EL RELOJ

One of the coolest albums of Argentine progressive rock! This quintet was one of the most pioneering groups in the country. Symphonic rock and British influences took a long time to establish themselves as a trend to follow in Argentina, achieving steady sales numbers around 1972-73 thanks to Pescado Rabioso and influenced bands. It didn't take long for the members of El Reloj to achieve a mature and legitimate sound, and their second album is more than true proof. Like any post-1972 South American band that is not British or Italian, the European influences are noticeable. In this case, there are flashes of Led Zeppelin, Atomic Rooster, and maybe even Egg! Anyway, this band created a truly original work. Hard rock songs with many symphonic segments, with the classic Argentine organ playing in the back and some devastating and protagonist guitars. I find it funny the fact that I find a similarity in the singer's voice with Sting's voice, mainly because the first recorded appearance of The Police takes place in 1978! Well, going back to the album, one can easily give a positive opinion of this album. The application of the feelings and characteristics of the human being is carried out in a constant line, keeping the joy high as long as possible.

"La Ciudad Desconocida" is for me the song that stands out above the others. Luis Alberto Valenti provides a more than creative introduction with the keyboards and thus makes way for the other instruments and then the vocalist. This song manages to create an unfathomable space, as if the sound covers the whole place (or if you are with headphones, your whole head). As the other songs are relatively short, the band's genuine expression can be seen more freely in these 10 minutes of concept.

It doesn't quite reach the quality of a 5-star or 4-star album, but it definitely deserves a concentrated listen!

EL RELOJ (The Clock) was formed in Buenos Aires in 1971 by guitarist Willy Gardi and bassist Eduardo Frezza and they started out under the name "Lágrimas (tears)." After a few lineup changes the band finally recruited drummer Juan Esposito, guitarist Osvaldo Zabala and keyboardist Luis Alberto Valenti to record their debut eponymous album that came out in 1975. EL RELOJ was one of the earliest bands to pioneer heavy rock in Argentina. Clearly being heavily influenced by Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and other English bands of the day, it is apparent from their sound that they were listening to a lot of Italian prog bands as well. There are clear influences from the heavier sides of PFM, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso and Osanna amongst others.

Not at all surprising as Buenos Aires hosts one of the largest European and Italian populations in all of South America. The result of this mix is a highly energetic hard rockin' groovy sound that incorporates heavy riffs, scorching dual guitar leads, a beefy bass and a drummer on fire and on the prog side of things we get some well-crafted complex song structures, first-rate crazy time sigs, quality Hammond organ runs, tribal beats and rockin' rhythms that can change at the drop of a hat without affecting the overall flow of the music. The tracks have a highly developed sense of melody, harmony and counterpoint all sprinkled with progressiveness and a healthy sense of bombast.

"Obertura" starts off this album with spooky piano sounds that could easily scare away any unwanted solicitors from your front door which then is accompanied by some boiling water and muffled screams. Wow. Did we enter the haunted house at Disneyland? The second part of the track is "El Viejo Serafin (The Old Seraph)" which breaks in abruptly after two minutes and ushers in a heavy guitar riff that disappears as soon as it appears and then it's the bassline's turn. The tradeoffs are delivered in proggy time sigs and then finally around three minutes we get some passionate vocals all sung in Spanish, of course. The final minute is dedicated to a nice bassline trading off with the guitar. This opening track pretty much sets the stage for the heavy eclectic prog to come.

The tracks that follow follow the same formula with emphasis on different aspects of heaviness, progginess and instruments until we get to "Blues Del Atardecer (Blues Of The Evening)" which is one of the slower tracks that manages to fill the role as a ballad on the album without sacrificing energetic outbursts like guitar riffs, drum solos and drenched organ and maintains a highly addictive melody. The final track "Haciendo Blues Y Jazz (Making Blues And Jazz) is an excellent heavy bluesy jazz rocker that utilizes an energetic walking bass run, bluesy guitar acrobatics and atmospheric keyboards with rock star vocals to add the perfect icing on the cake.

