DURAZNO SANGRANDO

3.4 Stars

Spinetta's "Invisible" was yet another strong phase in his career, even if a bit less interesting than his great "Artaud" and "Pescado Rabioso" classics. "Durazno Sangrante" stands out a bit because of its tendency to have long songs, and its majestic opener, which is a full-on progressive rock epic with a style of its own. It doesn't focus on virtuosism and is one of the most humble and unpretentious long songs to come out from Argentina. The rest is very good music and sound like no other track in the album, drawing from different music styles and genres while keeping the unique sound of Spinetta.

I can only describe Encadenado al Anima with one word : Brilliant. This song mixes the classical, symphonic, rock and roll, blues, psychedelia and other genres into a coherent whole extremely well. The musical themes are very memorable and inspired as well as the excellent vocals throughout the piece. All the musicians shine, especially Carlos' diverse, tasteful and powerful drumming and Spinetta's soulful guitar playing. The song is a bit unpredictable, but not in a way that makes it aimless and/or incoherent. One of the many surprises includes a guitar break that sounds as if Hendrix possessed Spinetta for a minute. Overall, this is arguably one of Spinetta's best works.

The title track is a very pleasant-sounding acoustic songs with a jazz atmosphere. The main guitar motif is very memorable and unique, while the vocal melodies never fail to impress, especially the ones at the refrains. "Pleamar en Aguilas" is a good folky song with some adventurous acoustic guitar playing. Unfortunately, Spinetta doesn't sing here and whoever does is not as good as the man behind this band. the lengthy "En Una Lejana Playa" is not as exciting as the opener. It takes a while to get started and the arrangements are a bit more obtuse and unconventional but it grows on you and has a certain charm. "Dios de Adolecencia" finishes the album with a nice ballad with good singing, but it ends too soon.

So, overall, the whole album with its emotional music and lyrics seems like a huge piece of poetry. Unfortunately, it doesn't make the 4 stars because it is short and doesn't mantain the great quality of the first two tracks. It is still recommended for people curious about Progressive rock in Argentina, or curious about an album that sounds quite unique, and of course, Spinetta fans should own this, for the epic alone.

1. Encadenado al ánima (A-)

2. Durazno Sangrando (B+)

3. Pleamar de águilas (C)

4. En una lejana playa del animus (C+)

5. Dios de adolescencia (C+)

INVISIBLE are from Argentina and this is their second album. It is based on a concept story, but with lyrics in Spanish it's pretty much lost on me. I was so blown away by their debut album but not so much with this one.They have really toned it down from their debut.This is very laid back with a couple of the songs (and many passages elsewhere) reminding me of some of the great Italian symphonic bands.

"Encudenado Al Anema" is the longest track on the album. I'm not a big fan of this song though as there are many sections with little going on. The first five minutes for example are atmospheric with vocals arriving 2 minutes in.The pace picks up at the 5 minute mark when the drums kick in with some good guitar melodies to follow.Then we get another section of not much going on as it gets spacey 7 1/2 minutes in.The song stops and starts again bringing to mind the lack of flow in this song. My favourite passage is 13 minutes in when we get some beautiful lazy guitar melodies. Nice. Not a fan of the ending though.

"Durazno Sangrando" is a beautiful, pleasant song that brings to mind the Italian bands of the seventies. "Pleamar De Aguilas" features a guitar / vocal melody for 2 minutes that I don't really like. Good vocal melodies and bass later. "En Una Lejana Playa Del Animus" has lots of tempo changes and opens with more pleasant and relaxed guitar playing with light drums and cymbals. Vocals arrive after 3 minutes. Some good contrasts between the light and intense passages to the end of the song. "Dios De Adolescencia" is much like the second song tranquil and beautiful like a warm summers breeze.

This is a good record that many who are into the mellower side of music will enjoy. This is a progressive album in the truest sense. It just lacks some of the elements that I really enjoyed from their debut.

After their majestic debut album Invisible had to confirm to the public if they were one of those one album wonder bands ( pretty usual in Argentina) or a serious project. And personally speaking , I think they made an improvement over their debut release which was really hard to top anyway. Durazno Sangrando is an album based on a book by Carl Jung and Richard Wilhem called The Secret of the golden Flower. Spinetta was really fond of reading and he got some inspirations for his lyrics from autors like Rimbaud , Artaud ( he dedicated one release to him) , Nietzche , Freud and Michel Foucault among others.

This record is a bit more accesible and less darker than his debut album. It opens with an amazing epic called Encadenado al Anima and then features shorter songs all of them with a jazzy approach. Encadenado.. opens with a spacey section driven by Spinetta's guitar and Pomo's subtle drumming. Luis's vocals share a lot in common with Jon Anderson and some of the greatest RPI singers of the 70's. Suddenly the song breaks into a faster section to become subtle once more this time with some smooth synthetizers on the back. This song is a memorable epic since it has several mood changes and is really well composed. Also I want to add that the lyrics for this song were inspired on a poem written by Luis's father.

The title track is an absolute classic of argentinian rock and one of Spinetta's most popular song. It's just 3 minutes long but holds an undescriptable beauty. If I were to describe this one , I would say it's a cross between some of the early KC ballads like Lady of the dancing water or Cadence and Cascade and some of the most gentle PFM or Celeste moments. The third song Pleamar de Aguilas is not sung by Spinetta but bassist Machi. And altough his voice is a lot different from Luis the result ain't bad. Some may say this song is a little whimsical but it features very good guitarwork from Luis and nice vocal harmonies as well. En una lejana playa del Animus is probably the most laid back song on this record. Being 9 minutes long it starts with some jazzy improvisation and then features some spacey guitars. Luckily the mood of the song changes with a powerful chorus and from that moment on turns on a rocker driven by Spinetta's fantastic guitar solos and Machi's bass groove . Lastly , the record closes with another 3 minute acoustic song with jazzy chord progressions called Dios de Adolesencia. It's a really simple , yet beautiful song which happens to be my favourite on this record.

For those looking for Argentinian prog , Durazno Sangrando is the place to go.It's an essential record from both my country and South American prog.

For the year this was recorded this was a fine album. Musically, it is a mix of melodic ballads, rich symphonic, and avant garde rock, mostly mixed into the same songs. And that is the only real drawback to Invisible's second studio album. While all the sections are well thought out and performed exquisitely, it's the transitions between each song movement that are awkward and off- putting. Either the song halts for a brief moment, or there is a jolting transistion from one part to the next. That gives each song the feeling that it is made up of a number of loose ideas, rather than a cohesive whole.

3 stars for style.

Invisible was one of the front prog rock bands ever came from Argentina in mid '70s, even they had a short career and releasing only three albums. The second one from 1975 named Durazno sangrando from 1975 is to many the peak , the story is based on the book of Carl Jung and has very solid lyrics besides music made by the head of the band Luis Alberto Spinetta. Well, to me this album is more then ok, I like it, but never considered very intresting or groundbreaking as many pretend to be, has some great instrumental sections like the opening track Encadenado al ánima who is the longest from here. Not very much to add, while is pleasent most of the time , on some particular passages is little going on even has some subltle jazz symphonic arrangements in overall sound. 3.5 stars to this second album.