Finch - Galleons of Passion (1977)

Discazo traído por el Mago Alberto. El mejor rock sinfónico holandés, pasional y emocional, en un disco superior aunque desconocido. Un disco totalmente instrumental que recomendamos por demás y deben darle una buena escuchada

Artista: Finch

Álbum: Galleons of Passion
Año: 1977
Género: Rock sinfónico
Duración: 34:42
Nacionalidad: Holanda

Lista de Temas:
1. Unspoken Is The Word
2. Remembering The Future
3. As One
4. With Love As The Motive
5. Reconciling

Alineación:
- Hans Bosboom / drums, percussion
- Joop van Nimwegen / guitars, Cabasa
- Peter Vink / bass guitars, Cowbell
- Ad Wammes / keyboards, flute

Miren lo que nos deja hoy el Mago Alberto, un dico que seguramente pocos conocían (incluido yo), una banda que responde a la mejor tradición del rock progresivo holandés en un disco absolutamente instrumental con excelentes melodías y armonías. Este fue el tercer disco de estudio y me ha parecido por demás interesante. Aunque no muy conocido por estas pampas, el movimiento musical holandás es particularmente tan prolífico como importante para la escena europea, exportando grupos y estilos que serán tomados en distintos países como punto de partida para desarrollos individuales de otros artistas y grupos de rock progresivo clásico y sinfónico. Y aquí tenemos un ejemplo.
Vamos con el comentario del Mago:

Como viajeros del tiempo, hoy nos toca irnos a los confines de los años 70s y compartir una bella velada con los holandeses de Finch, banda que pasó casi desarpercibida en el ambiente progre de entonces y que hoy rescatamos para el placer del blog cabezón, una banda con todos los ingredientes de las bandas setentosas pero sobresaliente en lo musical, donde la guitarra tiene un protagonismo bastante importante y trazando un paralelismo con otra banda holandesa como Focus, podemos escuchar fraseos muy similares a los de Akkerman, le faltan quizás algunos semi tonos y alguna que otra estirada de cuerdas pero nada más, solo en eso suena similar.
Quienes no conozcan a Finch se van a llevar una grata sorpresa, todo acá suena fresco y muy progre, acá van a encontrar melodías hermosas, cadencias y contrapuntos muy bien arreglados, así que para los seguidores del género esto lo van a disfrutar, todos sus discos están muy bien producidos en general, quizás éste y Beyond Expression sean sus mejores realizaciones, así que en cualquier momento vamos a dar cuenta de Beyond también.
Podríamos mencionar que tanto Holanda como Bélgica siempre fueron países que nutrieron el ambito musical con bandas muy buenas pero que para los sudamericanos siempre nos llegó a cuenta gotas conocerlas, un caso relevante es el de Hypnos 69, banda belga que rompió los esquemas del rock con álbumes superlativos, como Legacy del 2010, publicado acá en el blog y que considero particularmente como uno de los mejores discos de esta década, una verdadera obra de arte con mayusculas!!!.
Finch nos asombra con un trabajo instrumental muy bien logrado, otro aspecto a destacar son los teclados, donde el moog interviene con un buen gusto admirable, donde además las escalas musicales van encadenándose, y las oleadas de ritmos apacibles van sucediendose una tras otra con un desarrollo sin complejos.
Quizás Focus fue la banda mas reconocida del ambiente progresivo holandés pero Finch le toca los talones y este trabajo es un fiel reflejo de ello, así que bájelo sin prejuicios amigo/a cabezón/a. La escuelita de Moe siempre tiene una materia nueva para dar, y Finch es una de ellas.

Alberto

Hablando de las bandas holandesas que van más allá de los ultraconocidos Focus y de los algo difundidos Kayak, Earth & Fire y Lady Lake, y obviamos el grupo Finch que presentamos ahora, más alguno que ya hemos presentado en el blog como los Ekseption, tenemos a ilustres desconocidos holandeses por conocer como Supersister, Alquin, Het Pandorra Ensemble, Solution, Bonfire, Mr Albert Show, Ahora Mazda, Group 1850, Brainbox, Cargo, Cosmic Dealer, Pantháon, Mirror y Kracq entre los más destacados. Y hablamos solamente de Holanda, imaginen lo que nos falta recorrer de este largo sendero difundiendo los proyectos de rock progresivo.

