Music Banter - View Single Post - I know what I like: Trollheart's History of Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal

Trollheart · 01-13-2021, 06:39 PM

Right, so next we move on to… hey! Where are you all going? Come back! Sigh. Well allright, I guess we’ve earned a break. Wait for me! Hold up there! You don’t know what you might encounter out there when you jump

And in fact what we find is the very first prog rock band from South America, Argentina in fact. Oddly enough, given that they seem to have been regarded as “the Argentinian Beatles” (but what influential band has not been guilty of that comparison, often without merit?) they don’t show up at all on Prog Archives, and what little information I can get on them I have to take from Wiki. Basically they seem to have followed somewhat the pattern of Genesis in the beginning: taken under the wing of a patron, in this case Ricardo Kleiman, an impresario who had his own radio show, and who, like Jonathan King with Genesis, insisted on orchestral arrangements on their first works.

Signed to RCa - surely a big deal for a new band - they released two albums before splitting, the second being a double. For whatever reason Wiki only has them down for the second, so perhaps the debut wasn’t considered prog, I don’t know, but this anyway is the one we have to deal with. Sources say Almendra changed the course of Argentinian rock, but not being at all versed in that I couldn’t say. How progressive were they? Let’s see what we can find out about that.

Album title: Almendra II
Artist: Almendra
Nationality: Argentinian
Label: RCA
Chronology: Second
Previous Experience of this Artist: None
The Trollheart Factor: 0
Tracklisting: Toma El Tren Hacia El Sur/Jingle/No Tengo Idea/Camino Dificil/Rutas Argentinas/Vete de Mi, Cuervo Negro/Air de Amor/Mestizo/Agnus Dei/Para Ir/Parvas/Cometa Azul/Florecen Los Nardos/Carmen/Obertura/Amor de Aire/Verde Lano/Leves Instruccuiones/Los Elefantes/Un Pajaro de Sosteine/En Las Cupalas
Comments: You can detect the Latin influence right away, though it sounds like fairly basic rock to me at the moment, especially “No Tengo Idea” but “Camino Dificil” is nice, an acoustic ballad which showcases not only the singer’s powerful voice but also the vocal harmonies of the rest of the band. Who are, as it happens, Luis Alberto Spineta on vocals, guitar and piano, Edelmino Molinari on vocals, guitar and organ, Emilio del Geurcio on bass and Rodolfo Garcia on drums. “Rutas Argentinas” takes us back to a three-chord boogie blues style, and I guess the first real prog-possible song would then be “Agnus Dei” which runs for just over fourteen minutes.

It’s kind of coming across more as psychedelic to me though, some good instrumentation in it certainly - is it all instrumental? I think so. Certainly the last ten minutes or so is. Nice bit of slide guitar and acoustic then on the ballad “Para Ir”, slows things down and “Parvas” keeps it fairly reflective, though with some nice guitar work from Spineta then “Cometa Azul” is a faster rocker but I couldn’t call it prog by any stretch. Yeah, as this goes on I can’t deny they’re a very accomplished band, but there’s nary a shred of prog in here that I can see. Not sure why they were included, but that’s what happens when you scale the wall and go out into the street looking for trouble. Sometimes you find it.

Favourite track(s): Camino Dificil, Para Ir
Least favourite track(s):
Overall impression: Decent rock album, but the Argentinian Beatles? Don’t see it. I suppose though in fairness you’d need to be familiar with the state of Argentinian rock to know whether or not this upended everything, Wiki says it did, so I have to take their word or I’ll be sacrificed to the God of Citing References. Still, not prog in any way, shape or form, not that I can see. Good album though.
Personal Rating:

01-13-2021, 06:39 PM	#194 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Right, so next we move on to… hey! Where are you all going? Come back! Sigh. Well allright, I guess we’ve earned a break. Wait for me! Hold up there! You don’t know what you might encounter out there when you jump And in fact what we find is the very first prog rock band from South America, Argentina in fact. Oddly enough, given that they seem to have been regarded as “the Argentinian Beatles” (but what influential band has not been guilty of that comparison, often without merit?) they don’t show up at all on Prog Archives, and what little information I can get on them I have to take from Wiki. Basically they seem to have followed somewhat the pattern of Genesis in the beginning: taken under the wing of a patron, in this case Ricardo Kleiman, an impresario who had his own radio show, and who, like Jonathan King with Genesis, insisted on orchestral arrangements on their first works. Signed to RCa - surely a big deal for a new band - they released two albums before splitting, the second being a double. For whatever reason Wiki only has them down for the second, so perhaps the debut wasn’t considered prog, I don’t know, but this anyway is the one we have to deal with. Sources say Almendra changed the course of Argentinian rock, but not being at all versed in that I couldn’t say. How progressive were they? Let’s see what we can find out about that. Album title: Almendra II Artist: Almendra Nationality: Argentinian Label: RCA Chronology: Second Previous Experience of this Artist: None The Trollheart Factor: 0 Tracklisting: Toma El Tren Hacia El Sur/Jingle/No Tengo Idea/Camino Dificil/Rutas Argentinas/Vete de Mi, Cuervo Negro/Air de Amor/Mestizo/Agnus Dei/Para Ir/Parvas/Cometa Azul/Florecen Los Nardos/Carmen/Obertura/Amor de Aire/Verde Lano/Leves Instruccuiones/Los Elefantes/Un Pajaro de Sosteine/En Las Cupalas Comments: You can detect the Latin influence right away, though it sounds like fairly basic rock to me at the moment, especially “No Tengo Idea” but “Camino Dificil” is nice, an acoustic ballad which showcases not only the singer’s powerful voice but also the vocal harmonies of the rest of the band. Who are, as it happens, Luis Alberto Spineta on vocals, guitar and piano, Edelmino Molinari on vocals, guitar and organ, Emilio del Geurcio on bass and Rodolfo Garcia on drums. “Rutas Argentinas” takes us back to a three-chord boogie blues style, and I guess the first real prog-possible song would then be “Agnus Dei” which runs for just over fourteen minutes. It’s kind of coming across more as psychedelic to me though, some good instrumentation in it certainly - is it all instrumental? I think so. Certainly the last ten minutes or so is. Nice bit of slide guitar and acoustic then on the ballad “Para Ir”, slows things down and “Parvas” keeps it fairly reflective, though with some nice guitar work from Spineta then “Cometa Azul” is a faster rocker but I couldn’t call it prog by any stretch. Yeah, as this goes on I can’t deny they’re a very accomplished band, but there’s nary a shred of prog in here that I can see. Not sure why they were included, but that’s what happens when you scale the wall and go out into the street looking for trouble. Sometimes you find it. Favourite track(s): Camino Dificil, Para Ir Least favourite track(s): Overall impression: Decent rock album, but the Argentinian Beatles? Don’t see it. I suppose though in fairness you’d need to be familiar with the state of Argentinian rock to know whether or not this upended everything, Wiki says it did, so I have to take their word or I’ll be sacrificed to the God of Citing References. Still, not prog in any way, shape or form, not that I can see. Good album though. Personal Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 03-23-2021 at 08:36 PM.