PALEPOLI

Oh what a joy it was to discover this album.. right at the very top of my favorite prog album of alltime.. not just from the Italian branch. Italian prog can be broken into several branches and this album along with Il Balletto di Bronzo's Ys have to be considered the masterpieces of the harder end of the Italian prog spectrum. Having acquired most of the albums and groups from that end. Osanna is the artist all others in the hard prog branch are compared to, and this is their masterpiece.

Palelpoli is best characterized by sudden shifts in mood and tempo... going from hard, loud, aggresssive e-guitar driven sections to soft pastoral mellotron moments. All done in a masterfull way that doesn't leave you thinking this is one big jumbled up mess. Oro Caldo takes up the first side of the album... it is available here as a streaming sample. Listen to it ... look for the great flute solo after that hair raising mellotron section which then goes into a cool bluesy part... yes.. it may sound like a mess but it really works and I bet you'll get hooked. After a reprise of Oro Caldo in the form of Stanza Citta we go to what I think is the best one of the two epics. Animale Senza Resprio is anchored by a smashing guitar and saxophone riff, that is revisited at times. The vocals are strong and powerful, and I believe this track is distinguished by the drumming which is powerful and drives the aggressive hard sections of the song and the saxophone was has a great solo and well as flavoring the main theme. The accoustic guitar section is a great respite from all the aggression with great singing as well by Varietti. Great stuff. don't want to give too much away and I want to keep it short and not fawn too much over it. As good as Oro Caldo is... Animale Senza Respiro will knock your socks off.

5 stars for me and for the forum... should be included in your first batch or two of Italian albums as you explore the genre. A masterpiece of prog.... and I can't recommend this album strongly enough.

Michael (aka micky)