ALAM RAYA

Now here is a weird little nugget. Just what should you expect from late '70s Indonesian Prog? No matter what it may be, you will still be in for a surprise. ABBHAMA's only album, "Alam Raya," starts out as a kind of poppy mish-mash of the times. Just when you are thinking, "what the heck am I listening to?" something a little cool starts to happen. This is the case throughout. The singer has a very high, sweet voice. The music gets just as sugary. At the point when you've had about enough, they manage to pull you back in. Then something really strange happens. You start liking the poppy parts too. At this point, there is no hope but to completely give in.

It's odd. There are even throwbacks to '60s styles. Like I said, this is odd. However, when the proggy instrumentation kicks in, these guys are not bad at all. There is some great keyboard work, beautiful acoustic guitar, flute, some oboe, and pretty decent drumming. When they really get into it, it's full on prog.

So, it's corny (maybe even camp), on the verge of annoying, and has the chops to stand up to heavy prog scrutiny. You know what? This is fun, and very enjoyable. It's music you are not going to want to like, but you won't be able to resist its charm. It's rare, so if you can find a copy, pick it up. It's not essential, so just over three stars.

H.T. Riekels