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Hugo
Flores :: Atlantis
Atlantis was a very pleasant surprise for me. I had never heard of Hugo Flores, who
is a young Portuguese composer/guitarist and this was an excellent way to become
acquainted with his music. My first impression after a few bars of the opener,
"Mistaken Gods" was a strong Triumph vibe, a la "Never Say Never", but this became
less prominent after he vocals began, which thankfully aren't as super high as Rick
Emmett's.
I think this is clearly the work of an ambitious musician with real talent and
excellent ideas. He shows a keen sense of melody and makes use of interesting
arrangements and layers throughout. This is apparent even in the carefully sequenced
drums, which sound much better than one would expect from a machine. Interesting
effects are achieved through syncopation rather than odd time signatures, there are
cool grooves and hooks everywhere and the guitar work is tasty, with that skilled,
80's sort of technique. In my mind, this is definitely a great demo. Perhaps the
only real drawback is the lyrical content. I mean, the words aren't bad, but they
are certainly of inferior quality to the music. The good news is that the tunes are
there; if Flores can get together the right
bunch of musicians, he has the potential to lose the occasional jagged edges here
and there and make much better-sounding records which he could then support in live
performance.
I would like to encourage people to check out this guy's work with an open mind
(remember that it is really a demo), because it shows class and attention to detail,
and it rocks! I would like to see him move on to bigger fish with the help of a band
instead of the many faces of Mr. Roland. Check out Hugo Flores at fossil records!
And to Hugo, all I can say is "Obrigado" and persevere!
Reviewed by: Luis Nasser
Rating: 7 keyboards.
Review Date: 03/27/02
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