While i wouldn't call EL RELOJ the most original of bands as they incorporate so many ideas and sounds that had already been done, i would call them absolutely brilliant in how they piece it all together in their delivery in a way that hadn't been done this well. The song structures are amazingly complex while losing absolutely none of the catchiness associated with the top dogs of the heavy rock world. EL RELOJ delivers the hard hitting energy of a heavy metal band, the sensuality that Latin American musicians are famous for and the complexity that will please every prog lover as well. Every musician sounds perfect for the role and EL RELOJ has emerged as my favorite band from Argentina. While i absolutely love this debut album, it is the second one that will really blow you away for as good as this one is, they were only getting started! Highly recommended. These guys really need to be jettisoned from the vaults of obscurity.

Technically the second album by EL RELOJ is the second eponymous release but is more often referred to as EL RELOJ II and also known as "Al Borde Del Abismo (On The Edge Of The Abyss)" after the first track. While the debut album showed the band with some serious hard and heavy rock with progressive chops, it is this second album that turns up the creative nature of the band even more without sacrificing any of the brilliance that made the debut so enjoyable. The heaviness is still here, the melodies are abundant but where the band really went to town is in the eclectic progressiveness department. There is just a lot more ideas and creative outbursts finding their way into every nook and cranny.

The song structures have become more complex than ever where individual instruments are assigned much larger roles in fleshing out new territories and moods. The keyboards aren't as pronounced as on the debut leaving behind the Deep Purple similarities but they still have their moments where they burst onto the scene and dazzle the senses. On this one we get a lot more mood swings with frenetic rocking segments trading off with sensual mellow ones. This kind of reminds me of the Mr Bungle approach at times which i can't think of any other 70s acts who tried it but the stylistic trade offs aren't nearly as extreme and the focus is still on maintaining a strong melodic flow even if the melody itself is ridiculously complex in nature. At times i am reminded of the heavier proggy side of Rush mixed with some avant-garde leanings of King Crimson but the Italian prog influences of the heavier side of PFM, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso and especially "Palepoli" era Osanna are the most pronounced.

Willy Gardi and Osvaldo Zabala have mastered their twin guitar assault leaving bands like Wishbone Ash and The Allman Brothers in the dust. The energetic outbursts are furious enough to pass for 80s metal while Luis Alberto Valenti's organ delivery points more to the early part of the 70s bringing all those proto-prog sounds into play. The harmonizing vocals of four of the five members have been perfected creating an impressive command of blending with the complexities on display here. Ah, this was love at first listen and has just gotten better. All the ingredients for early symphonic heavy proggy metal are here and i can't seem to get enough of this one.

Generally speaking if you're more into the early metal aspects of EL RELOJ you will like the first album better whereas if you have strong prog fetish then this second album will more than scratch that itch. This album tends to leave less of an impression upon first listen but rewards in repeated listens which are needed to collect all the frantic ideas into a cohesive understanding. I, for one, love both albums but the overall sophistication of this one blows me away while still delivering more than enough heavy bombast to satisfy my headbangin' needs. EL RELOJ is a really cool band that i have been getting way into. I wish i woulda been around in 1970s Argentina to see these guys play, they REALLY know how to deliver on the goods. After this album the band wouldn't release anything new for several years and then toned their progressiveness down a whole bunch to conform with the 80s. This album remains the crown jewel in their musical career and what a sparkling jewel it is.

Despite releasing two warmly received albums in mid-70's, El Reloj were well-known in Argentina since the early-70's as a premiere Hard Rock band, led by bassist Eduardo Frezza and lead guitarist Willy Gardi.They had played numerous lives, before taking a break around 1971, when second guitarist's Gregorio ''Goyo'' Felipes life was cut short due to a terrible accident.They returned the following year with new member Osvaldo Zabala on second guitar and the standard entries, Juan Esposito on drums and Luis Alberto Valenti on keyboards.In 1973 their debut single sold about 30,000 copies and in 1975 they released their first full-length, self-titled album on RCA Victor's Vik sublabel, recalling the powerful Heavy Rock of Deep Purple.The following year a second self-titled album came out on RCA Victor, today known as ''Segundo album'' or named after the track ''Al borde del abismo''.

