LA LEYENDA DE LA MANCHA

I really don't know why this band is here, because I honestly think they are not progressive... They only have three or four progressive tracks in their whole career and in later releases, and this is not enough. I've heard a lot of very much progressive bands wich are not in Progarchives. Nevertheless, I will make a review of "La Leyenda de la Mancha", because is a great record (although it's not progressive...)

Mägo de Oz is probalby the most famous and commercial rock band in Spain today. They are very well known in my country because they had a great success with a song, Fiesta Pagana of their album "Finisterra", wich sounded in all the discotheques of Spain 5 years ago... This band has changed a lot through the years, musically and personally, increasing the quantity of instruments, achieving better production, and making more and more commercial tracks oriented... And loosing a lot of honesty from their members and musical quality in this time. "Finisterra" was a huge success, like "Gaia" and "Gaia II", but not as good as the two real great records from this band: "Jesús the Chamberí" and, of course, their better disc "La Leyenda de La Mancha".

"La Leyenda de la Mancha" is based in the book "Don Quixote", by Miguel de Cervantes, a spanish classic book... The album it's not too long, but enough to develope a little the great history of Don Quixote, although all with the particular vision of Mägo de Oz of this history (particulary, the vision of the main man of this band, the infamous Txus). Txus is a good lyricist, and some songs have great lyrics, like Molinos de Viento, El Pacto and Ancha es Castilla.

Musically, Mägo de Oz makes a folk heavy metal in this album, with some rock and hard rock elements... Nothing progressive here. Maybe some musical developements, like El Santo Grial, wich includes a fragment from Johannes Brahms are a little prog, but not real prog songs here... The production isn't great, and you will see that in the flaw sound of the violin, and the drums aren't very good, because Txus is a mediocre drummer. But the songs are great, with a strong composition and interpretated with a lot of sentiment. In addition, something you can't deny is that this band is original, with a personal sound. And a thing that helps to built this personal sound, is the awesome voice of Jose. This is one of the best rock singers in Spain. His high pitched voice fits perfectly with the violins of Mohammed, and his interpretation in this album is a path to follow to a lot of heavy metal singers from Spain... This man has a treasure for voice, really.

Best songs: La Leyenda de La Mancha (hard rock song with a very catchy choir), Molinos de Viento (the most succesful song of the album, with a very good violin and choir. Later, Mägo de Oz would make a lot of auto-copies of this song with Fiesta Pagana, La costa del Silencio, La Posada de los Muertos...), El Bálsamo de Fierabrás (this track sound like AC/DC with violins. Very funny lyircs too...), El Pacto (heavy metal song with a lot of Iron Maiden feeling and a good instrumental developement), El Templo del Adiós (Rainbow cover, almost identic but with good lyrics...) y Ancha es Castilla (totally folk song with beautiful lyrics and flutes...) But the whole album is pretty enjoyable, and it's recommended to hear it completely to understand and understand the story...

Conclusion: if you want to know this rock band from Spain, this is without a doubt their best album. Very good songs with the personal seal of this band. After this album, the band will spoil themselves in the comerciality and reiterations...

Warning: this is not a progressive album, just heavy and hard rock with a lot of folk and celtics influences, with an omnipresent presence of the Mohammed's violin... So I can't really say that this is an excellent addition to any prog music collection, although a think that this is a great record.

My personal rate: ****

ProgArchives rate: ***

A concept album, "La Leyenda De La Mancha" has MAGO DE OZ using heavy metal to bring Cervantes' story of Don Quijote de la Mancha to a young audience.

The cartoonist Gaboni has done some odd and amusing CD art for MAGO DE OZ albums and this one does not disappoint, the back cover showing a tatooed Sancho Panza wearing a MOTORHEAD T-shirt over his paunch, with leather jacket and earring! Don Quixote, in his jeans and bullet belt, has a guitar slung over his shoulder and is thumbing a lift.

'En Un Lugar...' starts with bagpipes and the sounds of battle, followed by Gaelic fiddle and tin whistle. Then it ups tempo, and guitars, bass and drums kick in using the same tune.