Dado que éste disco me gustó mucho, estoy revisndo su discografía, y debo decir que éste es el álbum más completo y más sinfónica de los holandeses, tiene un sonido menos frenético y complejo que el de los dos álbumes anteriores, y más allá de la calidad de sus composiciones, el disco se hundió en el océano del olvido musical. Nosotros, como buenos cabezones, tercos y desafiantes al estándart medio de "normalidad" musical, incluso en terrenos tan complejos como es el género progresivo y anexos (donde algunos puristas solamente se quedan con Yes, Genesis y ELP) venimos a rescatarlos y darles el lugar que se merecen, porque el disco es una obra maestra olvidada.

Finch es un grupo holandés de la escuela Focus, totalmente instrumental, marcado por las guitarras del virtuoso Joop Van Nimwegen, de un estilo tipo Jan Akkermann, unas preciosas melodías tanto de guitarra como de teclados, y atmósferas sinfónicas de teclado realmente bellas.
De los tres álbumes que tiene el grupo, mi preferido es el segundo "Beyond Expresion", pero este "Galleons of Pasion", que es el tercero, no se queda muy lejos. Sin duda este es el album para empezar con el grupo, ya que es sin duda el mas asequible de los tres, incluyendo aquí el grupo algunos aires de funk como los italianos Goblin, a su estilo instrumental-sinfonico-rockero-jazzy. El album tiene momentos bastante dinámicos y otros muy románticos y relajados, y es sobretodo muy alegre, no se trata de música oscura en absoluto.
Tanto el batería como el teclista son nuevas incorporaciones respecto del anterior álbum. Para mí el mejor tema es "With Love as the Motive", con una gran pieza principal con piano eléctrico y mellotron, y unas preciosas melodías. El resto todos son buenos también. "Remembering the Future", "As One", más cercana a Camel, y principalmente "Unspoken is the Word" y "Reconciling" muy alegres, sinfónicas y melódicas.
Un gran album para los que gusten del progresivo instrumental muy sinfónico y progresivo, y con melodías de gran sentimiento.

Ferran Lizana

Esto es Finch en su mejor momento, un álbum es totalmente instrumental, donde la armonía es bien accesible y puede competir fácilmente con el mejor Camel y hasta con el sinfonismo jazzeado del ELP.