El Reloj sounded a lot like an Italian Hard Rock/Prog band, let's say somewhere between OSAGE TRIBE and CAPITOLO 6, featuring high-pitched, irritating vocals and basically a largely guitar-based sound.The DEEP PURPLE influences are still apparent in some of the tracks, mainly due to the rhythmic tunes or organ-based passages, but this second album of the band was much closer to RUSH.Even more impressive their incredible guitar workouts and complex twists evolved a slight ''Red''-era KING CRIMSON edge.The material is very energetic, often quite complicated with unexpected tempo changes and strong, mascular riffs, surrounded by very good work on organ and piano and featuring a third guitarist in a few numbers, Carlito Mira.All pieces are quite short with the aforemtioned surprising musical values, played mostly in fast tempos and delivered with an angular edge.The exception to the rule comes from the 10-min. ''La ciudad desconocida'', a nice, melodramatic attempt on Symphonic Hard Rock with a bit more emotional vocals compared to the rest of the album, epic proggy passages with crying guitars and fiery riffs and some trully great and dynamic Hammond organ waves.

Cool Argentinian Hard Prog, very similar to the Italian bands of the period.Dual and even triple guitar fests with complex themes, supported by pinches of keyboard dominance.Quite attractive and warmly recommended.

I can't get over how much better this album is over their debut. They are still a hard rocking band but the songs are much more interesting, in fact i'd say they've improved in every area.

"Al Borde Del Abismo" gets things started and it hits the ground running. Vocals before a minute and they come and go. I like when it settles 2 minutes in then builds. "Tema Triste" is a top three. There's something dark and powerful about this one that is so appealing. A calm with vocal melodies before 3 minutes. Such a great track. "La Ciudad Desconocida" is the longest track at over 10 1/2 minutes and also a top three for me. Violin early in this one as the organ floats in. A change around 2 1/2 minutes with intricate guitar and drums taking over. Vocals a minute later. Excellent stuff. It turns heavy then picks up 7 1/2 minutes in. Nice. The organ helps out late. "Aquel Triangulo" has a good heavy intro then the organ joins in. Ripping vocals 2 minutes in.

The vocals come in quickly on "Harto Y Confundido". Love how this sounds. Guitar to the fore after 2 minutes then the vocals return a minute later. It settles late. "Tema De Todas Las Epocas" is a short tune with acoustic guitar throughout. Back to the fire and brimstone on "Aquella Dulce Victoria". The guitar is strummed before 1 1/2 minutes then it picks back up some with the electric guitar returning. "Egolatria" is my other top three. This is an uptempo rocker. Nasty guitar here. The organ and drums lead after 2 1/2 minutes. Great sound.

If you like hard rocking music with a Latin flavour then you need to hear this.

When I first heard this album I thought I was listening to an early seventies Hard Rock band from Italy. Well this is 1975 and they are from Argentina. What do I know ? Anyway this is very much a straight-forward rocker with some prominant organ making me think that DEEP PURPLE may have been a big influence. The vocals sound like they are double tracked a lot which i'm not a fan of.

"El Viejo Serafin" opens with some atmosphere and it's kind of haunting, especially when the creepy water sounds come in. It kicks in briefly after 2 minutes but then becomes a good hard rocking track although i'm not big on the vocals here. "Mas Furte Que El Hombre" has some excellent instrumental sections. "Hijo Del Sol Y La Tierra" is better, at least the vocals are and I like the way his voice warbles. Some ripping guitar before 3 minutes pretty much to the end. Nice.

"Alguien Mas En Quien Confiar" opens with organ then it kicks in to a full sound with vocals after a minute. Lots of prominant guitar follows. "Blues De A Tardecer" is organ and vocal led with quite a few tempo changes but overall this is slower paced. A drum solo before 5 minutes too. "Haciendo Blues Y Jazz" brings back those warbly vocals I like in this the uptempo closer.