'El Santo Grial' is a real fast-paced rocker with Gaelic fiddle and José howling the lyrics. It owes more to the Classic Rock styles of DEEP PURPLE, RAINBOW, SCORPIONS, MOTORHEAD and AC/DC than Progressive Rock. It's not bad for head-banging rock music, though. There is a 'classical' interlude at machine gun speed using rock instruments and fiddle, playing a very well-known classical tune (Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 in f sharp minor).

'La Leyenda de la Mancha' is another thumping Classic Rock-style number. Some great guitar soloing in this one. Fiddle midway through brings in the Gaelic feel again, but this is not Prog Rock either. Good, though.

'Noche Toledana' just consists of twangy, reverberating guitars picking out a tune.

'Molinos De Viento' is another Gaelic-sounding rocker of a song, although it has some quieter moments over some catchy fiddle. This is a real foot-tapper of a number and makes me want to sing along. Very enjoyable, actually. Quite interesting when the guitar takes up the part of the fiddle.

'Dime Con Quién Andas' is the slow rock ballad style so beloved of the Classic Rock bands, although there is some pleasant slow Gaelic-sounding fiddle too. Some heavy chopping guitars come in partway through and I can't complain. I also enjoy the wailing guitar solo.

'Maritornes' is another fast, thumping number with chopping axes assisted by fiddle in the refrain. Same formula, and again nothing to do with Progressive Rock. s'OK, though. I like the thumping beat. Another foot-tapper.

'El Bálsamo De Fierabrás' is just pure AC/DC. The guitar rocks. This is what you should have blasting from the stereo in your cabriolet with the top down on a sunny day as you cruise down the highway.

'El Pacto' starts quietly with some plucking acoustic guitar and Gaelic fiddle playing a simple but pleasant folk-ish tune. But, before long, in crash the guitars over the fiddle and José belts out the song as usual. Then some very DEEP PURPLE guitar soloing à la "Machine Head". Quite enjoyable over violin.

'La Insula De Barataria' starts off with very Gaelic fiddle and tin whistle over bass and drums. Another simple tune, but enjoyable, and I find it difficult not to whistle along. Then there's an interlude with some heavy guitar and almost Ian Anderson-like flute before the violin and tin whistle take over again. What can I say, I can't help liking it and tapping my foot. This would be great fun down the pub.

'El Templo Del Adiós' is another slowish ballad with fiddle in the background. Again a simple tune, but not bad for that. Rounded off nicely by some acoustic guitar.

'Réquiem', at over eight minutes, is the longest track by far on the album. It starts off calmly and very effectively, and the echoing, massively heavy chopping axes that come in are the business. This is quite an interesting track, actually, because it's pure Classic Rock in feel and yet, listening to it, it has interesting twists and changes in tempo and mood. Have to say I enjoy what the boys did on this one. The most 'progressive' track on the album. Love those axes. Crank this one up loud.

'Ancha Es Castilla (Epílogo)' rounds off the album nicely. It's a quieter song with acoustic guitar and some flute, and with an almost medieval sound and simplicity to it. José sounds rather like a minstrel on this one.

Now, this album has precious little to do with Progressive Rock. It's 180 degrees off my normal listening route, but I just happen to like the MAGO DE OZ formula: the addition of fiddle, tin whistle, the occasional flute and even bagpipes to produce a Gaelic feel here and there over some classic licks and chopping axes is quite fun. I also like the singing in Spanish, which makes an interesting change from the vast number of rock songs in English. There's no subtlety to it (especially to José's singing) but, hey, the group do what they do well and, sometimes, I want a meaty chargrilled burger with extra relish and fries, not nouvelle cuisine.

OK, what about a rating? Forgetting rock music genres, I would give this album 3.5, possibly 4 stars. As this is a site specialising in Progressive Rock, I'll stick to the 3 stars (Good, but not essential) but, if you like foot-tapping Classic Rock and the prospect of a Gaelic lilt to it sounds interesting, do give this album a try. Don't expect Progressive Rock, just fun music. Metal lovers should have no trouble at all enjoying this one. Rock on, MAGO DE OZ!

Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!! What a hilarious album! Mago de Oz may be a commercial band in Spain, but here in the American midwest this stuff is a bit of a novelty, and a rather entertaining one at that.

