AD GLORIAM

Ad Gloriam is Le Orme´s debut album. I don´t know much about Le Orme other than what the biography here in Prog Archives tells me. They are supposedly one of the 3 big Italian symphonic prog rock bands. Here on their debut from 1969 the music is more rooted in the sixties though.

Looking at the very psychadelic cover artwork, it´s easy to jump to the conclusion that this is psychadelic sixties rock and allthough there are traces of that genre here on Ad Gloriam the overall feel of the album is much more in the pop vein. The sound is very clear and the music is pleasant yet a bit too nice at times for my taste. Le Orme use organ, harpsichord and electric piano on many of the songs. Guitar, bass and drums are the main ingredients of course. There are also some folky flute playing in some songs which is a nice variation. The most exciting thing here are the vocals though. I really think they are good. I especially like the high pitched harmony ( almost Beach Boys) vocals that are in some of the songs. I have to mention that the lyrics are in Italian which really isn´t that much of a distraction to me even though I don´t understand a word.

The musicians are very competent even though there really aren´t any demanding instrumental sections in the songs.

The sound quality is very good, in fact I think this is one of the better sixties productions I have ever heard. The mix is clear sounding and everything has a good place in the soundscape.

This is a good debut album but it´s insignificant in the history of prog rock and personally I find it a bit too nice sounding. This one is mostly for the fans IMO. 2 stars from me.