Cast - Legacy

Year of Release: 2000
Label: self-released
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 72:29:00

I wouldn't want to be a guitarist for Cast. Not that Cast isn't an okay band. It's just that being the guy with the guitar in this group means playing way in the background where hard-wrought melodies sound like they're coming from another room, and rhythm parts are all but lost in an ocean of keyboard wash. Let's just say that there's no doubt who runs this band, and it ain't the guy on the six-string axe. Cast's guitarist, Francisco Hernandez, is a good musician, with a Hackett style of playing that deserves more than to be drenched in reverb and mixed to the back. Because this is my first Cast album, I'm not sure if this anti-guitar snobbery is par for the course, but if I were Hernandez, I'd be royally pissed off.

Okay, enough from a guitarist's point of view. The music itself is mostly pretty good. To my ears, the arrangements are too dense, the memorable melodies too few and far between, but there's still a lot to enjoy here, especially if you like Genesis-inspired fare. Standout tracks include the very Genesis-like "Key of Life," the vocal treat "Celestial Garden," and the dreamy instrumental "Beneficiaries." One of the most complex pieces on the album is "Magic of Love" which features some great instrumental work and has more spirit than most of the other songs here. Another track owing a huge debt to Genesis is "Before Me," a treat even if the performance isn't particularly dynamic.

Sometimes, the playing feels a bit...er...sloppy. For example, listen to "We are the Ones," especially at the end, where the band is so loose and poorly arranged that the song almost turns into noise (and I don't mean artful noise). This track gets my vote as the worst on the album. "The Will" is a decent song that suffers from a cluttered arrangement, especially behind the lead vocals. And, not to beat a dead horse, but this album cries out for the extra texture the band's guitarist could -- but isn't allowed to -- provide. Come on, Luis. Lighten up and let someone else take center stage once in a while!

Keyboards are everywhere on this disc, stacks and stacks of them. There is, in fact, such a dense layer of keyboards that some tracks approach a wall of sound that buries almost everything else. How many keyboard overdubs are on this album? God only knows. There are times when I'm sure I hear at least four different keyboard tracks. You get to the point where you wish keyboardist Luis Alfonso Vidales would just step back and take a freakin' breath already. Now I don't have anything against keyboard-dominated bands. EL&P is one of my all-time favorite groups. Nathan Mahl tickles me pink. But both of those groups know that what you don't say is often as important as what you do. Music needs room to breath. We need those spaces between the notes.

Released also by Musea Records (FGBG 4339.AR)

Tracklisting:
Proemio (2:21) / Legacy's Executor (9:19) / Key Of Life (9:30) / Celestial Garden (4:03) / Magic Of Love (6:58) / Personal Status (4:30) / We Are The Ones (5:54) / Take A Look Back (7:41) / Beneficiaries (4:22) / Living Dreams (1:26) / Before Me (4:04) / The Will (4:40) / Conclusion (7:41)

Musicians:
Dino Brassea - vocals
Francisco Hernandez Reyes - guitars
Luis Alfonso Vidales - keyboards
Antonio Bringas - drums and percussion
Rodolfo Gonzalez Quiroz - bass

Discography:
Landing In A Serious Mind (1993)
Sounds of Imagination (1994)
Third Call (1994)
Four Aces (1995)
Endless Signs (1995)
Beyond Reality (1996)
A View of Cast - Live (1996)
Angels and Demons (1997)
Imaginary Window (1999)
A Live Experience (1999)
Legacy (2000)
Lagunas De Volcanos (2000)
Castalia (2001)
Infinity (2002)
Al-Bandaluz (2003)
Nimbus (2004)
The Pyramid Of The Rain (2005)
Mosaïque (2006)
Com.union (2007)
Originallis (2008)
Art (2011)
Arsis (2014)
Vida (2015)
Power And Outcome (2017)

Sands Of Time Live (BR) (2016)
Sinfonico Live (BR) (2018)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin MX

Added: March 21st 2001
Reviewer: Clayton Walnum

Artist website: www.castofficial.com
Hits: 3489
Language: english