FIREBIRD

With the release of Firebird, Gazpacho was already showing the stunning band they are, but they were a bit short of what in 2007 would become their best work: Night. Anyway, Firebird is a very good attempt and just the natural step to achieve higher goals. Known by some people as just a copy of other bands pointed many times (Radiohead, Marillion, Talk Talk, etc.), i think Gazpacho has already earned their own credit, and started to be more remarkable in this record, which had shown a progress and that would be developed even more with their next cd.

Nevertheless, is almost impossible to totally erase one of their main influences: Marillion, and that´s pretty obvious because they have always been supported by the English band, even selling the cd´s in their web site and collaborating in the recordings, in this case we have Steve Rothery playing in "Do you know what you are saying", and that just makes a thighter bond between them.

The production of the album is superb as with most of them, and the songwriting is excellent with the now distinctive piano/keyboard- violin-soundscapes used also a lot in Night. The beginning is really haunting with "Vulture"and its scapes and effects flowing nicely along the song."Symbols" starts smoothly with acustic guitar and then the drums and piano with guitar introduce us to nice vocal duo by Jan Henrik O. and Nina Morvedt, which flashes during the track with excellent guitar riffs and drumming. "Swallow" is a mellow piece very atmospheric with a loop drum-like all along, not very prog but nice. The start of "Orion I" changes the mood with a strong intro and soon slowing down to a semi- acustic track with ocasional guitar riffs and nice keyboards. "Orion II" is a short track but changes dramaticly a few times going from the sound effects intro to become acustic and then loud to return to the acustics. "Prisioner" is a more alternative oriented track with a popish style and nice backing vocals. "Jezebel" is a spacey song with different moods and good guitar, and piano sparks at the end. "Black Widow" continues with the journey through dark atmospheres rich in sounds combined with fiery guitars. The title track is very special for me because is the one that introduced me to this fantastic band, agreat tune with alot of things going on: dramatic vocals, acustics, piano,soundscapes, bells ringing and punching guitar. Now is when the awaited "Do you know what are you saying" arrives" with the S.Rothery solo. A mellow track with some electronics and beautiful violin to finaly lead to Mr.Rothery's 'goose bumper' guitar. The end couldn´t be better than with a melancholic moment given by "Once In A Lifetime", a real breathtaking song.

This album contains the first songs i ever heard from the band and i think is a good idea to be the 1st album you listen to if you don´t know this Norwegian act, that way you can leave the best for last, which is Night. And if you know the band but haven´t heard this one, i would highly recomend it, their second best.

4 stars

Viva el Prog!

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