ARC-EN-CIEL

Arc-En-Ciel was the last album from the great spanish fusion band Iceberg before its two main members guitarist Max Sunyer and keyboardist "Kitflus" would form the catalan fusion supergroup Pegasus together with ex-Gotic bassist Rafael Escote and ex-Fusioon drummer Santi Arisa (with some solo albums in between, the first Pegasus album was released in 1982).

The musicianship is top-notch as ever, and any fusion lover not knowing their previous albums might easily rate this album with 4 or even 5 stars, it's only by comparison to their previous works such as Coses Nostres and Sentiments that I limit my rating of this album to the 3 ? 3.5 stars level.

The formula is still the same, a fantastic rhythm section (Jordi Colomer was really a hell of a drummer and Primi Sancho a great bassist) on which Max and Kitflus develop their melodies and solos, the keyboards taking the more musical side (not forgetting solos either) and Max's guitar taking care of the hardest soloing in the footsteps of McLaughlin or Di Meola. However the general tone is softer, more polished than in their previous albums, and there is a shift towards a more latin sound.

The opener "El Caminant Nocturn" (The Night Walker) is the best track, with Kitflus trademark Rhodes piano, very good melodies and a killer guitar solo by Max followed by a no less impressive synth solo by Kitflus. 5 stars for this song.

"Cantics De La Carn" (The Singing Of The Flesh) is based on a samba-like rhythm, a style I don't fancy much so even if the development is clearly proggy being the longest track clocking at 11:18, and the musicianship outstanding, it drags a bit too much for me. Just a matter of taste, if you can enjoy a prog-samba it can be an excellent track.

"Riu D'Agost" (August River) has a beautiful piano and acoustic guitar intro, then all the instruments come in and develop into a great latin jazz track with piano reminding of Michael Camilo and very good acoustic guitar, and impressive alternating solos of keys and guitar, really great stuff, just a bit too latin for my taste.

"Embrujo" (Enchant) is again latin featuring nice piano parts, a killer guitar solo and a good keys solo too.

"Crisalide" starts atmospheric with piano and acoustic guitar, after 1 min all the instruments come in and it sounds more like their older albums, electric guitar on Rhodes, then some funky feel and a killer guitar solo which sounds like Santana mixed with McLaughlin. If this was not enough we still get a great Rhodes solo, but this is a bit the problem, it's like there's too little melody, just great solos.

In summary 2 thoughts: 1. this album is undoubtedly good and has terrific solos but fewer and weaker melodies than their previous albums. 2. There is a clear shift to a more latin style, this is a purely personal taste matter but personally I prefer the previous more standard fusion style.