HOMBRE, TIERRA Y ALMA

Bloque's line-up was somewhat problematic regarding the position behind the drum-kit, as a result Francisco Banos was replaced by Carlos Teran for an upcoming second album.This time the band produced the whole work itself and in 1979 ''Hombre, tierra y alma'' (''Man, Earth and soul'') sees the light, again on Chapa Discos.

The album marks a number of positive upgrades in the sound of Bloque.Firstly, the Allman Brothers vibes are extremely reduced, if not absent, with the band heading for a more personal style.Second, the music sounds more compact, the songwriting more efficient and the instrumentation more balanced, even if the guitars remain the leading instruments.Third, while Bloque retain much of their Classic Rock variety, ''Hombre, tierra y alma'' sounds much more progressive and definitely more inspired than their debut.So, all these factors helped the Spanish combo come up with a fully convincing style, somewhere in the middle of Hard and Progressive Rock, where Juan Carlos Guitierrez'es flexible keyboard themes start to play a basic role in the music and the raw sound of Bloque is now often covered by a dash of symphonic grandieur.Additionally there are some great, lyrical moments in here and the dual guitar leads belong among the highlights of the album.Certain melodies here and there are absolutely great and memorable, the music contains lots of impressive twists and turns and the performances are pretty solid.The flipside of the original vinyl apparently contains the brightest material of the album, full of MEZQUITA-like intense synthesizers, dramatic instrumental guitar runs and some excellent electric solos, while there are even some dark-sounding choirs and ROBERT FRIPP-like guitar manifest, cleverly adapted in the hard sound of the band.

The potential became deep inspiration.Bloque's second effort is a great monument of Spanish Hard Prog and Classic Rock with 100% enjoyable material, led by some great guitar parts and the upgraded keyboard lines.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.