ESPACIOS

Together with Espíritu, Ave Rock was a pioneer of symphonic prog in Argentina, their second album "Espacios" being their most accomplished effort. The band's compositional ambitions are evidently high, as it can be inferred from the pretentious expansions of 'Pausa en Espacios' and 'Surcos en el Aire' - 21 and 15 minutes, respectively -, but if we look beyond this particular detail, we'll notice that the band has a lot of strong points: an ability to organize diverse musical motifs with lively cohesiveness, a clever management of textures and tempo shifts, robust performance skills, and solid interplaying. While references to Yes are evident in Ave Rock's global sound, those are not as notable as they were in Espíritu - Ave Rock's music tends to be more reflective and less lively than their aforementioned compatriots, so their major foreign influences stem from Genesis' dramatic sensibility, 73-75 Pink Floyd's eerie melancholy, and some of the special ethereal magic usually associated to Invisible, another compatriot band that was very influential in the local rock scene during the early 70s. Since the lyrics are not too abundant, the vocal parts don't affect essentially the band's overall style, but every time the vocal harmonies appear, the listener may hear some Yessian hints. The dual guitar labour assures a permanent presence of electric power all throughout the repertoire, both in the fast and the slow parts; meanwhile, keyboardist Alfredo Salomone adds a touch of distinction with his piano chord progressions, and layers on organ and synthesizer. The rhythm section manages to sustain the momentum of the rockier moments and turn to a more subtle role during the slow passages. Sandwiched between the two epics, '4.30 en el Universo' is an intimate ballad that may pass overlooked, but it's pleasant anyway. Generally speaking, "Espacios" is a very interesting example of the high quality attained by the earliest South American prog bands, which paid a close attention to the most prominent bands of the UK and Italy while struggling to create their own sound --- 4 stars.

Here is good news from Argentina! It's the second album from Ave Rock, a gem from the Seventies.

1. Pausa En Espacious (Pause In Spaces) (21:13) : This long track delivers good Spanish vocals, flowing and fiery electric guitar (with choes from Steve Howe), a powerful bass sound (like Chris Squire) and a melodic and warm progrock sound. The climates alternates between dreamy, moving and bombastic featuring lots of great soli on guitar and synthesizer and captivating musical ideas.

2. 4:30 En El Universo (4:30 In The Universe) (4:45) : A dreamy piece with warm vocals and piano, then an accellaration with jazzy electric guitar and inspired Spanish vocals. Halfway the music features compelling organ and again good soli on guitar and organ.

3. Surcos En El Aire (Furrows In The Air) (15:20) : Another long composition that starts with a piano intro, then an accellaration with a guitar/organ duel, followed by instrumental firework on guitar and keyboards, GREAT! The music delivers lots of breaks and shifting moods, at some moments the guitar work reminds me of fellow Dutchman Jan Akkerman, taseful accompanied by Fender Rhodes electric piano. The final part has a wonderful build-up with strong duo-guitarwork and organ.

This second album is a bit more refined than their first effort and recommened to every proghead that loves the Seventies!

‘Espacios’ is the second and presumably final album from Ave Rock. This one moves closer to the symphonic mold than the band’s first album did, but really the strength of the band’s variety earns them an unqualified Art Rock label.

The opening “Pausa En Espacios” starts off a just bit discordant, not unlike King Crimson or any of the scores of other bands who were blown away by ‘In the Court…’, but more understated with these guys, and the Hammond plays the major role here. As with the debut there is heavy emphasis on guitar (particularly in the first half of the song amid the somewhat weighty minor keyboard chords. I believe the intent here was to deliver a symphonic composition; whether the band succeeded is a matter of personal taste I suppose.

“En El Universo” has a distinctly bluesy guitar riff that persists, along with an almost jazzy timbre. This actually reminds me quite a bit of Salem Hill, who in turn remind me a bit of some of ELP’s more approachable works. And so it goes. The vocals are a bit of a distraction though.

The piano on “Surcos En El Aire” wins points with me right away. I’ve always felt there is too much emphasis on Hammond, ARP, and mellotron when one thinks of Symphonic Rock bands; piano has that acoustically resonant quality to it that really makes the various scale progressions really sound poignant. Once again I don’t think the vocals are very good, but this is a symphonic composition – lots of tempo changes that fit together quite well, at least three different types of keyboards that I can discern, all very prominent. Again the band shows a strong leaning toward guitar as well, although here there are psychedelic influences as well as the blues.

This is a very good band whose reputation seems to have been made mostly in our southern hemisphere. Like their first album I don’t think this qualifies as a masterpiece, but it is quite good, and to placate a restrictive rating system I feel the need to mark this as four stars.

peace

This was a pretty disappointing listen for me considering the positive reviews for this Argentinian album. The sound quality is poor too which is surprising since this was released in 1977. Maybe it's just the re-issue that I have i'm not sure.

"Pausa En Espacios" opens with guitar but it settles into a dreamy mode quickly.This is my favourite part of the whole album as it reminds me of PINK FLOYD. Vocals after 1 1/2 minutes then it kicks back in. Another calm after 3 1/2 minutes then the vocals return as themes are repeated on this side long opening track.

"4.30 En El Universo" opens with vocals and piano then it kicks in before a minute. We get a guitar solo before 2 minutes then it settles again.Vocals return after 3 1/2 minutes as it picks back up. "Surcos En El Aire" opens with piano.Vocal melodies then vocals 2 minutes in. Nice bass 5 minutes in when it picks up again.

It's really been a struggle to listen to this all last week and one more time this morning. Fans or collectors only.