So a good album but not much here for the Prog fan to chew on.

Wild fire from Argentina

I can't believe that it has been 5 years since the last review of this little thing. Man you've got a powerful album coming your way, if you choose to acquire El Reloj's second outing. Of the few Argentinean albums in my collection, I rank this magnificent album along with Bubu's Anabelas, Pescado Rabioso's Artaud and Luis Alberto Spinetta's debut as my absolute faves. Though different in textures and feel - I would say that the vocals of El Reloj sound a lot like Spinetta, if the guy had chosen to walk the progressive hard rock path. To those of you who are unfamiliar with either one of these artists, then imagine a sweeter and slightly more sensuous South American version of Robert Plant.

To start off, I'd like to recapture a bit about El Reloj's rather bumpy start into the musical lands. Already early on in their career these guys faced what very easily could have been the end of the band, as guitarist Gregorio Felipes were killed en route to a concert back in 1970 at the Olimpia Theater. The terrible accident involved a car crash and a drunk police officer, who managed to steer clear from any subsequent accusations. Incredibly the band pulled through and did the gig in front of 1500 people the same night. The reason why I mention this is not because I wish to induce a series of misty eyed reactions and the following empathic buy. No it has infinitely more to do with me trying to convey what I truly feel must be one of the main engines behind this band. I feel a turbulent, jagged and hectic energy associated with El Reloj. Maybe more like a sonic guided rage that shows itself in every piece of the puzzle, whether that is the furiously pumping drums, those sensuous yet highly manic vocals or the eruptive masses of shredding guitars - it's always there, this rage.

The sound of these guys as a whole is not that far from other hard rocking proggers of the time, such as Uriah Heep and Atomic Rooster, although El Reloj sound completely different. I realize the contradiction of this sentence, but I still claim there to be what I'd personally call "influences"(although I'm using the term loosely here) from the aforementioned bands - yet you'll find a distinctive nerve - a melodic sense and flow to this band which feels totally original and endemic to the South American peninsula. What comes closest in terms of reference to the European progster is perhaps the melodic feel of the early and more gritty RPI acts. There's something there that rings a bell - most definitely yes, and if you are sitting out there with a huge boner on for that particular scene, then you should be placing your order of this magnificent album as soon as possible.

This second outing is packed full of steaming hard rock with a boot full of progressive tendencies - in fact a truck load more prog than many of the British bands of said genre were conjuring up around the same time, -which again leads me to one of this album's greatest attributes: Chops. Man oh man do these guys know their way around their instruments. The drummer is easily one of the best and most intricate I have ever heard. He plays everything with ease, like a regular jazz nut - yet what he hits he hits with the force of a small sumo wrestler, and to top it all off - he plays like all of my fave drummers, which means that he is all over the kit - using the toms like it was second nature. Even when the natural structure of the track craves for a steady beat, he is all over the place with wonderful results, whilst still being astonishingly tight. Tight as a rooster's anus - just like the rest of the band actually...

Then we've got the guitars which are played with the virtuosity of a male figure skater using his hands to pirouette around the ice. Jagged, fluent and everything in between - coming very close to the perfect hybrid of Fripp and Page with a teeny tiny twist of spicy salsa thrown in. It's rock n' roll with an infinite amount of melodic twists and turns.

All in all El Reloj's ll boasts a powerful series of hard hitting, virtuosi and at times slightly symphonic tunes that are as prone to melodies as they are to letting the music run wild in a sea of democratically performed musical rides that get my juices flowing like an adolescent labrador pup mounting a teddy bear. 3.5 stars.

