Gotic - Escenes (1978)
Very cool Spanish progressive album that has a jazzy symphonic quality. The band relies on sparsely on synthesizer work, which definitely gives a nice organic feel. The lead instruments are generally classical piano, guitar and very bright and distinctive flute. The album is entirely instrumental and is extremely melodic and often very beautiful. It is often compared to Camel circa The Snow Goose, which I find to be a pretty accurate description. One is definitely reminded of "Rhyander" on various points throughout, with the flute way out in front and leaning on a lilting melodic foundation.
The album is extremely easy to listen to and very enjoyable, often pure beauty. The lack of vocals gives it a very pleasant ambience and the songs seem to flow together as one. Some of the truly great melodic themes on the album reappear throughout. Escenes definitely rewards careful attention, but also functions as perfectly relaxing background music. Truly gorgeous music that I can feel growing on me even more.
This is supposed to be one of the finest examples of Spanish progressive rock, and I'm not disappointed. I'll definitely be exploring some of that country's offerings in the future.
- Greg Northrup [February 2001]
Mellow instrumental progressive with influences from classical music and fusion. The album is dominated by keyboards and flute providing the lead melodies and solos most of the time. The style of music presented here is most similar to Camel, especially The Snow Goose album. Well done, but so sweet at times, it comes close to saccharine.