Voy a escribir cuatro (?) líneas sobre una banda holandesa de los 70, creo que injustamente olvidada por los fans del progresivo de los 70 (y no digamos por el resto de los mortales). Sin ir mas lejos, el buscador de la web de la Caja solo muestra referencias puntuales a uno de los trabajos de la banda o se cita su nombre de pasada.
Finch es una banda de cuatro músicos (o sea la tipica formarcion bajo, bateria, teclados y guitarra), liderada por este ultimo (Joop Van Nimwegen) que grabaron tres grandes discos totalmente instrumentales: "Glory of the inner force" (1975), "Beyond expression" (1975) y "Galleons of passion" (1977), a cual más recomendable, aunque la opinión generalizada (y en particular la mía también) es que quizas "Beyond expression" sea el mejor de los tres y "Galleons" el más accesible. El resto de la formación tuvo diversos cambios de un álbum a otro excepto en el bajo, manejado por Peter Vink; tuvieron tres teclistas diferentes (Paul Vink, Cleem Determeyer y Ad Wammes por orden cronológico) y dos baterias: Beer Klaasse y Hans Bosboom.
El estilo de Finch viene marcado por el liderazgo de su guitarrista (compositor a la sazón de la mayoría de material), que es el protagonsita de la música de la banda (recordemos que se trata de música totalmente instrumental). Eso no quiere decir en absoluto que Finch suene a guitarrista con banda de acompañamiento. Nada de eso, el sonido de Finch es compacto, redondo, lleno de matices y en donde cada miembro cumple un papel determinado a la perfección (o sea como ocurría en los Genesis de esa época). Lo que ocurre es que uno de esos papeles, el de conductor melódico y solista, lo asume casi por entero la guitarra. Curiosamente, leí en una web que se intentó reunir a los integrantes de Finch para una entrevista con ocasión de la reedicion en CD de los trabajos de la banda, y eso fue materialmente imposible dado que el señor Joop considera a Finch como una especie de "pecado de juventud" y de hecho no quiere ni oír hablar del tema, mientras que el resto de músicos consideran a Finch como un gran proyecto en el que habían tenido el honor de participar.
Particularmente, yo situaria el estilo de Finch entre sus compatriotas Focus y los mejores Camel. De hecho el estilo guitarristico de Joop van Nimwegen me recuerda mucho al de Jan Akkerman en Focus, con ese sonido un tanto estridente y esos riffs "abluesados". Cada instrumento está en su sitio, en el punto justo (que dificil es eso!). Para que os hagaís una idea, al escuchar por ejemplo "Beyond expression" se me vienen a la mente los magnificos "Hamburger concerto" y "The snow goose" (será por esos arpegios de piano fender?)
Finalmente, comentar que existen dos nuevas ediciones de material de Finch. Se trata de "Stage '76", una grabación en directo cuyo master apareció por ahí un buen día, grabación que no he escuchado y por lo tanto no puedo valorar, pero parece ser que es bastante potable. Incluye material de sus dos primeros albumes más un tema de 17 minutos, "Necronomicon", que aparentemente debería haber formado parte de un cuarto álbum que nunca vió la luz. Y por último tenemos "The making of Galleons of Passion", una colección de demos (pre-recordings) del tercer álbum, no muy diferentes del resultado final editado (por lo tanto, de interés para coleccionistas). De todas formas, dado que estas dos grabaciones han sido editadas hace un par de años por Pseudonym en un doble compacto, la escucha de por lo menos el disco en directo seguro que vale la pena.
En fin, una banda a descubrir, de verdad.
Un saludo a todos!

Javi Herrera

Los amantes del rock sinfónico no se sentirán nada defraudados con éste disco, como creo que tampoco cualquier amante de la buena música. Vamos con algunos comentarios en inglés, a ver si dicen alguna otra cosa:

There were many ways for a prog rock band to end their career in the late '70s: turn to AOR, go mainstream, start writing more pop-oriented material that might not endear them to their old fans (but few wanted to latch on to the punk scene). Luckily FINCH refused to fall in to the punk/disco/AOR trap that brought down many prog bands at that time. No longer recording for Negrum, FINCH was now recording for Ariola (actually a division called Bubble Records), with two new guys. With keyboardist Cleem Determeijer and drummer Beer Klaase out of the picture, the band brought in Ad Wammes for keyboards and Hans Bosboom for drums.
Here the band was going for a more conventional prog rock direction, mostly avoiding jams, as demonstrated on "Unspoken is the Word" and "Remembering the Future". "With Love as the Motive" starts off a bit experimental before going on to some great guitar riffs, before ending up in that dreaded "Beyond the Bizarre" (from "Beyond Expression") territory by being rather cheesy. The final cut, "Reconciling" totally blew me away! Without a doubt, the band harking back to the best moments of "Glory of the Inner Force", with some intense passages. This is where the band really gets jamming, something they hadn't really done on the rest of the album. Musically, there's no getting around the fact that this is 1977 (that is, the 1977 for those who refused to acknowledge punk rock existed), as the string synths are quite dominant here, with that spacy feel on some of the cuts. Good album, but nothing beats "Glory of the Inner Force".