A nice album from this band from Argentina. A bit of Hard Rock and Jazz fusion. In some parts we remember Led Zeppelin and other's Deep Purple but with more complex organ compositions. Some spacey parts in the begining of the tracks and a hard guitar next, made some strange compositions. Lyrics are in Spanish. Nice bass guitar. Electric guitar compositions fast in some moments. Very good drums works. The fast ritm of some compositions is broken with a calm parts that made a some boring periods in this album. Some tracks have a good emotional finish. It's a nice album in a Argentina collection, that to me, is a special country with some of better progressive music in the world ever made. I give 4 stars but is the begining of a promisse band that made a very good album in second work.

From the capital of Argentina, El Reloj (the clock) emerged in 72 and toured the local circuit and recorded a few singles before recording their first album in 75. And as an interesting alternative, Record runner chose to add those singles as bonus, but not at the end, but before the start of the album proper which gives an interesting chronological overview of the band. The downside tio this approach is that the singles are not linked to the album and are first shots (with all the flaws and inconveniences) and therefore catches the listener off-guard since he's bought an album (eventually garnished with bonus tracks as a desert), not a compilation. Graced with an awesome Apocalypse variant artwork, this album is certainly quite a remarkable first shot for a young group.

First the singles: indeed the first two tracks are the 73 single, which sound very muddy (compared to the album proper), but their brand of progressive hard-rock (here reminiscent of Wishbone Ash and Purple) is quite pleasant if a tad naïve and simplistic. The second single is much better recorded and is more "a propos" (prog-wise) still reminding us of a Purplish and proggy Wishbone Ash. Sooooo, El Reloj's first album starts on track 5 and we can certainly feel the difference as we enter the opening Viejo Serafin through a dark and lugubrious intro, before a weird organ and just after a wild bass pull us into an Italian-type of prog, that remains fairly raw, rough and not too refined (in a positive way). The album proposes a string of shorter but not any less fiery tracks, especially when Hijo (Son of the sun and earth) comes around with its wild fast guitar riffs. Although generally of high quality, the album has its weakness (wouldn't dare speaking of flaws in this case), but the lengthy blues (9 mins) is not only out of place, but sounding quite trite and sterile after a bunch of exciting shorter tracks, especially when including the unneeded drum solo. The closing happy and jumpy semi-jazzy Haciendo certainly makes up for that filler track, by showing us a good time and jazz aptitude.

Compared to its successor, El Reloj's debut certainly appears like a rough draft of what's to come and might not be quite as interesting to progheads and certainly anything but essential, but nevertheless it has its charms. If you love the second one, you'd better get an ear on this one, you'll like it as well.

One of South America's better groups, El Reloj had an all too brief recording 70's career and just two albums, their debut being in a much harder rock vein in the Purple line. This one is much proggier and is in my top ten South American records. Just like its predecessor's reissue, the album starts out with bonus tracks (which I always found rather unsettling and non-respectful of the album itself. Fortunately this occurrence is rare enough in prog (I can only think of Germany's Parzival with an even stranger set up where bonus tracks bookend the album tracks.

Nevertheless these bonus tracks are worthy of the album's quality even if they do not sound like they came from the album session, but this is minor and they actually extent the disc length to acceptable duration. And this album is rather unlike a lot of other Argentinean prog album, which have a tendency to sound Italian Symphonic-like prog rock. It is rather more in the line of Bubu's superb sole album, with plenty of power, demented music a bit of a cross between Crimson and ELP, but without Emo's doodlings. The line-up is your standard prog quartet with an added guitarist/violinist, but unfortunately, the violin is not used enough, but the group does not really need it to sound original and unique.

While over half the tracks are sung, the vocals are not overly present and plenty of space is given to the music. If most tracks are rather short (except for an 11-min slightly flawed epic) remaining around the 4-min mark, the album is a very even affair with all tracks being eventful and energetic, if not frantic. In this light, it is rather hard to find one track that is a highlight, so if I must risk myself, it'll be a trio: Tema Triste, Harto Y Confundido and Egolatrio. A real must if you want to check out what Latinos can do in prog, but it is not really representative of their country's output. Nothing wrong with that , on the contrary. Rounded to the upper unit.