...EN AL-HAKIM

This my favorite studio-album from MEDINA AZAHARA, in my opinion their most mature, varied and symphonic effort. The opener "Al Hakim ... otro lugar" has that typical Morish climate, strong and expressive Spanish vocals and pleasant synthesizer flights (in the vein of Mark Kelly). The ballad "Otono" has become one of the 'crowd-pleasers': a slow rhythm featuring emotional vocals, tender pianoplay, bluesy guitar riffs and some fiery and howling electric guitar. Next is "Velocidad", a simple but catchy up-tempo rock song delivering some fine synthesizer runs. On "La guitarra" guest musician Vicente Amigo (nowadays one of the leading flamenco guitarists!) enters the scene with a compelling acoustic guitar intro and then quick runs, accompanied by expressive vocals (this is the flamenco spirit) and later a fiery electric guitar and sensational synthesizer flights, what an exciting contrast with the acoustic flamenco guitar play! It's bluestime in "El destino" but MEDINA AZAHARA adds an extra dimension by blending expressive flamenco guitar, moving mouth-organ, wailing Spanish vocals and harder-edged electric guitar, what an emotional experience, goose bumps! "Dejame vivir" (heavy electric guitar solo) and "Tal como es" (swinging piano solo) are two simple up-tempo rocksongs in the vein of "Velocidad", tasteful but predictable. The final track "Desde Cordoba" features again the excellent Vicente Amigo on flamenco guitar, this time he delivers exciting duels with Paco Ventura's hard-edged electric guitar, again goose bumps!