Gotic - Escenes. 1978 Spain

Gotic's sole release in their lifetime is one of the most positive and joyous albums ever made. Life affirming, cheerful, satisfying, heartwarming, uplifting, and whatever other adjectives come to mind here. Primarily a quartet of flute, keyboards, bass, and drums, this is the blueprint of what I call "European Warm Progressive". You also hear this sound quite a bit in Quebec during the same era. Led by Jep Nuix's flute and Jordi Vilaprinyó's electric piano and synthesizers, Gotic's compositions are constantly on the move in true progressive rock fashion. This while Rafeal Escote's bass is always propelling the compositions forward in a kinetic way. Guest guitar adds color but is never the focus. Escenes is the album to bring you back to a happy state. A true masterpiece of the style.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Movieplay. Gatefold. Mail order acquisition (1994). I consider this LP to possess the most beautiful cover in my collection - numero uno. In fact in 2014 I bought a second copy so I could display the incredible Doroteo Puebla cover. See 3rd photo on how beautiful the gatefold looks side to side. It's a centerpiece of my collection.

CD: 2002 M2U (Korea). Stiff but beautiful papersleeve edition. This was the first mini-LP to hit the market and I snapped it up quickly. It's a bit tape hissy, but after putting on the LP to compare, I can understand why they jacked it up like they did. Interestingly enough, I also bought the Japanese box to house it in, even though I never bothered to pick up their own papersleeve edition. This is one of those albums that I first discovered via CD (in 1990), and I played it nonstop in the car after obtaining it. That would be the 1988 Fonomusic edition which is incredibly basic. No matter, I for certain got my money's worth before swapping out for the M2U version.

1990; 1994; 2003; 12/1/22 (new entry)

Gotic - Gegants i Serpentines. 1978 Spain (archival)

Gotic’s second album, never released in its day and forever bootlegged it seemed, has finally seen the light of day courtesy of the band themselves. Well worth the wait, as Gegants I Serpentines is a worthy successor to the fantastic Escenes. Perhaps a bit more typical in the fusion department, as was protocol for the day. But there are also a couple of tracks that amp up the progressive quotient, with a bit more variety and meter shifts within each track. No worry though, the happy and magical melodies of the debut are carried forth here, while flute, keyboards, and guitar are still front and center. In fact, the guitar is more fuzzed out than prior. Highly recommended.

Personal collection
CD: 2016 private

There are a couple of releases for this album (legit that is, not counting bootlegs), the first as a CD-R, and the second as a fully pressed CD (which I own). The latter has the catalog number of CDR-001 (oh brother!). Be sure to inquire first, as obviously the factory pressed CD is the better asset for the long term. The tri-fold digi-pak is fantastic, no matter which version you buy.