic rock instrumentation, bursts a light symphonic flavor due to the great guitars and interesting vocals.Even the long ''Quiero irme: la huida'' has its moments with acoustic guitars, impressive electric guitar workouts and more space for instrumental madness.

This is still a typical Hard Rock album from Spain, but the music is sometimes too good to simply pass this one by.Recommended, especially if you like Spanish Prog-related Rock music.