José Cid - 10.000 Anos Depois Entre Venus e Marte (1978)

This classy concept album by Jose Cid is an excellent mostly-instrumental symphonic prog piece with a strong space rock influence in the guitar parts. Like Bo Hansson, another pop keyboardist who turned his hand to producing prog solo albums, Cid does not use the album purely as an ego trip – he knows when his (well-played) keyboards need to be at front and centre, and when he needs to step aside to let another instrumentalist take the lead. In particular, Zé Nabo’s excellent guitar contributions – reminiscent of Dave Gilmour’s work at points – enhance the album notably. Cid is also adept at using both newer synthesisers and classic prog stalwarts like the Mellotron, and shows great taste in choosing which to use when and blending the new and the old

1. O Último Dia na Terra (The Last Day on Earth)
2. O Caos (The Chaos)
3. Fuga Para o Espaço (Escape To Space)
4. Mellotron o Planeta Fantástico (Mellotron the Fantastic Planet)
5. 10.000 Anos Depois Entre Vénus e Marte (10,000 Years After, Between Venus and Mars)
6. A Partir do Zero (From Zero)
7. Memos (Memos)
8. Vida - Sons Do Quotidiano (Life - Sounds Of Everyday)