TÉMPANO

Every now and then an album appears out of nowhere that knocks you out, an unexpected instant desert island, an album you know you can't forget about it, one classic, forever with you, one you revisit frequently.

Nowhere nowhere is that album for me, Tempano has matured into a band that can do no wrong and delivered the most inspired album of their career and, again, for me, one of the best albums of the last few years so far.

The album encapsulates musical styles ranging from fusion to progressive rock, blended magically in a way that makes you wonder how do they do it so smoothly. An eclectic work that navigates from song to song across different moods.

There is a great balance between all instruments but if you listen closely you will discover that each one plays their own melody, the result, an elegant complexity that does not invade you, music played with passion.

There is one more thing about this band, the lyrics are carefully written, meaningful, there is a sense of direction that many bands lack, and to add one more magical element, the voice by an experienced singer, amazing how the guy can sing.

Tempano is formed by professional musicians, its evident just by listening to this album, it's simply rewarding for my ears, and with so much music being made, finding albums that really are different and special is becoming harder, Thanks you guys !

Wow! What a great album. I wish it would have lasted a little longer. This is one of the most fresh and imaginative prog music I have listened to in 2016. I hear many things going on here:

-great instrumentals (particularly track 3, which features a thrilling violin/guitar interplay that is both virtuosic and full of emotion),

-masterly crafted songs (track 2, 4 and 7, to name only some examples, which contain a perfectly balanced amalgam of voice and instruments, full of beautiful melodies and wonderful arrangements, great solos included),

-great guitar work in all the 8 tracks, from a guitarrist that is more into creating emotion and moods with every note he plays instead of trying to overwhelm the listener with hundreds of notes per second; many good examples, but I would choose track 3 and track 8 to show how a wonderful guitar work contributes to the general mood of the piece,

-refreshing sounds and unusual timbres coming from the keyboards, which perform an excellent and very imaginative job along the whole album,

-drums and percussion work of artisan quality, providing not only rhythm but also color to the pieces (all tracks, but listen only to tracks 1, 2 or 8 to have an example of this),

-what else I hear in this music? I hear risk and experimentation in this music, I hear mainly prog but also jazz undercurrents informing the pieces, I hear, yes, touches of Gilmour, of Crimson, of Wilson, of Weather Report, maybe some Bill Frisell, .....but, all in all, somehow, a unique sound, a sound that seems to be peculiar to this band, I cannot think of any other contemporary prog rock band that quite sounds like TEMPANO. Listen to the wonderful track 8, maybe the highest point in the album, to have an idea of the stories this band wants to tell: this track is a good summary of that blend of experimentation, tradition, prog and jazz undercurrents, exceptional guitar and keyboards work (also sax, by the way: a key ingredient in the piece), carefully crafted bass, drums and percussion work -that this music contains. But, more importantly, once you forget how the music is actually made, this piece of music is a good example of the carrousel of emotions that flow through the album, all the instruments, including the voice and sound effects, working towards the creation of a song of a strange quality: sometimes luminous, sometimes sombre, sometimes even disquieting, a true meeting of opposites, as the title implies.

A great album, no doubt. I can't stop listening to it and discovering new nuances and subtleties every time.

Utter and complete disappointment. I am familiar with only their later stuff (Selective Memory), but basing my estimation that there was early era, then commercial era and much later "this" era of goodness, I was expecting something as good as SM. Guess again I suppose. Too much spoken word here, too many experimentation parts (that works only half of the time), not enough melody (remember Selective Memory), mostly reverting to Avantgarde. That may work with Univers Zero (quite similar at times), but not here with the Venezuelans. But to be honest, it's not a bad album per se, it's just not what I've expected, not what I usually like, but there are qualities that I don't dare to bury under too low rating, hence 3 stars.

3.5 stars. Better than the previous album "Childhood's End" but I still prefer their seventies debut. Some excellent instrumental sections on this one but I find this record a little inconsistant.

"Twisted Mind" is a top two with the impressive instrumental work including the bass, guitar and drums all of which are top notch here. "Bonfire" turns heavy 30 seconds in then settles back as contrasts continue. "Just In A Second" opens with acoustic guitar and reserved vocals. A fuller sound follows then a calm before 3 minutes before it kicks back in. Not a fan of this one. It ends with the sounds of thunder. "Gigante" is a short acoustic guitar piece. "Pieta" featues sounds that come and go before the guitar leads late. "Timeless Time" is led by strummed guitar, a beat and reserved vocals eventually. It does get fuller. "Attimo Infinito" opens with spoken words and samples. Piano after 1 1/2 minutes then a heavy pulsating sound comes in as the song keeps changing. It blends into "Intermezio" which has more of the same really.

