L'U

A little-known Prog combo from the even lesser known village of Vilassar de Dalt in the region of Catalunya, Franc Albir saw the light in 1980 and propably the deterrent following period was the reason the group never released anything during the 80's.Entering the new decade the group eventually released privately the debut album ''L'U'' in 1990.By the time the line-up of the group was Joan Fonts and Jordi Frontons on keyboards, Jordi Pujol on drums, Joan Salvi on bass and Oriol Villagrasa on guitars.

While the sound of the band still posesses the negative aspects of an 80's group, such as the somewhat plastic production and the annoying synthesizers, Franc Albir clearly showed their taste for adventurous and melodic all instrumental compositions in a Symphonic Rock vein, supported by smooth Folk and Pop vibes.Especially the two long tracks ''Douth i kawath'' and ''Tulipa yorka'' are quite great with dominant use of keyboards, melodious guitar textures and smooth Classical influences on the organ themes, although an AOR flavor is also obvious at moments.Their style is comparable to this of bands such as DOGMA, CHANCE or even the early albums of Mexicans CAST.The shorter tracks show combined influences from the wider Rock spectrum.Some sound like the British Prog band's of the 80's, featuring dreamy keyboards and amazing guitar solos, others are closer to New Age with ethereal synthesizers and more traditional acoustic soundscapes with an overall lounge atmosphere (propably the less interesting of all pieces), while a few others are reminiscent of the Pop/Prog/Melodic Rock of CAMEL through the 80's with powerful synths and pianos and memorable tunes.Even so the music sounds good, but the production doesn't help a lot to lift the level of the compositions.

As the album is quite impossible to reach your hands nowadays, a digital copy through bandcamp or any other available source is the better way to taste this early Franc Albir material.If a term of 80's-styled Symphonic Rock would ever grow, ''L'U'' has many chances to be labeled as so.Melodic and well-composed music, suffering from its own flaws and the average recording quality, though still recommended.