NUOVA ERA

Nuova Era actually disbanded after the departure of Claudio Guerini, which owned also the band's rehearsal studio.Enrico Giordani soon followed and parted ways due to health problems, while Pini tried to keep the team together with new members, finding a new studio and writing material for a new concept album.The only sessions documented by this line-up though was only a couple of old remakings and by the end of the 90's Nuova Era were history.Much later Pini revived the name of the band and recorded some songs for the Dante trilogy albums by Musea, helped by Davide Guidoni (Daal, Gallant Farm, The Far Side, Taproban) on drums and Guglielmo Mariotti (The Watch, Taproban) on bass/guitars.Alessandro Papotto on sax and Salvo Lazzara on guitar were also among the participants.In 2010, after 15 years of silence, a document of Nuova Era's recent and past years was released on BTF.

This is more of a presentation of this release than a review, as none of the tracks included is new, original material.The first three are all coming from the Dante's compilations and, for those who haven't heard the albums, but are still in love with Nuova Era's old sound, these are far from dissapointing.They work actually as a revisit to the classic style of the band with heavy use of keyboards, Classical influences, E.L.P.-like virtuosic orgasms and symphonic orchestrations, filled with organ, Mellotron and synthesizers.Maybe ''Lasciate ogni speranza...voi ch'entrate'' is a bit of a surprise with Papotto's fiery sax adding some sort of VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR view in the soundscapes, but the bulk of these nice pieces are grounded in the classic keyboard-driven bands of the past like LE ORME, IL BALLETO DI BRONZO and LATTE E MIELE, containing dark passages, technical keyboard exhibitions, bombastic textures and more romantic moments.Definitely along the lines of old Nuova Era.The next three pieces are remakings, demo or alternate versions of three Nuova Era classics, ''Dopo l'infinito'', ''Io e il tempo'' and ''L'ultimo viaggio'', more details in the booklet, the music is typical of the band's style with a keyboard manifest surrounded by a solid rhythm section and a nice singer, swirling around neurotic solos, synth layers and the vintage echoes of analog keyboards.Three remaing pieces are all well-known tracks but coming in live cuts from 1987, just before the band released its debut album, and shows a young group with endless energy and great execution of Italian keyboard-drenched Symphonic Rock, the sound quality is questionable, typical of an amateur recording, but the material is rewarding, well-executed and energetic.

With Walter Pini having rejoined forces with Alex Caimati it appears that Nuova Era were coming back in the prog scene around 2011, but with no further news I am afraid this attempt also faded.By 2014 Pini was working with new members, but a new album is yet to be desired.

Nice compilation for starvers of Nuova Era, lovers of the Italian sound and fans of keyboard Prog with a vintage perfume.Not comparable to what we all hoped for, and that was a brand new album, but all aforementioned fans could approach this without second thoughts.Recommended.