El Reloj -

El Reloj was an Argentine symphonic/hard-rock band that made two self-titled albums in 1975/76 on RCA Vik. Further albums appeared at widened intervals over the next three decades.

Members: Willy Gardi (lead guitar), Osvaldo Zabala (guitar), Juan Esposito (drums, vocals), Eduardo Frezza (bass, lead vocals), Luis Valenti (keyboard, vocals), Jorge Gomez (bass), Jorge Martinez (lead vocals, guitar)

Background

El Reloj formed in Buenos Aires at the start of the 1970s when bassist-vocalist Eduardo Frezza and guitarist Willy Gardi, both emerging from local beat and hard-rock groups, set out to assemble a heavier, tightly synchronized ensemble shaped by British amplification and organ-driven textures. Their earlier collaborations in bands such as Lágrimas and related circuit projects created the core partnership, while drummer Juan “Locomotora” Espósito—an early Argentine adopter of double-bass technique—and keyboardist Luis Valenti arrived from the beat group Formación 2000, establishing the rhythmic and harmonic framework that defined the group’s direction. The name El Reloj reflected the precise ensemble timing heard in rehearsal and performance.

Early concerts across western Buenos Aires in 1971–72 built a strong audience through word of mouth, even as lineup instability followed the death of guitarist Gregorio Felipes and subsequent personnel changes that ultimately brought Osvaldo Zabala in as permanent second guitarist. Intensive live activity, large venue turnouts, and a powerful distorted stage sound drew label attention, leading producer Leo Rivas to secure a contract with RCA Victor despite uncertainty within the company about the band’s sonic aims.

El Reloj made their vinyl debut with “El mandato” backed with ” Vuelve el día a Reinar,” released in late 1973 on RCA Vik.

A. “El Mandato” [The Mandate] (3:03)
B. “Vuelve el día a reinar” [The Day Returns to Reign] (4:02)

El Reloj

El Reloj released their self-titled debut album in October 1975 on RCA Vik.

Guitarists Fernando “Willy” Gardi and Osvaldo Zabala frame the front line, with Luis Valenti’s keyboards running alongside the guitar parts; Eduardo Frezza and Juan “Locomotora” Espósito anchor the low end and pulse, while the lineup also includes shared vocal roles, plus Espósito on congas and additional percussion. “Obertura / El Viejo Serafín” opens as a single extended piece, while the remaining program balances mid-length songs with two longer, side-two tracks that hold the album’s broadest spans.

El Reloj opens by staging tension before weight: “Obertura / El Viejo Serafín” starts on sparse, eerie piano, then folds in watery sound effects and muffled screams; at roughly two minutes it snaps into a hard surge, cycling abrupt riff entries, bassline-led pivots, and irregular time-feel tradeoffs before the Spanish vocal arrives with a heated, almost theatrical push, and the close pares back to bass-and-guitar exchanges. The shorter songs keep that same start/launch pattern with different emphases—“Más Fuerte que el Hombre” leans on extended instrumental passages, while “Hijo del Sol y la Tierra” rides steadier vocal focus, a distinctive warble in the phrasing, then stretches into sustained, ripping guitar drive from around the three-minute mark to the finish.

Side B pivots toward keys-first staging: “Alguien Más en Quién Confiar” opens with organ, then builds into full-band density after about a minute and stays guitar-forward through the body, while “Blues del Atardecer” slows the pacing, keeping organ and voice in front as the arrangement shifts through multiple tempo changes, breaks for a drum solo before five minutes, and still spikes with short, forceful eruptions. “Haciendo Blues y Jazz” closes at an uptempo clip, propelled by a walking bass run, blues-bent guitar acrobatics, and atmospheric keyboards, with the vocal again taking on that warbling contour as the band drives to an emphatic finish.

