Spheroe - Spheroe 1975

Despite having a stable career for almost the whole 70's decade, Spheroe remained widely unknown to the public for a long time. This french band was formed in 1972 and consisted of Patrick Garel on drums/percussion, Gerard Maimone on keys, Rido Bayonne on bass, and Micheal Perez on guitars. Spheroe had good live activity but had to wait until 1977 for its first official release. The self-titled LP was originally released on Cobra, later to be presented in CD format by Musea Records. Obviously influenced by Return To Forever and to a lesser extent Brand X, the band delivers highly-energetic jazz/fusion rock with tight performances and impressive musicianship. The pieces associate fever, nervosity, and sometimes serenity but always musicality. Spheroe is into delicate, smooth, contrasted, and impressionist music, based on melodic and harmonic research. Especially keyboardist Gerard Maimone had to be a great Chick Corea fan, his electric piano work is very solid and professional, but he also delivers strong doses of Moog solos. Apart from the typical groovy and filled with interplays parts of the album, there is also lots of space for Michael Perez to show his talent with nice solos and decent melodies, while in some moments the music gets really dark with obscure guitar chords and massive ''in your head'' synths, creating a haunting atmosphere. This is a quite good release from a lesser-known band with both enjoyable and well-arranged jazz/rock music, fine interplays, and always an intensive delivery. Recommended, especially to the fans of the genre. Progarchives.

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