CELESTE [AKA: PRINCIPE DI UN GIORNO]

"Celeste" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by Italian progressive rock act Celeste. The album was released through Grog Records in 1976. The material featured on the album was however already recorded in 1974. To some the album is known under the title "Principe di un Giorno", but that title wasn´t applied to the album until the 2009 AMS label reissue of the album. Celeste was founded in 1972, but some of the members had been active in the late 60s/early 70s in a band called Il Sistema along with future members of Museo Rosenbach, so they weren´t completely new to performing or recording. This debut album was their only official release before they disbanded in 1977, although some of their material (not featured on this album), was used on a contemporary soundtrack album ("I suoni in una sfera" from 1974, which may or may not exist depending on the source), and on a couple of various artists compilations released by Magma records in 1976 ("Musica Del Mare" and "Sensazioni D'Estate"). Most of the material from those recordings were released as Celeste´s third full-length studio album "I Suoni In Una Sfera" from 1992.

Stylistically the material on this self-titled debut album are sophisticated, mellow, and beautiful symphonic progressive rock. It´s incredibly tasteful and features a pleasant tranquill sound, which is both progressive in nature and at times also leans on folk/medieval elements (I hear elements from classical music and church music here too). Flute, saxophone, piano, acoustic guitars, subdued clean singing (in Italian), and epic mellotron moments wash over the listener in waves of velvet beaty. The use of Drums and percussion and bass are very restrained, but there are some moments on the album, which are a little louder and rhythmic in nature. They aren´t many though and this is overall a very mellow, ambient, and pleasant sounding release. There´s drama here, but it´s in the details and Celeste have carefully composed those moments to work as climaxes and in some instances surprising adventurous moments to spice up the compositions.

The album features a detailed, organic, and pleasant sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. It´s an incredibly well sounding release, which is smooth on the ears and stress relieving on the mind. The word tasteful comes to mind at all times during listening to the album. The subdued musical performances, the organic sounding production, and the clever and intriguing songwriting. They are all high class feautures, which combined means that this is an excellent progressive rock album in the more mellow end of the spectrum (I´d mention Canadian contemporaries Harmonium as a valid reference). A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.