Los Jaivas - Obras De Violeta Parra (Reissue) (1984/1995)

Los Jaivas struck gold with their 1984 release, Obras De Violeta Parra. This mature prog album features the band in top shape, and free from any 1980s-related influence. One would think that by 1984, a prog band would have toned down their experimental nature for something more commercial, but Los Jaivas decided to become even more progressive. F--- off MTV, these guys could have cared less about the cold one-hit wonders that you were promoting at the time. Obras... takes elements from Modern classical(Bartok, and Ravel especially), 70s sympho-prog, Andean and Spanish folk, and is light-years away from their well-known classic, Alturas De Macchu Picchu. At first, I couldn't really hear the Peruvian/Chilean folk influences in the music, but then realized that these influences were naturally combined with the overt prog/modern classical sound featured in the music. The band, of course, still enjoyed to play catchy Andean/Spanish pop-folk, but the overall emphasis here is on seriously complex music. 6 of the tracks here range between 8 to 11 minutes each. The rest of the tracks are between 1-5 minutes, adding up to a double-LP sized album that today fits on one CD. If you've been interested in Los Jaivas I would recommend Alturas... as a great place to start. But if you are ready for some serious prog with modern classical influences, and a friendly South American sound, you will be in for a treat.