“Willy” Gardi wrote the album’s core material, with Frezza co-credited on two tracks; “Blues del Atardecer” and “Haciendo Blues y Jazz” carry the shared authorship. “Hijo del Sol y la Tierra” used lyrics written by Mary Gardi. “Alguien Más en Quién Confiar” existed as a song Gardi had written for Valenti after a series of disagreements.

A1. “Obertura / El Viejo Serafín” [Overture / The Old Serafín] (8:22) – Gardi
A2. “Más Fuerte que el Hombre” [Stronger Than Man] (3:10) – Gardi
A3. “Hijo del Sol y la Tierra” [Son of the Sun and the Earth] (5:56) – Gardi

B1. “Alguien Más en Quién Confiar” [Someone Else to Trust In] (5:25) – Gardi
B2. “Blues del Atardecer” [Sunset Blues] (8:55) – Gardi, Frezza
B3. “Haciendo Blues y Jazz” [Making Blues and Jazz] (4:12) – Gardi, Frezza

The album was recorded at Estudios RCA in Buenos Aires between May and June 1975, with the band credited as producer. CD editions included the single “El Mandato / Vuelve el Día a Reinar” as bonus tracks. Commentary from the period also noted dissatisfaction with the recorded sound from both listeners and the group, tied to limitations in instruments and equipment during the sessions and to the studio support available to them at the time.

The cover illustration was made by Juan “Locomotora” Espósito. An earlier idea to use Salvador Dalí’s La persistencia de la memoria did not proceed, and RCA requested an alternate sleeve at the last moment; Espósito produced a drawing overnight, which the company then altered for the issued cover by compressing it into a smaller framed area and adding the album lettering.

El Reloj

El Reloj released their eponymous second album in December 1976 on RCA Vik.

The album sharpens the band’s hard rock foundation with stronger progressive leanings, marked by extended instrumental passages and improved sonic clarity. Guitarist Willy Gardi leads with fiery lines and violin accents that trade off and entwine with keyboardist Luis Valenti’s organ and piano textures in dynamic exchanges, while guitarists Osvaldo Zabala and Carlos Mira layer rhythmic support and additional leads. The rhythm section of bassist Eduardo Frezza and drummer Juan “Locomotora” Espósito forms a solid anchor, driving the material with forceful backbeats and precise shifts that propel the ensemble forward.

El Reloj II moves faster and hits harder as tracks shift underfoot, with stop-start vocal entries, sudden weight drops, and quick resets in intensity. “Al borde del abismo” launches at a sprint, brings the vocal in before the first minute, then breaks its forward thrust about two minutes in for a quieter settle-and-build arc before it surges again. “Tema triste” centers a darker, heavy pulse, then opens into a calm vocal-led passage before three minutes that softens the surface without draining the track’s underlying force. The long-form centerpiece “La ciudad desconocida” spends its opening minutes in suspended space—violin enters early as the organ floats in—then flips at roughly 2:30 into intricate guitar-and-drum activity, brings the vocal in about a minute later, turns heavy, and accelerates again around 7:30 as the organ returns to reinforce the final stretch.

Side B keeps the sequencing tight: “Aquel triángulo” starts with a heavy jab, folds organ into the frame, and pushes toward a more aggressive vocal entry around two minutes; “Harto y confundido” introduces the vocal quickly, throws guitar to the front after two minutes, then settles late as the vocal returns; “Tema de todas las épocas” strips down to acoustic guitar throughout; “Aquella dulce victoria” drops into strummed guitar before 1:30, then reintroduces electric bite; and “Egolatría” closes at an uptempo clip, with nasty guitar tone up front before organ and drums seize the lead after about 2:30.