"La Porta Di Santo Spirito" kicks in at 30 seconds then settles back before 1 1/2 minutes with string-like sounds and pinao. It blends into "Giudizio Universale" as sounds again come and go with tempo shifts. "Il Duomo" has some nice bass in it when it picks up. Vocals join in too.Good sound here.Vocals stop before 3 minutes and an excellent instrumental section takes over. Contrasts continue. "Final Agony" is ballad-like. Not a fan. "All Ages Tears" opens with piano and flute and a classical vibe. "Imaginary Sky" is mellow as reserved vocals join in. Some nice guitar 4 minutes in then the vocals and earlier sound return. "Conspiracion" is the other top two. So yes it starts and ends really well for me. Atmosphere early as a beat with bass and guitar take over. Excellent track.

I really prefer it when he's not singing and the band let's loose. A good album that fails to impress me overall.

TEMPANO are one of the first Prog bands to come out of Venezuela, forming in 1977 this their debut was released in 1979. It's mostly instrumental (over half) with lots of keyboards.Tasteful, classy and intricate are words that come to mind. Fairly pastoral overall and quite different from their later albums like "Childhood's End" and "The Agony & The Ecstacy" which besides being more modern sounding focus more on the vocals. I much prefer this debut to those later ones I mentioned.

"Cascade" opens with lots of synths then the tempo shifts a few times before the drums lead 2 minutes in. Great section here then it picks back up 5 1/2 minutes in. "Hecho De Horas" opens with keys as reserved vocals join in along with other sounds. Synths after 3 minutes when the vocals stop. I love the guitar that follows.Vocals are back after 4 minutes. "Las Olas (Virginia Woolf)" opens with fairly spacey synths and a beat.Guitar 1 1/2 minutes in.The synths are back leading a minute later. Bass comes to the fore 3 minutes in.The guitar then leads after 4 minutes. Nice.That intro soundscape is back at 6 minutes to end it.

"Atabal Yemal" is not the easiest track to digest. Probably because it's not the most melodic I guess. It takes a while to get going really.The guitar is crying out before 2 1/2 minutes as it continues to lead and wail until 4 1/2 minutes in. Bass and spacey synths before 7 minutes. A calm a minute later. Synths lead 9 1/2 minutes in as they pulse quickly. It kicks back in late to end it.

"Anhelos" is a short song with acoustic guitar and reserved vocals leading with background synths. "Presencias Y Ausencias" opens with synths and gentle guitar as reserved vocals join in. A calm with keys after 3 minutes then the guitar and a beat join in. Another calm follows.Vocals are back before 6 1/2 minutes then we get another calm a minute after that with faint vocal melodies, synths and guitar.There are three bonus tracks and this is one of the few releases where the bonus tracks do the rest of the recording justice. Great job guys !

I first heard Témpano on the 2005 COLOSSUS/MUSEA RECORDS project, Odyssey: The Greatest Tale. They were great there. So, I went on an exploratory search for more Témpano. The stuff I found was okay. I've never been a fan of electric 'acoustic' guitars, gated drums, and the kind of keyboards they use throughout The Agony and the Ecstacy, and much of their music sounds simple upon first listening. Luckily, I did not give up there. Each successive listening has revealed more of the group's mastery of the "Less is More" principle--and also revealed more subtleties and nuances that are usually the signs of a more band made up of more mature members. This is, so far, my favorite Témpano studio album. A lot of PINK FLOYD similarities--especially the guitar work (both acoustic and electric).

Album highlights: 6. "Timeless Time" (9/10) and 14. "Imaginary Sky" (8/10).

This is the first album by the time I listen and I admit that I did not know at all. Needless to say, how was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of this album. Musically rich, complex and at times full of musical references educated, Return to Forever, Gentle Giant, PFM, Residents and moments that recall the atmosphere of Yes, in short, a musical project very ambitious but successful. Difficult to cover so many musical spaces without lapsing into sterile quotes or simple imitation. A really enjoyable music, a complete disc in its entirety, also impressive in its ability to create emotions in each song. Really beautiful and original disk, we need it. My heartfelt congratulations and waiting to hear new works closely with old albums. Well done.

