LUME ALBA

Lume Alba, the 1975 debut by this Romanian Prog band, came out just in time to place them right at the fore of what I consider the Second Wave of Progressive Rock, some of their most notable international contemporaries being bands such as Rush, Camel and Kansas. This is the beginning of a near-10-year long recording history. Helluva start.

Right off the bat with "Rasarit, Calatorul Si Copacul", we have some very quirky psychedelia in the form of a Keith Emerson-esque synth jaunt. Around a minute all falls away to nothing and piano picks up. This has some Jangle Pop in it and... maybe if Roots Rock had a baby with Schlager? Am I misremembering how this traditional genre sounds? Very infectious vocal melodies, nice beat and viol!

In for a rockin' number and definitively Prog, once again, eventually, in the ELP vein, "Secolul Vitezei" is a great track! This level of synth performance here can not be found at all on their 1979 follow-up, Zalmoxe. Right off the bat, I must ask... Why is this so much better than that album and nowhere near as regarded? [I do feel, having let it marinate after listening to both, they really are comparable in quality to some extent... There's just so much ear candy here that their second doesn't quite reach.] I prayed the quality would be sustained throughout this one [It fared pretty well.]... Continuing in ELP admiration is "Sinteze", and my mind immediately went to "The Endless Enigma" (Trilogy is my forever favorite from that trio). People may come out in droves to complain about copycat bands: be warned haha. This features a really great melody/theme. Nearing minute 3, guitar takes mainstage. These guys really can play. Things fall away and the guitar, too, becomes a percussion instrument along with the drums. This is an excellent must-hear.

"Magelan" is a sort of darker number. Really fun and weird. And then when it didn't even need it, a big shift around minute 1. So awesome. Welcome to frisson country! Really stellar, clean synths and lovely vocals (unironically, it tonally sounds like Roy Estrada of the Mothers of Inventions if he wasn't a pseudo-castrato). Onto our title track, "Lume Alba", it's a slow one and yet once again classic and pop-sensitive to my ears. I'd love to hear this in a Spaghetti Western haha. The synth is very old-school and spacy and the guitar reverberates to and fro. This track does not operate in any way as an interlude, of sorts, as "Hora De Baieti" has absolutely nothing to do with it, starting off heavy and groovy. Nice melodies. Decent guitar work.

Also on the heavier side is "Norul", a galloping song with real Rock sensibility. This one has a bit more goin' on in the guitar department, but is more reminiscent of... well, Hard Rock. Like Bad Company? Or anything else that Paul Rodgers was in haha. Much more complex immediately is "Muntele". The bass follows the guitar in melody and it's back to the gallop, but with big keys-synth energy. They really did default to the Emerson way of doing things here. I'm not complaining. I mean, really, very cool, spacy and intricate key work. Even in its more quieted, spaced out moments, it should keep you on your toes. Finally, we have "Om Bun", with a flutophone(?!) return to the Ren Faire. A mystical sort of number, certainly an interesting way to go out.

True Rate: 3.5/5.0 [I've decided to make the rare exception of rounding up from a half-star.]