Praised for the artfully staged symphonic concept album The Tide Turns (which arrived a decade afterward), the debut by Brazil's Blezqi Zatsaz is less subtle and slightly more traditional — and packs more of a punch. Save for a Minimoog and ARP Odyssey, keyboardist and leader Fabio Ribeiro's rig is a digital one. While Ribeiro does commit a few synth-sound-misdemeanors, lambast not: his patch choices should calm any wariness towards low-rent presets (one can even expect a little real-time "fiddling). But yes, the digi-rig — starring Casio, Kawai, Korg, Roland and Yamaha — more than sufficiently dates the clumsily-titled The Rise And Fall Of Passional Sanity to 1990. Lest Ribeiro be written off as a poor man's Wakeman, Sanity is a rather engaging work, well-stocked with chromatic licks, plucky ostinatos and monophonic leads — the '70s-influenced prog rocker's m.o., after all. Yet Ribeiro is crafty enough to keep his compositions from becoming lodged in a quagmire of shameless pastiches. And lest anybody think this is a one-man affair with bottled bass, canned drums, and another cryptic pseudonym, the band is rounded out by guitarist Luiz Sacoman, drummer Chico Mocinho, and bassist Ronaldo Lobo (none of whom appeared on the future release).
The five-part mini-epic "Heart And Soul" is an emotive canvas of rock and classical, with some nicely subdued "wailing" courtesy of Sacoman. Lobo even sneaks in a velvety fretless bass solo. However, Ribeiro does dirty his digits with that dreaded claps sample that most synthesists in the '80s found hard to resist. A beautiful orchestral theme that is complemented by an expressive guitar solo, "Friday Twilight" is reminiscent of Wakeman's 2000 A.D. with its sequenced percussion and faux-analog solo. The addition of synthsax towards the end in turn suggests Tangerine Dream circa Melrose (which appeared the same year, coincidentally). Bluegrass, fusion and Claudio Simonetti-styled "scarychords" are distilled into a dynamic anthem called "The Wrath." The aptly-titled "The Rising" comes off like a sonic curriculum vitae with Ribeiro pulling out all the stops: multiple breakneck Minimoog solos and thematic shifts galore, capped off with pipe organ and harpsichord bits (so yes, that's a bit Wakeman-esque!).
More straightforward and less contrived than its successor, The Rise And Fall Of Passional Sanity is a minor (and very overlooked) prog-keys classic! It may be the end of the decade before another Blezqi Zatsaz recording emerges, but hopefully it'll be another quartet (or even trio) outing. Sometimes less is more.
Tracklist:
1. Dawn
2. The Last Wisdom
3. Mind
4. Heart and Soul
– i) First Impression
– ii) Dreammare
– iii) Awake By The Awe
– iv) No Sting Of Conscience
– v) Dreammare Reprise
5. Shine
6. In a Flash
7. Friday Twilight
8. Haunted recollections
9. The Wrath
– i) Presence
– ii) The Steal
10. Void, The Partner
11. The Rising
– i) The Pseudo Cure
– ii) End Of The Troubled Season?
12. Snowman
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