Asfalto - Al Otro Lado (Reissue) (1978/1991)

Al Otro Lado has an early/mid-70's guitar oriented heavy prog rock sound. The vocals are the weakest link - sung in Spanish (which is no problem) but recorded in a rather old, marginally mixed way. Track 5 - "El viejo" - is the clear highlight with a very nice guitar solo but other songs delight as well. "No estas solo" is particularly good. There is a wonderful re-occuring theme that repeats in different constructions which tied the songs together. It is a beautiful theme and the drums, keyboards are also well performed and remind me a lot of Tony Banks early Genesis performances with the added delight of some very nice straight piano parts. The song "Expectative" is a instrumental based totally on this theme and is delightful! In other songs, guitar is heavily featured and there are a number of sections where he solos extensively. If you like the sound pre-1975 progressive bands I am sure you will like this recording. Although recorded in 1978, the recording technology gives the CD an earlier feel which in no way takes away from the overall quality of the prog performed.