FUSIOON

One of those artwork sleeves that symbolize the music style best, but this is doubled by the band's name - the other one that does equally good is Nucleus's Elastic Rock recorded almost three years before. The first chapter of this standard prog quartet with the Camp brothers at bass and KB is actually fairly accessible (well compared to the other two later albums) and IMHO, is maybe the one I prefer because of its naiveté.

This record is a mostly instrumental one (a few scatting one the opening track), but this does not hamper the enjoyment of the music: they have a fairly unique sound and the music has some very subtle Spanish overtones but not in the Flamenco realm. Their sound oscillates between Isotope, Wigwam (the Gustavson and Pohjola compositions), Focus or Finch, Sloche (or fellow Quebecois Maneige) and countrymen Iceberg. If the jazz colours are the main characteristics of the album, the classical influences peak here and there, most notably in Negra Sombra (Dark Black). Apparently all of the tracks are covers of traditional songs (6 of 8 tracks) all adapted/arranged by Manel Camp and the other two being penned by other writers. The odd flute, sax and clarinet (actually un-credited) but drummer Arisa is the one playing them (says D-E Asbjornsen) and bring touches of brilliance. The superb piano may even ring reminiscence of Chilean Los Jaivas in their more symphonic moments and with the organs, ELP comes to mind.

Certainly worth the investigation, especially if you enjoyed the better-known two later albums.

This Barcelona-based spanish band made thei debut in 1972 with their eponymous album.FUSIOON is a rather hard band to compare with some of the 70's prog rock giants...If I had to choose I would say that you could imagine a more fusion style of GENTLE GIANT's music (seems the name of the band isn't all that accidental!).Of course things are a little more complicated that this description...

The music of the band is an interesting mix of jazz rock,fusion,symphonic rock and you can add also some spanish ethnic orientations.The overall mood of the album leaves you generally with a pleasant feeling but there also some dark passages in the vein of KING CRIMSON (like in some ''Ya se van los pastores'' moments) as also some dramatic classical pieces like the stunning ''Negra Sombra'' which has a sound very close to FOCUS...There are also some flutes here and there with first role playing close to JETHRO TULL...All the band members are excellent musicians but I'm really impressed by the bass work of Jordi Camp,a very good example that a bass player can be a lot more that just a part of the rhythm section,a great bassist indeed!

What about the conclusion?This is a band to discover!Every prog rock fan should be pleased with this work due to the varied music styles and the excellent musicianship...Fans of GENTLE GIANT,FOCUS,KING CRIMSON have an extra reason to search for this one...Between 3 and 4 stars closing to 4...

FUSIOON were a band from Spain who offered up some Jazzy music on this their 1972 debut. Love the album cover but i'm not digging the tunes that much. I can't get over the tempo changes these guys go through on pretty much every track. No wonder so many people mention GENTLE GIANT when they try to explain their sound.This is especially true on their next release. I mean being into Prog I appreciate tempo and mood shifts but these guys do it so often I can't get into the music. We get 8 tracks over about 31 minutes, so lots of short songs here.

"Danza Del Molinero" is piano, drums and bass led then it picks up quickly, but then again the tempo and sound changes often on this one. Organ before 3 1/2 minutes then it calms right down again. "Ya Se Van Los Pastores" sounds good when it settles in before a minute.The bass stands out but then again like the first track the tempo and mood changes way too often for my tastes. Flute leads after 2 minutes then guitar and organ take over a minute later. Nice. "Ses Porqueres" builds until the guitar and drums start to lead. Piano joins in then flute.This is all over the place though. "Pavana Espanola" is led by bass, piano, guitar and drums after a minute and the tempo continues to shift.

"Negra Sombra" turns pastoral before 2 minutes with what sounds like strings. Not a fan of this.Vocal melodies a minute later. "En El Puerto De Pajares" has some excellent drumming but it's too lightweight of a tune overall. "Rima Infantil" is led by piano and drums early. I like the guitar before 2 minutes. A calm follows then it picks back up with piano, drums and bass. "El Cant Del Ocells" is my favourite track of the lot, I guess they saved the best for last. It opens with sounds that come and go. Flute leads 1 1/2 minutes in.The tempo picks up with organ leading the way 2 minutes in.This is good. The guitar then comes in. Nice.

Barely 3 stars.

A good but not exceptional jazz-rock and fusion album, Fusioon's debut is pleasant enough but nothing to write home about. Although there's nothing particularly wrong with the material, which is performed perfectly competently, I just don't find it especially memorable; I just gave it another listen before preparing this review and already I find myself forgetting what the opening track sounded like. There's little to impress itself on the memory here - not in terms of emotive force, or in technical wizardry. As a result, whilst it's certainly a pleasant listen, it's not something I'd urge other listeners to make a great effort in seeking out.

Fusioon was undoubtedly one of the great, albeit too short-lived, prog-fusion catalan bands of the 70's, its 4 members were highly skilled musicians, with special mention for the classically trained keyboardist Manel Camp who after the prog era would become one of the most sought pianists and arrangists in the catalan musical scene.

This 1972 debut consists only of adaptations to jazz-rock-fusion of traditional spanish popular songs (a couple of them actually adaptations from late 19th / early 20th century spanish classical composers, La Danza Del Molinero by Manuel De Falla and Negra Sombra by Xoan Montes). Being catalan I recognize most of the tunes, but the adaptations are so free that they hardly bear any resemblance to the originals except for some phrases here and there bringing up the original melodies and some of the original backing chord progressions transposed onto jazzy rythms on which they play their solos and improvisations.

The album is totally instrumental, very good fusion with classical flavour, with quite a lot of piano (organ, synths and mellotron not lacking either) and great musicianship all around. The songs are all short between 3 and 5 minutes which makes the album flow swiftly. There are saxes and flute too making the music more diverse.

But in this debut they do not use their musicianship for showing off and they are not too adventurous, no pyrotechnics, no agressive nor stunning music. As good as it is, it feels a bit like just "innocent jazz-rock", the songs feel rather simple and it's in the details where you realise their quality.

In their next two albums Fusioon would truly unleash their talent and challenging spirit and venture into top-level eclectic-symphonic-fusion prog (in Fusioon II) and back to fusion- symphonic-experimental but at a vastly more sofisticated level (in their last album Minorisa).

A certainly interesting and nice-to-have album, but only after you have discovered their next two masterpieces.