SOLILOQUIO

Great!

I would really like to see people enjoying Iconoclasta, i came here to review this album and what...surprise! no one has reviewed it!, i don`t feel lucky or great reviewing a non-reviewed album because it`s a sign that it isn`t known. I, being a good average mexican person, have to support and give publicity to the bands from my country, and believe me i don`t do that as an obligation, just to make that bands more known, the true reason when i suggest and support Mexican bands, is because they are/were very talented!, and everyone could enjoy this music.

Iconoclasta is one of the most representative bands in the prog scene here in Mexico, they are still playing but haven`t`released a new album yet, in the other reviews i have mentioned a brief history of the band, so i think it`s not neccessary to do it again, just if you`re interested check my reviews and the band`s BIO and info given here in PA, or in other sites.

Soliloquio was the 3rd Studio album that Iconoclasta released, more precisely in 1987 a year after the World Cup (soccer) in Mexico, and a couple of years after that horrible earthquake which marked the life of so much people here.

Out of the ashes of the mexican rock scene, some prog oriented bands continued developing music and trying to fill our ears with clever compositions and a state of "something different", in the 80`s pop music also invaded Mexico and if prog rock wasn`t supported in the 70`s, much less in the 80`s...Anyway, so they decided to make a 3rd effort, along with an EP (which we could also find together with Soliloquio and some bonus tracks) called Suite Mexicana.

The same lineup and musical style, excellent musicians with so much time and experience, with clear Jazz influences, Soliloquio has 4 songs:

"Cuando la Musica era Espiritual y no Fisica o el Adivino del Ultimo Periodo de Paz", is the first song with a long name, very metaphoric and political,there are no lyrics here, only the beautiful voice of Rosa Echeverria de Moreno is shown , the song starts very soft with catchy keyboards and a nice ambient, a good instrumentation and a clear symphonic sound we`ll find here, very nice song and with a drums proggression reminding me a bit of Genesis in it`s Epping Forest.

"Solo tu Fruto" is pretty similar to the first song, but this time with lyrics, nothing outstanding, great bass lines and a soft mood during the song, i think this is probably the weakest song of the album.

"7:19" has this time a male voice,Arturo Huizar is the man who sings here and i think it`s pretty decent, this song a difference of the other ones has a faster feeling, i mean this is not as soft as the others and the timing is also different,in this song we will appreciate the excellent guitar playing of Ricardo Moreno, i think he has his personal style because it sounds sooo similar between Iconoclasta`s albums, but so different to any other prog band from Mexico, also the flute appears here doing an excellent work, great song!

"Soliloquio" the title track and the last song of the album and also the longest of them all with approx 15 minutes of good music, it`s maybe the most challenging song here, the interaction of the musicians with their respective instuments is excellent, and this time we will listen to some mood changes , here Rosa is again who sings and the sound of the organ gives a great atmosphere to the song, as i said the song has a lot of changes and thers a part where the keyboard rules over the song and it`s and excellent moment besides the participation of an extraordinary sax playing. Despite it is an album from 1987, it has no 80`s sound at all, so don`t go thinking that it lacks the essence of 70's sound and is domintated by the 80`s.

I like this album a lot, i just have to pick the 4star circle, because is not a masterpiece but of course it may be a great addition to any prog lover, please progheads give a try to Iconoclasta.

About three months after ''Suite mexicana'' Iconoclasta released their third full-length album ''Soliloquio'', this was the seventh and last pressing on their own Discos Rosenbach and the first album to feature guest musicians: another member of the Moreno family, Rosa Echevarria, provides vocals in one track, Alexandro Gonzalez plays flute in another one, Arturo Huizar sings in the same piece, Laura Vazquez also sings in a pair and Jose Luis Romero guests on sax.

''Soliloquio'' consists of four long cuts and the first one in line, the 6-min. ''Cuando la musica era espiritual...'' provides the most symphonic of all sparks delivered by the band so far, an excellent piece of romantic Symphonic Rock with beautiful, operatic female vocals, soaring synthesizers, soft guitars and pianos and some surprising use of bells, a magnificent opener to say the least.The 7-min. ''Solo tu fruto'' follows more or less the same vein, this is very good Symphonic Rock from the 80's with dreamy keyboard parts and GENESIS-styled guitars, supported by crystalline Spanish female vocals and some bombastic sections, somewhat drifting away from the smoother sound of the opener, the style though remains fairly symphonic and pretty progressive.''7:19'' is sung by Arturo Huizar, this one contains some Fusion hints as proposed in the previous works, but the sound of the guitar with the STEVE HACKETT-like chops and solos screams GENESIS, while the later part of the piece contains also some incredible folky flute psychedelics.Very dense and fast music with accurate performances.The 15-min. title-track is another convincing composition by the best Mexican progressive band of the 80's.Dramatic and romantic Progressive Rock, often flirting with the Italian sound of period bands, containing some slight VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR influences during the limited sax and organ lines, the music passes through dreamy and more complex variations, the female vocals are again beautiful and some jazzy hints are detectable throughout.Solid work on a long and emphatic arrangement.

Iconoclasta's fourth work resembles much to the sound of the debut.It's rather closer to GENESIS with strong symphonic overtones overpowering the light jazzy vibes.Great stuff and quite an achievement for 1987.Strongly recommended, reissues are out, including the two tracks from the ''Suite mexicana'' EP...3.5 stars.