Aside from the little snippet of Brahms on the second track, there is little to this album that could be considered progressive, but then again I wouldn’t call it folk either, but that’s what it gets labeled at times. I just finished re-reading Don Quixote about a month ago for the first time in many years, and despite the sometimes annoyingly insignificant details, it is still one of the few true classic works of modern times. Well, so much for reverent representation of the classics! Mago de Oz rip into the staid and pitifully dignified character of Señor Quixote and his inept sidekick Sancho beginning with the album’s artwork, and don’t let up until the final chords of the music fade away. This is not your grandfather’s vision of the old windmill-lancing knight!

Musically this is a real hodge-podge, mixing Celtic violin (gotta’ love that violin!), alternately tapping and shredding metal guitar, boisterous Spanish vocals, and a persistent metal rhythm, all while bastardizing the story of the knight whose gourd is protected by the shiny wash basin of a barber. Truth be told, I’m not even sure some of the song lyrics are proper Spanish, or at least I can’t quite decipher some of them. But no matter, this is a bundle of entertainment for an otherwise boring evening.

The influences are pretty apparent, including several almost blatant ripoffs of some of the finest Ritchie Blackmore riffs from any number of Rainbow classics; a little bit of Zeppelin’s pomp; the distinctively melodic metal chaos of Iron Maiden; maybe some Flogging Molly; and one tune (“El Pacto”) that sounds like Loverboy with a Latin Mike Reno front man. Priceless!

I don’t really know what to make of these guys, but I’ll give them credit for being awesomely entertaining. One note about the acoustic guitar work as well – this is about the least Latin-sounding acoustic guitar I’ve ever heard. More like Neil Young in places than Gypsy Kings, really. Good stuff.

The highlight is probably “Requiem”, where it gets difficult to discern the guitar from the violin at times, and the eventually building tempo just kicks ass. Vocalist José manages to sound like a slightly lower-key rap version of Ronnie James Dio, and pulls it off with gusto.

Like I said, this isn’t prog music, but it sure is fun to listen to. I’m glad to have this in my collection, and recommend it to fans of bands like Rhapsody, metal fans, and anyone with a sense of humor when it comes to music. Four stars.

peace

These Spaniards are an absolute blast to listen to,very entertaining to say the least. I've seen them described as Celtic-Metal, and with the flute and prominant violin it makes sense.Take away the violin and this is an easy 4 stars for me. It's not that I don't like violin it's just I prefer my Metal with bass, guitars and drums. Old school. And the violin is all over this album. The vocals are in Spanish and sound great.

"En Un Lugar..." is the short intro track that opens with bagpipes followed by a "battle" sample then flute and violin. It kicks in around a minute with the drums out in front. "El Santo Grial" opens with heavy SABBTH-like guitar with drums. It's uptempo as violin then vocals come in. There is a definite IRON MAIDEN flavour here. Blistering guitar before 3 minutes, violin follows. "La Leyenda De La Mancha" opens with attitude but that changes when the violin arrives. Contrasts continue. Great sound before 2 minutes. "Noche Toledana" is a short instrumental. "Molinas De Viente" is a powerful song with violin and vocals. It does settles before a minute but contrasts continue.

"Dime Con Quien Andas" is laid back as reserved vocals come in. Violin follows. It's heavier before 2 minutes. Nice. It settles 3 minutes in as the guitar solos beautifully. Violin is back. "Maritornes" is uptempo as violin comes and goes. A good rocker. "El Balsame De Fierabras" has this great sounding rhythm like a JUDAS PRIEST tune. Guitar solo 2 minutes in. A fun song. "El Pacto" is mellow as violin comes in. It kicks in around a minute and vocals join in. Guitar solo 3 minutes in. He's lighting it up here. Vocals and violin follow. "La Insula De Barataria" has violin and flute in it. It's heavier 1 1/2 minutes in but it's brief. "El Templo Del Adios" is laid back with violin, vocals and strummed guitar. "Requiem" opens with solo, almost spoken vocals. Synths then drums join in as he starts to sing. This is catchy and it's building. Great sound before 3 minutes. "Ancha Es Castilla" is a mellow tune with picked guitar, violin and reserved vocals. Not a fan.

So a pretty good album that could have been a killer one for my tastes sans violin.