VIA LATTEA

In the fall of 2012, there was an unexpected return from RPI's golden past in the guise of Pierpaolo Bibbo who, decades earlier, had released his original opus, Diapason. He hit the ground running, and Genemesi was the modern, energetic, and ultimately successful beginning to the next phase of his recording career. It was well received by the RPI fans who found it, but, in my opinion, he would only get better with time. Six years later in 2018, we got the next chapter of his return in the form of the magnificent Via Lattea, which I believe translates to the Milky Way. This time out he had a real drummer, Simone Spano, and this was a big step up from the programmed percussion of last time. Everything about Via Lattea, from the sound to the songwriting to the lyrical themes and album art, feels somehow grander. These songs shimmer.

Bibbo is a seasoned and super-talented multi-instrumentalist, and I feel the quality of his latest two albums really best his earlier two. He seems to have completely mastered the ability to produce a fully refined and ear-pleasing work that checks every box that most music fans would have. The songwriting has truly flowered into full-on musical storytelling, where you can go on a journey if you are actively listening. (While I can't understand Italian, I feel the lyrics are probably similarly weighty.) Bibbo's voice is another remarkable attribute in that it seems to have only gotten better with age. To give a brief subjective overview of the sound, this album drops some of the slightly cheesier electronic sounds of the previous albums and has less of the occasional folk vibe of the album after it. This one I feel has a spacy symphonic vibe that relates to the Milky Way theme and the album art. This album may be the one that would appeal most broadly to progressive rock fans who aren't first-and-foremost RPI fans.

Via Lattea even includes a mini-epic-length gem entitled "17 Febbraio 1943." On the heels of the raucous opener, "Dal Nuraghe Alla Via Lattea," it is a staggeringly good opening two tracks that will run you through trippy keyboard sounds that tantalize, aggressive lead guitars, and also quiet and introspective acoustic guitar parts that immediately ground you again after the interplanetary musical escapades. Very cool, bubbling bass lines pop up here and there as well. Strings and piano add elegance and breathers here and there, but this is a pretty rocking album overall. It's a great album with way-above-average production values that is perfect for kicking back with headphones, eyes closed, readied for the journey. You can find plenty of progressive rock that is edgier and more chaotically complex, but you'd be hard pressed to find modern releases with more heart than Via Lattea and Razza Umana. Both of these releases deserve SO much more attention than they have so far received. Don't miss out on them if you love majestic modern symphonic.

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