VIAJERO ASTRAL - LIVE IN BRAZIL (AS JAIME ROSAS CUARTETO)

Not totally Live in Brazil, since the rendition of 'Lluvia' was taken from the Cuarteto's performance at Baja prog 2004 in Mexicali (Mexico), still there is an undeniable flavor of how well the audience at Rio Art Rock Festival 2005 connected with the energy and musicality of Jaime Rosas Cuarteto. This is an excellent live album: it has great sound production and it comprises great performances. The tracklist is cleverly selected as to enhance the main features of Rosas' progressive vision, leaving room for other sources right through the middle. The repertoire begins with the suite 'Viajero Astral', from the Extremos album, and then it goes on with the first two parts of the 'Lobo Estepario' suite that Rosas brought in for Entrance's sophomore release En la Tierra. Ultimately, the last piece is the remaining suite in Rosas' history so far: 'El Mito del Eterno Retorno', from Creciendo. It's easy to suspect that the tracklist is designed to make great statements of pomposity, melodic variety and musical drama at both the starting point and the curtain call. Like I said, performances are robust and accomplished, which is a great help concerning the development of the compositions' colorfulness. The reflective mood that prevails in the second part of 'Lobo Estepario' ('Despertar') makes things a bit ceremonious before the arrival of the full forntal fire in 'Gravedad'; this piece brings in the prog metal leanings that Rosas manages in his rockiest compositions. This piece sounds like a mixture of ELP, Gerard and Moore-era Dream Theater, and the same can be said about 'Creciendo', a monster song that adds punch and catchiness to the fold. I've always been a sucker for the sort of dynamics that this song inspires in the listener's mind. Things turn radically to ver ydifferent atmospheres for the next two pieces - 'Lluvia' and 'Un Volcán en las Nubes'. 'Lluvia' is a beautiful ballad taken from Rosas' debut album Virgo: you can almost touch the breezes of melancholy and solitude emanated from the lovely piano melodies and harmonies. A mesmerizing symphonic ballad, indeed: different from the more orchestrated studio version, this one is focused on the piano, which enhances the sense of intimacy. 'Un Volcán en las Nubes' moves to the realms of mysticism, with those introspective pipe organ layers that sound quite Baroque in a Haendel sort of way: the ambience is more dreamy than it is lightful. The four brief rock pieces ('Breves Piezas Rockeras') taken from Virgo and Extremos lighten things up on a road of no return where the pyrotechnics of prog metal and the magnificence of vintage symphonic rock marry in one single sonic source, the way that Jaime Rosas usually does it. All in all, this is an excellent live prog rock album: it's been 3 years since the time of this performance, but this CD makes it feel as vibrant in the listener's mind as if it were a concert that they attended a few days before.