Iconoclasta - 1983 - Iconoclasta

Iconoclasta

1983

Iconoclasta

01. Cuentos De Arquicia
02. Dorian
03. Manantial
04. Memorias De Un Hechicero
05. Estudio VI
06. Origen Cúspide Y Muerte
07. Fuera De Casa

Ricardo Moreno / acoustic, classic & electric guitars
Nohemi D'Rubín / bass
Ricardo Ortegón / electric guitar
Rosa Flora Moreno / acoustic & electric pianos, string ensemble, synthesizers
Victor Baldovinos / drums, timbales, metalophone
Rosa Echevarría de Moreno / vocals (7)

Iconoclasta is probably one of the pioneers of progressive rock in Mexico, despite this was their first album, and was released in 1983, some other 70`s bands in Mexico were more to the psychedelic movement, with some progressive rock passages, but i think if it is not the real first prog band, Iconoclasta is for sure one of the earliest. They formed Iconoclasta in 1980, and since that moment they started doing progressive rock, with clear influences by 70`s band such as Yes or PFM, they blended elements of classical, electronic and jazz, combined with the strength and ideological expression of rock, in my opinion at least this album is more symphonic than jazzy, also they started their own label "Discos Rosembach", you can imagine some of their influences.

"Cuentos de Arquicia" is the first track of the album, a great song, remind me tos ome Yes passages, with nice keyboards and a fast rhythm, also it has some nice guitar sound.

"Dorian" starts slowly, but little by little it is becoming stronger and faster, here we can appreciate some of the good musicianship in the band, guitar sound is acid, but great.

"Manantial" has something special that is catching you during the song, keyboards as an atmospheric background, and again great guitar sound.

"Memorias de un Hechicero", a parenthesis (Ricardo Moreno, the guitarist of the band has his own style , in this song you can see and appreciate it) this song is excellent for me, it has some mood changes, but the music is always good, in fact i think here you will enjoy all the instruments, bass is great.

"Estudio VI" is great, it has some poppish and 80`s moments, but anyway i think is good, specially for that guitar who remind me some classical moments.

"Origen Cuspide y Muerte" I think it doesn`t have anything special, is simply another track, yes, the music is quite nice, but nothing new here, maybe it is my less favorite, here is a passage when in fact i remember The Police, because of the bass playing and the rhythm.

One thing that i haven`t said yet, this is an instrumental album, it doesn`t have lyrics, but in the last song, you will find some female vocals. "Fuera de Casa", as i said above, this is the only track which has some vocals, i repeat, no lyrics, only the voice which is great, a special guest Rosa Echevarria de Moreno is the woman who share his great voice, also and not only for the vocals, this is my favorite track, the music has a mix of jazz ,symphonic and rock passages of course, is the largest of them all, is challenging and i think the music skill is great here.

Maybe they are not the finest band, but each member has it`s own work, and they do it well, for me this is a nice debut album, i like it so much, but "fortunately" it is not their best album, so you can wait for my Reminiscencias review. Give a try to it, i think is good, but non - essential, anyway, you could enjoy it so much.