Triana - "El Patio" [1975] @ 192 (Spanish progressive folk)

Filling another request for Pedro. Enjoy!

My first foray into folky Spanish prog (Fusioon and Canarios are Spanish, but don't exactly fall into the "folky" category). Some great flamenco guitar here; the first track especially is a fantastic meshing of flamenco and prog - lots of that aforementioned guitar, very effective singing and lyrics, and a lengthy instrumental closing section. The keyboards take a fairly strong presence on some tracks; they usually remain tasteful but at times get a little obtrusive. The acoustic guitar work more than makes up for it, though. Overall the melodies, carried mostly by guitar and vocals, are attractive and fairly memorable (though "Todo es de Color" is an unfortunate exception). One problem I had with this album is the voice of singer Jesus de la Rosa: although he's great for a few minutes, over the course of the album his straining voice begins to grate. Also, some of the compositions really aren't quite up to par with many other prog groups, and some of the songs stretch for longer than necessary. I only really enjoy two songs - the opener and "En el Lago". That said, this is an enjoyable if not particularly mind-blowing introduction into Spanish prog, and I'll definitely be delving deeper into the genre.

-- review by Brandon Wu (unknown source)

Musicians:
Jesus de la Rosa.....vocals, keyboards
Juan Jose Palacios.....drums and percussion
Eduardo Rodriguez.....flamenco guitar
Antonio Perez.....electric guitar
Manolo Rosa.....bass

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