Ben Miler

Another great album by Finch, who luckily didn't hang around long enough (ie. into the '80s) to record a bad album. 'Galleons Of Passion' is often considered the weaker of their 3 albums, and while it's definitely got its softer, less spastic moments, it's still a wonderful listen in its own right. And still totally 100% Finch.
Every now and then this album works its way into the dippy grocery-store Muzak that Camel and Focus would also occasionally get caught up in, but not often. More of the intent seems to be on creating comfortable spaces, which is in direct contrast to their previous albums. This helps make the intense moments that much more powerful. This is heard on the cosmic "Remembering The Future", and all over Side 2, which is comprised of two long tracks: "With Love As the Motive" and "Reconciling". Guitarist Joop Van Nimwegen sounds even more McLaughlin-ish when blazing over serene layers like the final moments of "Unspoken Is The Word", and it's this sort of dynamic dichotomy that makes 'Galleons Of Passion' work so well. You just have to be a lot more patient in the listening to get the rewards that their first two albums slammed at you with a more direct intensity. A warm, welcoming excursion, this offers the widest array of dynamics of any Finch album (much credit for the vastness goes to keyboardist Ad Wammes). It's not their best album (I still can't decide between the first two), but it remains killer stuff, recommended to fans of Camel and Focus, as well as the more fusion-oriented Colosseum II and National Health.

Jeff Wagner

The conventional wisdom is that the first two Finch albums are the ones to get but I'll also go to bat for their 3rd, "Galleons of Passion." I am easily able to slide into the less frantic atmosphere and just enjoy the feast at hand. And there is some tasty stuff here.
This is 70s instrumental spacy rock with the expressive lead guitar of Joop Van Nimwegen as the centerpiece. I really love the sound he gets, really greasy and saturated. There's a photo in the booklet of him playing a Les and I wouldn't be surprised by that as the sound is great.
All of the tracks are decent although I think the last one "Reconciling" is probably the most realized with it's soaring leads and upbeat tempos pushing things along. But mostly the pace here is a bit slower and more reflective though to my ears still fresh and interesting. If I can impart anything on the listener I would only say to approach Galleons completely open and without comparing to the classic earlier releases. After a few spins you may well find this is still Finch and still pretty darn good if a bit more refined. With a bit more 3 star material than 4 star material within, I'll go 3.5 overall but round down. But a keeper for me and should be enjoyable for anyone who loves long 70s prog jams.

Jim

The third (and last) album of Dutch Symphonic/fusion progressive rock band Finch is a debatable one. A change in direction made the band loose some of it's attractive elements.
Now, first of all. Finch is still a band with the best of musicians. Peter Vink on bass is definitely one of the best bass-players of the scene with his fast riffs/solo's and solid playing. Guitar- player Joop van Nimwegen is almost as good as Jan Akkerman (who referred to him as one of Holland's most talented guitar-players). The keys and drums are steady, but mainly the keys are a bit more laid-back on this third album.
The compositions are less chaotic, less fast and there are less musical ideas thrown into the mix. All tracks are still instrumental and all still have meaningless titles, as did all their other tracks. The band has as slight focus on the modern fusion sound, with lot's of slow chord progressions and a modern synth sound. The band impresses with sounding very professional. The compositions are not fully original, some of the harmonic structures and melodies remind a bit too much of their older works. Taken this in account, I like really like all the tracks and their are many great balanced bombastic and atmospheric moments, great solo's and some tracks have strong development. The atmospheres often travel between dark symphonic , relaxing fusion en exciting classical influenced symphonic hard rock. The overall result is a relaxing, yet exciting symphonic/fusion record.
The recording/sound of this album is just perfect. All instruments sound full and the overall mix is good. The warmth of the record fills the room nicely.
Conclusion. I can understand a lot of people would rather have had a more progressive record with more 'muchness' in the composition, but I actually think this is a great achievement for the band. All are great musicians, all have great moments and the record is actually quite relaxing, whilst still being impressive enough to listen to it whilst sitting in my executive chair. Three and a halve stars, rounded up (mainly because of the great recording).

