UN ENCUENTRO

Somewhat agreeing with an accurate reviewer pointed out before me, I must say that this album, Triana's fourth, is very dark in places, although mostly, it is certainly the mellowest album that this trio [+ collaborators] have ever recorded. Also, it is fair to notice that the genuine passion and emotional candor of Flamenco-based prog remains untouched and pristine throughout the album, so it will be fair to say that the proghead who purchases "Un Encuentro" won't be disappointed if they intend to enjoy some more of the spiritual richness inherent to this specific symphonic rock trend. Now, having stated the album's major assets, let me say that "Un Encuentro" also finds the band going closer to the realms of mainstream rock. Now, I'm far from saying that this album is poppy or main AOR, or even simplistic and easily digestible; what I intend to make clear is that this album does not contain as much musical splendor as any of the previous three. This is why I give this album a 3-star rating (I wish I could give it an extra ½ star) instead of the 4-star of excellence. This album doesn't stand too far away from the excellence-awarding plateau, but the fact remains that it is just close, not quite. The first half is the album's best part. The amazingly beautiful ballad 'Tu Frialdad' (the band's most acknowledged A-single, by the way) opens up the album, displaying an interesting exercise on accessible, and at the same time, elegant mixture of Flamenco and "Latin-jazzy bolero". Even those who can't speak Spanish can share the lover's confusion, due to De la Rosa's compelling singing and effective melodic vision. The 6-minute long 'A Través del Aire' is the most progressively standardized song in the album, based on the sequence of two distinct sections: penned by guitarist Eduardo Rodríguez, he is the one who assumes the lead singer's role for this one. His Spanish guitar strumming and flourishes set the pace for the basic harmonies, allowing in this way the guest lead guitarist and partner De la Rosa have room for their respective leads. This is as epic as the album gets. 'Cae Fina la Lluvia' brings back the usual La Rosa's spotlight, as well as his compelling intimacy: this time the subject is not love, but departing (a new pace in life?, dying?, the subtext is open). This song sounds like a slightly Flamencoid Procol Harum, to good effect. More compelling intimacy will be found in the all-acoustic piece 'Un Nido en Mi Ventana'. The second half gets started with the energetic 'Aroma Fresco', an intense song that should have benefited from a more epic arrangement and a larger expansion: its less than 3 minutes span feels short and frustrating for this reviewer. This song had a similar potential to the best from the previous album, "Sombra y Luz", but it ends as a half-fulfilled promise. 'Un Extraño Más', while obviously emotional, is not that great: the segued following track 'Encuentro Fugaz' is a somewhat better, but nothing special, either. Eduardo Rodríguez provides yet another song with 'Caudaloso Río': he does manage to bring back some of the somber magic that made the best of the album's first half. 'Fin' (Spanish for 'end') is a 2- minute drum solo with added sound effects and synth ambiences. I'm not sure that I like this Palacios-penned piece as a closure, but it definitely allows him to show his skills more than any other track. Remember that the mellow thing is the most predominant aspect of "Un Encuentro". All in all, a very good album, nothing more, and of course, nothing less.