IL FANTASTICO VIAGGIO DEL "BAGAROZZO" MARK

In 1978 the reduced four-piece Goblin line-up recorded another album for Cinevox, but this was one of the rare cases this had nothing to do with a film.It was a regular Prog effort under the title ''Il fantastico viaggio del bagarozzo Mark''.Strange concept and front cover, as this had to do with a flying bug.

Musically I think this was the strongest work by the band throughout the 70's.Propably because they had added a full lyrical content in this work and the music had no particular specifications for an upcoming film, thus ''Il fantastico viaggio del bagarozzo Mark'' offered the very best balance the legendary band could achieve.The music displayed comes as a nice example of Prog's transitional period from the 70's to a new era, featuring a more pronounced synth performance and less emphasis on organ.You even get the feel of an Italian pre-Neo/Symph atmosphere during the listening, later to be met in the works of HOPO, GUERCIA or even SITHONIA towards the end of the 80's.It's the most symphonic album ever produced by the band, based on the Classic Italian Prog principles, which were the expressive or even theatrical vocals, the dramatic and romantic textures and the impressive, symph-oriented arrangements, even if none of the tracks exceeded the 6-min. mark.The sound is driven by Simonetti's varied keyboard work, characterized by the Classical background, the grandiose orchestral material and the soaring synths with Morante filling the gaps with his lovely electric and acoustic moves.Morante was also responsible for the neurotic vocal lines of the album, which was actually the only element crossed with the previous, more dark sound of the band.As expected, the album contains also some great melodic themes and even some electronic beats in the process, resulting a beautiful music document of the era.

The next few years were rather inconsistent for the group with line-up changes and more conventional works, always linked with Italian movies.They fell in hiatus around early-80's to reform in 2000 with old member Maurizio Guarini retaking the keyboard lead from Simonetti.In 2009 they were split in two bands, New Goblin (with the comeback of Simmonetti) and Goblin World.Another side project appeared in 2013, named Simonetti's Goblin, these attempts only hurt the band's long and succesful story in my opinion.

Anyway, if you're stuck in the 70's ''Il fantastico viaggio del bagarozzo Mark'' is among the best Italian Prog Rock documents and a must-have for all fans oif keyboard Prog.Very nice and clever transition from the vintage stylings to more modern sounds, keeping an impressive composing quality.Highly recommended.