Disc 1: Azteca Imperial (8:49), Signs Of Love (11:03), Suenos Collectivos (10:02), Jupiter (7:49), Cruces En El Mar (3:32), Hay Un Lugar (7:15), Princesa Celestial (3:55), Flaupepe (0:18)

Disc 2: Zona De Ilusiones (13:05), Niños De Cristal (5:18), Niños De Cristal II (4:23), Cuerda Floja (8:23), Flapepo (3:00), Adapted For Your Eyes (5:48), Nueva Luz (8:39), Ara Imp (1:13)

Amazingly Mosaïque is the nineteenth Cast album to be released since 1994, although admittedly the total does include live albums and collections of songs written and recorded in the first 16 years of their existence before they hit on the novel idea of actually selling their music! This latest album is a mixture of previously unreleased older material mixed in with the latest compositions by this interesting and varied musical collective. Never having been troubled by a constant line-up, keyboard player and main composer Alfonso Vidales remains the only musician to have been involved throughout the 28-year history of the band with an ever increasing number of other players coming and going over that period (there is an interesting and informative graphic demonstrating the flexible nature of the band on the group's homepage. For the record the five other current members of Cast are Pepe Torres (flute, saxophone, clarinet), Kiko King (drums and percussion), Flavio Miranda (bass), Lupita Acuña (vocals and backing vocals) and newest member Claudio Cordero (guitar).

I have always found Cast to one of those bands where the mood of the listener plays a big part in the perception of the music. Wrong mood and things appear awkward, right mood and everything flows beautifully. However, with Mosaïque, things seemed to gel from the start. The healthy and diverse mixture spread over 100+ minutes of music provides the listener with everything from brief solo instrumentals to extended progressive workouts. The first four tracks on Disc One are firmly in the latter vein. Azteca Imperial opens proceedings with a tribal drumbeat soon eclipsed by the band in full flight dishing out a very impressive and dramatic instrumental piece with keyboards and guitar prominent throughout. Signs Of Love, one of two songs sung in English, stems from 1995 and the recording sessions for the Endless Signs album while Suenos Collectivos brings us up to date with a Spanish sung song from recent times. Comparatively, these two songs demonstrate the advances the band have made. Although Signs Of Love is by no means a bad song, the more adventurous composition of the latter gives it the edge, particularly as the Annie Haslam-esque vocalisation of Lupita Acuña add a lot and the male lead vocals of Dino Brassea are more to my taste. Jupiter is a bit of an oddity, a lazy, meandering clarinet opens over what like a collection of teacups being stirred. Flute takes over from clarinet driving the melody before clarinet and saxophone drive the music through an adventurous journey of twists and turns.

Cruces En El Mar, dedicated to the victims of the December 2004 tsunami, is an emotional duet that segues neatly into the plaintive yet optimistic Hay Un Lugar with its vaguely medieval structure and recorders never sounding better. Princesa Celestial dates to 1990 and is in a much more poppier vein, so much so that it sounds like a totally different band - good song though! The brief Flaupepe is exactly as the title suggests, Pepe Torres and a flute! Side two opens strongly with instrumental Zona De Ilusiones with its delightful piano and flute introduction followed by an impressive all-round performance from the rest of the band, it would not be too far off the mark to suggest that elements of this piece bear vague resemblance to Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Niños De Cristal takes a while to get going and is marred slightly by a too predictable rhythmic structure which doesn't really take the song anywhere. Fortunately things pick up a bit on Niños De Cristal II which, although not the most adventurous of compositions, lets fly with riffs aplenty and an almost constantly soloing flute. Cuerda Floja is from "the era when Cast entered into Cool Jazz" with this piece being one of the most "representative interpretations". Jolly, jazzy and jaunty although not too heavy on the jazz to alienate those who have no time for this particular type of music.

Flapepo is another medieval-type instrumental so more recorders combined with a great organ sound - works really well as a piece and I'd love to hear something like this developed into a whole suite of related instrumentals. Second English song, Adapted To Your Eyes, follows and once again stems from circa 1994. For some reason this song reminds me of Kowtow period Pendragon. Another couple of instrumentals draw the album to a close. Nueva Luz is the most bombastic the band get on the album and will be a treat for anyone who like a whole variety of keyboards mixed together while, as at the end of Disc One, Disc two closes with a brief instrumental solo, Ara Imp, a very Arabic sounding ditty.

Overall, Mosaïque is a decent collection of songs and instrumentals that will certainly please fans of the band. For the more casual listener the mixture of music, although not exceptionally diverse, may be a bit much and one of the other eighteen Cast albums would probably serve as better introduction to the group, particularly for the more progressive rock afficiado.