RICORDI D'INFANZIA

The music is Italian flavored British hard prog. Other reviewers have mentioned Atomic Rooster, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple-these are all good reference points as they sound heavily influenced by bands of their era when they were the even more obscure Gli Aspidi in 1970. They do retain a distinctive Italian approach that seems perhaps more calculated by the label than a genuine passion for the new full prog music sweeping Italy in 1973. (it was common for Italian labels to have late 60's musicians play under pseudonyms and throw the same guys with varying fake names into a few different bands to see what generated interest).

Side one is more pedestrian and the better stuff resides on side two. Highlights for Italian prog fans would be 2000 Anni Dopo on side 2, a jarring blend of staccato VDGG riffing with Museo Rosenbach complexities. Following song Uomo Mangia Uomo continues the VDGG vibe Not all that briliant or original, but for these two songs alone, any RPI fan should check in.

Rather spartan in the Italian vinyl non gatefold reissue from 1991 by Fonit Cetra printed for Si Wan in South Korea, I wish I had the gatefold for the full experience. All versions though do suffer from spotty recording quality and sound a bit muffled.

Three stars

After a couple of short but very atmospheric opening narrations, Ricordi d'Infanzia deliver series of condesned but quite adventurous Heavy Rockin' tunes, basically driven by the hard guitars of Cassina, but also containing some good keyboard and piano themes by Vergani.While not very original musically, the group is also fronted by a gifted singer with a balanced voice.The overall instrumental style has strong links with MUSEO ROSENBACH's more pounding grooves with a bit of melodic Italian Prog in the vocal moments.The combination works quite nice for the most of the album's length, mixing the heavier side of rock music with the romantic melodic-styled Italian color.There are also some very good Hammond organ parts with a sinister sound akin to GLI ALLUMINOGENI, while the brief compositions sound very dense full of changing moods.

The album's release was followed by a pair of line-up changes with Gianni Bari (sax) and Ugo Biondi (keyboards) replacing Cassina and Vergani, propably followed also by a change of musical style.The group played until 1976, when Ricordi d'Infanzia disbanded for good.

Nice pearl of organ/guitar-led Italian Heavy Prog.Not a prize winner in terms of originality or composing level, but a fine listening from the start to the end.Recommended.

Very little is known about this band and this album. It was re-released some years ago though and I am glad someone did that. This is classic organ based Rock Progressivo Italiano with solid vocals. In short; a prototype Rock Progressivo Italiano album. This is also a rather heavy album where the tangents, mostly Hammond organs, are used freely on this album. Add the occasional electric guitars too and we get a pretty heavy album. Some of the songs are ballads though and in the usual Italian ballads style with a lot of soul and suffering included. These ballads and the rest of the music is though hidden under a solid layer of mud (read: Bad sound quality) which makes this album a lot heavier than intended.

The quality is very good throughout. But it is difficult to ignore the rather dubious sound throughout and that is defining the whole musical experience from this album. Hence, I find this album enjoyable, but not particular valuable. This album is another half full, half empty album.

3 stars

"Caos" is quiet with acoustic guitar until it kicks in at 2 minutes. Some spoken words in this one as well. The second track sounds like a continuation of the opener until the vocals come in. It's too bad they didn't blend the two tracks together. Some nice organ work before 2 1/2 minutes in. Like the first song this one seems incomplete. Yes you can hear the bass late. "L'Eden" is much better in my opinion. A nice heavy sound with guitar. It does calm right down with fragile vocals.The vocals get quite passionate. A very good instrumental section after 2 1/2 minutes then it settles again. "2000 Anni Prima" opens with piano before organ, drums and vocals come in. Some excellent guitar before 3 minutes but it's brief.

"Preghiera" is my favourite track on here. I really like the intro it sounds so good. Some prominant guitar in this one that comes and goes, but it's the organ sounds that do it for me. "Morire O Non Morire" opens with drums that pound steadily until vocals come in before a minute.The vocals sound pretty rough here although the organ before 2 minutes makes up for that. "2000 Anni Dopo" is a top three song for me. Vocals are the focus early with strummed guitar. Organ and drums to become prominant. "Uomo Mangia Uomo" is my third favourite. Nice intro before vocals come in. The instrumental sections are excellent. I really like the sound after 1 1/2 minutes then guitar comes in making some noise.

Not enough here for me to give up the 4 stars, but still a good listen especially for fans of the heavier Italian music.

"Caos" begins with very quiet acoustic guitar and strange noises before the band comes roaring in with a heavy almost Zeppish riff. Great organ and excellent drumming. "Creazione" features the first real vocals and they are typically wonderful Italian, warm and lots of heart. This track has a great late 60s feel to the music and a bit of that sunshine hippie vibe. Oh yeah, and you can hear the damn bass..thank God. More nice keyboard work closes the song out. "L'Eden" is quite heavy and dramatic with a mini-drum solo at the end. "2000 Anni Prima" begins with a beautiful piano part and the piano stays throughout along with occasional bursts of the rock chug and good vocal parts. Some nice saturated electric lead in there and the return of the nice piano part from the beginning to close the song. "Preghiera" is classic Italian prog a bit on the heavier side with a really chunky riff repeating and some nice licks here and there. Good jamming between guitar, bass, and keys but unfortunately like many songs here it is too short and fades before fruition. Side 2 begins with "Morire o Non Morire." A heavy plodding beat leads the way to more burning guitar rock with chunky power chords and organ. This is simply classic early 70s rock sound that is not mind blowing but is well done. "2000 Anni Dopo" begins with acoustic and melodic vocal but soon turns into the most ambitious track with lots of riffs pushing good organ runs and tight powerful drumming. Cool song. The longest song "Uomo Mangia Uomo" is the closer and this one continues the somewhat quirky nature of the previous song. Initially pretty heavy, there is a softer and spacey section with acoustic and a background guitar distorted to the hilt. This goes back to a good rock section with lots of Hammond and repeating guitar riffs. The drums continue to blast away with an aggressive style. At 32 minutes it's all over far too soon but still it's an album that deserves to be heard by the Italian prog lunatics out there, like myself.

A short but sweet chunk of good prog rock that every serious Italian fan will want to own. Like many others of the period it received no promotion and sunk into obscurity until being unearthed by the Italian prog fan renaissance years later. There's nothing exactly groundbreaking here but I can recommend this easily to any fan of heavy guitar/organ based rock. The Japanese mini is a nice gatefold with a band photo and lyrics printed inside (in Italian of course.) Not a remarkable album by any stretch, but a good and pleasant one that I like quite a bit. About 3 ½ stars but for me I have to round up. Round down if you're not big on heavy Italian.