A1. “Al borde del abismo” [On the Edge of the Abyss] (3:09) – Gardi
A2. “Tema triste” [Sad Theme] (4:42)
A3. “La ciudad desconocida” [The Unknown City] (10:34)

B1. “Aquel triángulo” [That Triangle] (3:03)
B2. “Harto y confundido” [Fed Up and Confused] (4:09)
B3. “Tema de todas las épocas” [Theme of All Times] (1:08)
B4. “Aquella dulce victoria” [That Sweet Victory] (3:14)
B5. “Egolatría” [Egotry] (7:26)

El Reloj recorded the album during 1976 with the band producing the sessions themselves. Horacio Fontova created the cover illustration and overall artwork as a young member of the Expreso Imaginario magazine staff. They preceded El Roloj II with the single “El hombre y el Perro” backed with “Camino al Estucofen,” both standalone tracks affixed the album’s CD reissue.

A. “El Hombre y el Perro” [The Man and the Dog] (3:18)
B. “Camino al Estucofen” [Road to Estucofen] (3:10)

Breakup and Reunion

El Reloj split in early 1977, soon after their second album. Willy Gardi formed Expreso Zambomba, a shor-lived jazz-rock outfit. After five years, he assembled a new El Reloj

The 1983 album “La Esencia es la Misma” emerged from a brief revival spearheaded by founding guitarist Willy Gardi, who reassembled El Reloj with an entirely new lineup after the band’s with singer Pety Guelache, guitarist Daniel Telis, keyboardist Cristian Hubert, bassist Daniel Carli, and drummer Norberto Di Bella

La Esencia es la Misma

El Reloj released their third album, La Esencia es la Misma, in 1983 on Interdisc.

The album revives the band’s hard rock core with progressive undercurrents, featuring prominent guitar interplay and added keyboard layers in a more streamlined ensemble sound. Guitarist Willy Gardi drives the arrangements with electric and Spanish guitar lines that intertwine and alternate with guitarist Daniel Telis’s complementary leads, while keyboardist Cristian Hubert adds electric piano and synthesizer textures that fill harmonic spaces. The rhythm section of bassist Daniel Carli and drummer Norberto Di Bella underpins the material with a firm backbeat and steady propulsion that supports the front-line exchanges.

A1. “La esencia es la misma” [The Essence Is the Same] (5:28) – Guelache / Gardi
A2. “Un extraño dolor” [A Strange Pain] (3:05) – Gardi
A3. “Cada instante… cada cosa” [Every Instant… Every Thing] (5:05) – Gardi
A4. “Libertad umbilical” [Umbilical Freedom] (3:02) – Gardi

B1. “Fábulas del hombre y el ratón” [Fables of the Man and the Mouse] (4:12) – Gardi
B2. “Sublimación a la vida (Instrumental)” [Sublimation to Life (Instrumental)] (5:01) – Gardi
B3. “La razón de existir” [The Reason to Exist] (5:29) – Telis

Mario Breuer recorded and mixed the album, which Willy Gardi and Norberto Di Bella produced. Interdisc issued the work during the band’s six-year hiatus from recording, marking a lineup shift that brought in vocalist Pety Guelache alongside the new instrumentalists.

Later Activity

By late 1983, El Reloj again went their separate ways. Willy Gardi attempted a further reformation in 1989 with Luis Valenti, Juan “Locomotora” Espósito, Alberto Ceriotti on bass, Gustavo Mirande on vocals, and Claudio Marciello on guitar, but scattered club dates yielded little momentum before the project folded.

The classic lineup reconvened in 1993 after a chance meeting between Carlos Mira and Eduardo Frezza, prompting Gardi’s return for the 1994 disc Santos y Verdugos, followed with select shows. Frezza’s exit and Gardi’s death in a 1995 traffic accident ended the run. Surviving members carried forward through intermittent lineups, releasing Hombre de hoy (1999), Mercado de almas (2002), and the double live En Concierto (recorded 2003, issued 2011), though Valenti passed in 2004 and Espósito in 2016.

Osvaldo Zabala and Eduardo Frezza reunited in 2016 as Zabala/Frezza El Reloj, releasing the live En vivo (2018) and continuing with rotating personnel, new videos in 2022, and ongoing activity into 2024 while preparing fresh material.

Discography: