FANDANGOS IN SPACE

Thanks to Angel Air label and its recent double cd reissue (Fandangos in Space + Dancing on a Cold Wind), the long awaited Carmen'd debut is finally in my hands. I was so enthusiast when they said me "arrived" 'cause of the pair of samples I've heard from their web site and my interest for Tull's bass player John Glascock, former member of Carmen.

Naturally, I litterally devoured the album and enjoyed almost every minute of the record. Ok, not all the tracks are a masterwok, but the whole thing is very near to that. The music is not folk in the usual sense, mixing a convincing peculiar way of glam rock (it reminds me a fusion between Queen and Jethro Tull) with flamenco rythms and flavours. As many of you already know, Spain is not their homeland and so the result has that unespectable touch that is often what progheads are searching for. Mellotron and synths played by prog rock beauty Angela Allen is the icing on the cake.

The whole record is excellently played and involving, from start to finish. The opener "Bulerias" (5,23 mns), the energetic "Bullfight" (4,17 mns), the flamenco-spacey "Stepping Alone" (2,52 mns) and the whimsical "Sailor Song" (5,12 mns) are a real "tour de force". You cannot avoid to fall in love with them! But it's not the end. Running time is enough to provide some other highlights: the nice ballad "Lonely House" (4,06 mns), the long (somehow a little bit pretentious) "Tales of Spain" (8,58 mns) and the exciting "Fandangos in Space" (6,36 mns), deliver more extended and proggy parts with some references to the main theme of the opener.

All in all, a classic and superb record, matched by the follow up which is, in my opinion, even better. 4,5 stars.