Have been listening to some tracks by the Mexican band Cast,and they sound v.good.Anybody else got any thoughts on them? Best albums?etc.Really like listening to them in their native language too!
Have been listening to some tracks by the Mexican band Cast,and they sound v.good.Anybody else got any thoughts on them? Best albums?etc.Really like listening to them in their native language too!
I like them. After a while I find their singer to be a bit tiresome but in small doses (a few songs at a time) they are worth checking out. Neoprog with the ability to combine some nice classical-inspired passages among their harder rock. My favorite of theirs is Angels and Demons, seemingly a concept album. Beyond Reality is my second next favorite which has several lengthy multi-part tracks. I believe both of these albums are sung entirely or nearly entirely in English though. Some of their more recent releases look like they have at least some songs in Spanish.
^ yeah, listened to Angels and Dons recently and it's a pretty nice one. To me it doesn't matter if they sing in English or Spanish - the lyrics don't stand out either way.
I recommend Originalis First, Al Bandaluz second, and Com.Union third. These albums are sung in Spanish, except the last song on Originalis.
"Well my son, life is like a beanstalk, isn't it?"--Dalai Lama
My advice: start from the most recent album and work your way backwards. At a certain point the attempts to sounds like Genesis circa Wind & Wuthering will become too much to bear, but when they embraced being a band with Latin roots they became more Italo-prog and were pretty damn good IMO.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
Originalis is one of their very best, quite an intense slab of symphonic prog, and the best of the recent albums. Castart is quite good too. I'm lukeward to Com.Union, though it has some good songs. From the earlier incarnation of the band, I totally agree about Angels and Demons, a great starting point.
Other favorites of mine include Beyond Reality, Imaginary Window, Legacy and Endless Signs. Some of the early releases are spotty as they are a mix of older recording from the 80's and contemporary 90's recording, and the production isn't so good. That being said, Cast have quite the impressive catalog, one of the more consistant and prolific acts around.
Love the double Al Bandaluz. Beyond Reality suffers from the two problems the earlier works I've heard (including the live "View of Cast") have--poor production and meandering arrangements.
Cast were one of the first bands I got into when I discovered the prog underground in the late 90’s. I have all of their albums up through “Angles And Demons”. Those albums are very Genesis influenced and some of them are not recorded very well which takes away from the material a bit. My favorites would probably be “Angles And Demons” and “Beyond Reality”. I do not have anything more recent than those. I have been able to see the band live 3 times and one thing that I can say is that they really put their hearts into every performance. You almost can’t help but like them live as they always perform with a lot of passion. I really should explore some of their more recent stuff.
I bought Endless Signs back in the 90s, after seeing them at Progday. I liked it well enough, and have enjoyed most of what I've heard from them since then, but never felt a great need to purchase anything more. Definitely a band I have a lot of respect for, however.
Holy cow they put out a lot of albums... Newest first, working backwards is always good advice!
"Always ready with the ray of sunshine"
I don't own an album because they have too many vocals for my taste BUT I have seen them 4 times and this last time (3 weeks ago) was the best they have ever been. They are quite good when the singers have their mouths shut.
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
Get their last, "Arsis", is very much instrumental.
I asked Alphonso if Cast had an instrumental album and he said no... but he also said "perhaps we should do one... with Grupo GNU" and I said GREAT!
Last edited by MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER; 04-28-2014 at 01:38 AM.
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
I saw them in '96. I remember thinking at the time that they seemed to enjoy as much being part of the audience as being performers at the festival.
I saw the 2003 show. They were quite excellent.
Bill
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
CAST have a new release for 2017.
Entire album is available for listening here: https://castoficial.bandcamp.com/alb...er-and-outcome
"Angels die, redemption rages
The age of man on an empty page
And chances are
This will save your soul or break it forever "
They're playing Progtoberfest this year!
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