From South America-VENEZUELA comes TEMPANO ,a sensational prog rock band,in the vein of old Brit school prog rock-YES,GENESIS,GENTLE GIANT,PINK FLOYD sometimes ,just to mention a few prog icons that gave a sense to TEMPANO's musical direction!!! This is a come back album after 11 years of silence and the too long wait worth plenty,because EL FIN DE LA INFANCIA is simply outstanding!Very ,very intelligent and mature song writing,the perfect example of good and mature music made by musicians with a solid experience and musical culture!The title song is astonishing,an aetherial journey trough the most important moments in the life of a human person,from birth to the primary childhood,then the teen years and all the questions and worries that a young startd to put himself!text and music are so perfect together.being a very solid and united example how the richness of some intelligent musical ideas have a beautiful form in the end!Wonderful vocals performed by PERDO CASTILLO which is heavenly gifted and has a passionated and sincere voice,very expressing in his message!The whole band sounds excellent under all aspects,solid musicianship and brilliant technical skills,undoubtedly this album is a major one,in my opinion,in the prog rock area!The guitar especially,sounds marvelous and we feel sometimes the David Gilmour influence ,and in the next musical section of the song we have the flavour of some Metheney tone!CASTILLO is really impressive and complex in his interpretation,but all the other muscians are top class! A seroius answer to the Mexican icons-CAST,Tempano hit strong with this fabulous complex album!The jazzy parts are so well executed and the Spanish lyrics are very beautiful together with the music!Spanish language is very melodic and full of senses ,giving to TEMPANO music that "JE NE SAIS QUOI,"-which made even more attractive the album!I repeat a true pearl,in my opinion a must have for every collectioneer of good prog music worldwide! 5 STARS to a pure masterpiece!

I admit I'm pretty much undecided by this album. Even though it is very diverse, it has that retro sympho vibe that I'm usually not very wild about. Not that I don't like symphonic prog, I hardly listened to anything else for years, but the world has turned since then and I've moved on to pastures less green. Now, I can enjoy backwards looking music that is done very well like Änglagard, but with Tempano, I don't know which way to turn.

First of all the production is not good, the balance is uneven, the drums and guitars are badly recorded. But more importantly, the mosquito-buzzing moog gets on my nerves. What do so many prog fans have with this instrument? I don't get it. Also the vocalist should try a bit harder: too many predictable melodies and generally a non-emotive delivery. As an example for my issue with the vocals, you could check out The Blind Crow.

Now, before you accuse me for being in a grumpy mood, there are many things to enjoy here as well.

A first reason is that they have created a very personal sound: something between '76 Genesis, RPI and some fusion maybe? And also, the album is very diverse. It has lots of excellent guitar and at its best instrumental moments it slightly reminds me of Djam Karet. Well, if they keep that moog silent, the music gets very enjoyable at times. A Van Der Graaf inspired song like Irus is a good example of their unique and appealing mood. That is until they break the effect with that toy-moog again.

The free distribution of this album makes it extra sympathetic but I can't let that fact cloud my judgement. It's almost 3 stars, with a bit more attention to detail or a good producer, they might have trimmed this to a good 50 minute album. Now there are too many moments that bring it down.

Very unique album. When I see somewhere so high rating, I always think that it's little bit too overrated and am trying to make my own decision. Yep, it may be sign of quality, but I feel like being pushed to do something, rate in a way I don't want to. Yep, wise saying says: "When reviewing, don't look to reviews and ratings of others.". But after hearing this, I began to think that there's probably some truth in these high expectations.

Crossover prog indeed, but think about better meaning of this word (that it has a lot of prog styles inside, not that it's half prog, half pop for example), one of the most variable music that lies here. The Farmers is perfect example of how great song can be. Together with little bit of Latin rhythms (at least it seems like it to me), guitar solos, keyboard solos, melody twists, perfect vocal work (pleasant to hear, yet strong to prove you its worth). Or Iris, opposite to previous song, doing it in calm way, presenting something familiar, yet new and also in new way done.

5(-), word "interesting" is screaming all over the album. Instant love on first sigh(t), I mean listen.