CUMA 2016 DC

In 2013, more than forty years after the release of Il Balletto di Bronzo's debut album "Sirio 2222" two members of the original line up met again and started to work on a new project, just for the pleasure of playing music and develop new ideas, under the name Il Balletto di Bronzo di Lino Ajello & Marco Cecioni to differentiate it from the new incarnation of the band led by Gianni Leone and focused on Ys' heritage and Gianni Leone's solo works. Anyway, for this new project the aim of the musicians was not to play prog but songs in the hippie, psychedelic vein of "Sirio 2222" although with an updated sound and taste...

The new album was released in 2016 on the independent label Suoni dal Sud - No Music No Life. It's entitled "Cuma 2016 DC" and for the recording sessions Marco Cecioni (vocals, guitar) and Lino Ajello (lead guitar) gathered around them younger musicians and old friends such as Alessandro Stellano (bass, guitar, vocals), Francesco Del Prete (drums), Alfonso Mocerino (drums), Alessandro Crescenzo (keyboards), Adriana Salomone (backing vocals), Gianni Leone (vocals, keyboards) and Tony Guido (keyboards).

The art cover and the drawings in the booklet by Marco Cecioni try to reflect the content of the album, a good mix of art pop and psychedelia, hard rock and melody. The track list unfold without fillers, the songwriting is good, some pieces are powerful and straightforward (like "Bivio acido") some others more leaning to Italian canzone d'autore where artists such as Max Gazzé (in "Una meta" or "Figlio dei fiori") or Zucchero (in "Big Mama") could come to mind. I particularly enjoyed "Ordine disordine" that mixes hard rock and Mediterranean flavours, the dreamy "Pirati" and the new version of "Neve calda" from Sirio 2222... Also interesting "Vorrei essere un Deejay (Eivissa)", a reflection about the new dancing habits of the youth and their sense of freedom. But, of course, if you are looking for another Ys I fear you will be highly disappointed.

On the whole, a good album but far from essential in a prog collection. Recommended only to fans and collectors!