CRISALIDA

ESPIRITU was one of the greatest prog rock bands in Argentina (my country) and Latin America ever. Just like Aquelarre, Invisible, Alas and Crucis (specially this last one), the group combines perfectly the symphonic rock of english bands like Yes or Genesis and the finest performance of some italian bands. Another important aspect (besides the spirit of the performance) is the quality of the production, just perfect, not like other latin american bands of that time.

"Crisalida" was the first album released by the band, but it sounds very mature and oragnized, very fresh. The opening track, "La Casa De La Mente" is one of the most shocking moments on the album. It opens with a very inspired Moog introduction, courtesy of the awsome keyboardist Gustavo Fedel, and then the band explotes with a wonderfull Osvaldo Favrot's electric guitar solo. In addition of this, the rhythmic section does a very good job with drummer Carlos Goler and bass player Claudio Martinez. The energy dissapears suddenly, and Favrot changes to very beuatyfull acoustic guitar chords. Then, Fernando Berge starts to sing the melodies. The lyrics are very introspective, full of reflexions about the life and God. I want to clarify these details because the album is full of them, and it's great!

"Prolijas Virtudes del Olvido" starts with a psychedelic introduction, but then the acoustic guitar appears and stay to the end of the track. The vocal harmonies sounds a little less inspired here, but the energy comes back in the next song: "Sueños Blancos, Ideas Negras", one of the most heavy passages on the album. It opens with a very intimist organ solo and a very strong vocal melody, but in the chorus the music changes abruptly with a fantastic rhythmic base. I love this song. The first half of the album ends with "Sabios de Vida", a nice song but not the best.

The second half of Crisalida starts with "Eterna Evidencia", the only instrumental track. The stars of this song are Gustavo Fedel's keyboard and the guitar solos of Osvaldo Favrot. "Tiempo De Ideas" is another very good song, specially on the fantastic chorus. Here, the keyboards has an important role. This last one remebers me some moments of "The Remembering" (Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans). "Hay Un Mundo Cerrado Dentro Tuyo" is maybe the most weak track of Crisalida, but it still is a very nice song. And the end becomes with "Hay Un Mundo Luminoso", the longer piece. It's fabulous, the rhythms has surprising breaks, full of pasion, a great vocalization, and it's ends with chorus repeats. This is the end of this awesome prog rock album.

There is many releases of this album. The original was the Lp in 1975 with the label Microfon. In 1989 Sony Music Argentina released it on CD, then it was a third reissue in 1997 and finally the remastered edition released in January 2004 with Lp style package.

Let me tell you, ESPIRITU was the best argentinian progressive rock band ever (with Crucis, obviously) and Crisalida shows everyone that the South American groups can be as creative and brillant as the europeans. If you are a prog rock lover, don't think twice, get Crisalida right now! It won't bring you down.