EL PROFETA

Continuing my series of dismissive reviews (I'm saving up my glowing ones for Morse Code, Pendragon, and Present), I come across this milestone in South American Prog. TO my ears, this is yet another one where your opinion will depend on the degree of unswerving love for the genre.

I love Symphonic Prog, I am part of the PA team for this genre, but I find that sometimes some gems of our beloved prog type are no better than average.

El Profeta is one of them. I can readily admit that the music is beautiful, or at should I say, the soundscape is beautiful. As previous reviews state, the piano / keyboard playing is very melodic. Romantic even, as Steve Hegede mentions. But even after multiple listens, I still have no songs that I walk away humming, that insists on sticking themselves in my ears and not going away.

As I went back to the album time & time again, Hablanos del Matrimonio & Hablanos del Dar do stand out, as I almost get the feeling that I'm about to hear some Pink Floyd derived tuneage. But it goes back to the album's own stylings.

There are some heavier moments where the guitar is brought in, and there are occasions where one can hear the pop stylings of Latin America.

But nowhere do I hear the masterpiece, the captivating composition that would elevate this release above the average. Hublanos De Los Hijos is an example, the spoken word parts are interesting, but the music is nothing more than latin jazz inflected rocker with some instrumental flourishes and not much else.

If you are interested or curious, I would strongly recommend trying to find a site that has MP3 samples before you buy ...