The Agony And The Ecstasy

Tempano | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 1, 2002)
• Original Release Date: September 1, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• ASIN: B00006IR6N
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #711,500 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The first Venezuelan symphonic rock group, TEMPANO has a very personal sound in which superb melodies, complex breaks and very well-written themes reinforce the originality. In this context, "Atabal-Yemal" is a real gem ! Instrumental for the most part (Sung in Spanish for the rest), this CD includes refined melodies evoking RETURN TO FOREVER or CAMEL, the unusual sounds and breaks of HAPPY THE MAN, complex writing ala KING CRIMSON and the creativity of TANTRA ; the whole is touched with a typically warm, South American color. The CD also includes three magnificent, previously unreleased pieces, re-recorded in 1998 by the 1979 lineup (Which recorded "Atabal-Yemal"). This rebirth was surprising but pleasurable, all the more so as it resulted in a new album, "Childhood's End - El Fin De La Infancia", at the end of the following year. This opus benefits from the presence of Peter PETSJIK, the cellist for the Hungarian group AFTER CRYING, and this isn't the only impressive thing about the album. The unparalleled freshness of this music, the brilliance of the arrangements and the perfect interpretation will no doubt make this a landmark album of the year 2000 !... And what to say, about "The Agony And The Ecstasy" (2002), apart that this is the best of TEMPANO filled with maturity ?!? This piece of art is magnified by splendid paintings from the Italian Renaissance, beautifully illustrating the lyrics (Now in English) printed in the booklet. Another must-have

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MONSTER RELEASE ! !, November 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Agony And The Ecstasy (Audio CD)

If any influences come to mind, which there are (which band is free of them?) I would not name
them because it would not help to accurately describe their sound at all , it includes nice melodies,
great instrumentation, great vocals, great guitars, what a bass player ! & Keyboards!
The music is remarkable and very varied it blends many stiles into a unique and distinctive sound
that gives them an edge over other contemporary bands.

This band is rooted firmly in the present and is not interested in digging up old bones.

I hope the media would stop using the term Progressive so commonly, it is becoming synonymous
with Pink Floyd and Genesis wannabes , bands that lack originality and creativity , Tempano are
NOT part of the modern prog . movement in any form they are an animal of their own and are exceptional.

Just buy it .

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it , buy it , buy it !!!!!, October 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Agony And The Ecstasy (Audio CD)

I bought this CD believing i knew what to expect (I have the other 2 ) , boy I was wrong !
The Agony and the ecstasy is a mature work that shows this band is evolving and getting better every time they release new material .
Pedro's singing is so good that I dare not to compare him with other guys because
I do not want to look as if I am exaggerating , just listen to him then you will understand.
The music is very varied throughout the CD , mostly instrumental , powerful yet delicated , dynamic , beautiful , spacey , strong , classical , progressive !!
This is a masterpiece and if you do not think my review gives you a clear idea , then
go visit their site tempano.com, and listen to the samples of this new piece of art, it does not get any better than this.
Welcome back guys , please keep on !

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Venezuelan Oil, February 9, 2007

By 

Mr D. "Artist/Designer/Kibitzer" (Cave Creek, Az United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Agony And The Ecstasy (Audio CD)

Even with the advent of the enigmatic Hugo Chavez, not everything coming out of Venezuela is bad. At least on this one occasion, some very interesting progressive rock music is emanating from the formerly friendly confines of Venezuela

There's a reason that Tempano's, Agony and the Ecstasy, has tended to garner solid five star reviews. It is a solid five star album.

I bought The Agony and the Ecstasy on a lark. I had never heard a note by Tempano but the reviews sounded good, so I put them on my wish list, where it must have sat for a good year or so. It finally made it from my wish list to my cart, when after the last Xmas I received a large gift certificate from my daughter. When placing my order, I ran out of items I wanted but I didn't want to leave a credit balance.

When I received The Agony and the Ecstasy I played it on my computer while I was doing some typing upon it. I didn't expect much, but it didn't take long before I was paying more attention to Tempano's music then my typing. Within an hour I had pulled up Tempano on Amazon and ordered their other two available releases.

What kind of music does Tempano play? Though, they are from Venezuela, there seems to be very little Latin influences. I noticed a little in only one song, Il Duomo and it is fabulous. The Agony and the Ecstasy contains fifteen highly varied songs running from 56 seconds to ten minutes. Overall the album is sixty-five plus minutes. There are some vocals but the album is more instrumental. The songs range from symphonic prog rock, to movie score sounding contemporary music, to something just short of jazz, while the tempos run the gamut from easy going to medium fast, yet everything they play is smooth ... smooth as Venezuelan Oil.