Friso

On their third album Finch lurched over to a much more traditionally symphonic direction - lineup changes meant they had to replace their drummer and keyboardist, and the near total absence of the Mahavishnu Orchestra-influenced sections that set apart their first two albums suggest to me that perhaps the new lads weren't so down with the fusion sound as their predecessors were. Still, it's not bad symphonic, and the band were unfailingly forward-looking, occasionally to a surprising extent - the fast-paced section towards the end of Remembering the Future reminds me of the sort of sonic territory Talking Heads would eventually explore on Remain In Light. Not their best - that remains their debut, Glory of the Inner Force - but as decent a swan song as could be expected under the circumstances and it just about keeps up the decent-but-not-exceptional standard that Finch had maintained across their career.

W. Arthur

3.5/5 stars really. This album is still very good in my opinion. The first two are slightly better, but this still is excellent instrumental prog. If you are looking to try Finch for the first time, do not start with this album. But, if you enjoyed the first two as much as I did, then you will definitely want to acquire this one as well. This one is similar to the second album, which means that is slower moving in general than the debut. Having trouble deciding on the final rating!

Doug L.

Well intended effort and an improvement on their first, rather hectic album.
Unfortunately, this work is still lacking direction - and as such - it fails to impress. To their credit, they applied some restraint here, but that is just not sufficient to elevate this work beyond noting the lack of irritation associated with their debut release.
My criteria is relatively simple. Would I listen to an album again? I'd have to say no to this one. Not whilst hundreds of potentially promising albums are sitting on my shelves, awaiting for the first spin. "Galleons" is not bad, it's just not quite good enough, either. There is enormous material available even from those early years of Prog, yet to be examined - and in some cases, absorbed - thanks to numerous releases from the vaults in recent times.
With that in mind, I couldn't possibly rate this work as essential. Life is just not long enough to fill with other, but the very best.

Bora

Missed this band completely when I was a teenager. Most of us (we cloggies) would listen to FOCUS, KAYAK or ALQUIN. Maybe because FINCH is fusion they were not so popular back then. However, plenty of time to start give them the credit they deserve. After having listened to FINCH on the WEB I wanted to buy their CD. Guess what, can get them. So, the only stuff I got is an mp3 RIP of Galleons of Passion. This album is regarded as the lesser of the 3. However, listening to this music is a thrill. Joop (the guitar player) is awesome. The music is suprisingly actual. Now I am desperately trying to get the other two albums in order to give an expected 5 start ranking. For this album I donate 4 1/2 / 5 stars. A tribute to the FINCH.

Kees Noordsij

In fact this is the most complete and most symphonic album by Dutch band Finch from the Hague. Unfortunately there had been this dramatic turn of the tide in which Punk rock flushed away all good music without having been carefully listened to. This appeared to be fatal for a quality band like Finch and "The Galleons Of Passion" sadly sunk away in an ocean of musical oblivion. True progfans however should certainly check out this album, because it shows Finch at their best. The keyboard sounds chosen by Ad Wammes have a fuller and richer sound, so much adored by progrock lovers and what should I say: the guitar playing by Joop van Nimwegen is simply superb. For those who need seduction by the famous Rickenbacker stereo bass sound, won't get disappointed by the solid bass playing of Dutch grand old man of rock Peter Vink. As always with Finch, the album is completely instrumental. This time the cross-over influences of jazz-rock/Canterbury are less. This is an accessable very harmonic sounding album, that can easily compete with the best Camel or Focus. The themes are all more outspoken than on their previous two albums and I should almost call this one a neglected masterpiece. Somehow all went wrong with this album. When it was released it was bon ton to put it away as rubbish. Later critics would endlessly repeat these judgements without really listening, which is a pity because there is so much to enjoy on Galleons of Passion and so many proglovers will be scared off by these unjustified negative words. This is my favorite Finch album and I think it will please many symphonic proglovers, so I think 5/5 stars are well deserved.

Erik de Beer

Otro gran disco recomendadísimo del blog cabezón! no se pierdan esta belleza. Y agradezcan al Mago Alberto! Escúchenlo y después me cuentan.