The Italian Prog Appreciation den

Review by Todd
Special Collaborator Rock Progressivo Italiano!

A fabulous adventure! This album definitely falls in the category of adventurous RPI -- Semiramis, Balletto di Bronzo, Osanna, Cervello, and most particularly for OM Rocky's Filj. Officina Mecchanica is a varied, wild experience, one that takes you from pastoral scenes to the harder edge of RPI, often in a very short time and within the same song. There is a definite theatric emphasis, particulary in the vocals, as discussed in the wonderful bio written by Jim Russell. The music relies on a very tight, excellent rhythm section to propel the pieces along, particular during the standard mid section which picks up the tempo, often introducing a memorable hook carried and repeated by the bass or often guitar. The musical atmosphere is rounded out by brass, with a variety of saxophones and trumpets, and sometimes a flute--also very tight! The guitar shifts from rhythm to solo, sometimes helping to create a mood with wonderful, somewhat jazzy chords, other times leading out with excellent solos. Like Rocky's Filj, keyboards don't really play a role in OM. (Yes, there are some, but when they appear they are brief and only serve to play a short melody, one that could easily have been covered by brass or guitar--this is definitely not keyboard-driven rock!)

The overall tone of the album shifts from the more mellow studio pieces to the wilder, less restrained live numbers. There are three studio and five songs. The live numbers serve to demonstrate their excellent musicianship--it's clear that this was a very talented band. The more adventurous vocals are also reserved for the live pieces. The one live song that falls in the mellow camp is the bonus track, a beautiful ballad entitled Angelo. All of the songs feature memorable melodies (archetypical RPI), but the studio pieces really emphasize this aspect of their music. The songs tend to be fairly schizophrenic, alternating between more subdued passages and wild, often catchy sections.

Overall, as stated elsewhere by Jim Russell, this band is every bit as important as some of those mentioned above. I can only imagine what they could have become with a studio album or two under their belt--or especially with a whole live album! This overdue, posthumous compilation is not to be missed. Definitely not for the faint of heart or those who fatigue with repeated listening, for that's what it takes to uncover all the facets of this wonderful RPI gem. Bravo!

Corte dei Miracoli is a popular Italian prog powerhouse in the style of the more traditionally respected giants like Banco but with some jazzy influence as well. They are heavy on the keyboards with just a bit of guitar provided by a guest performer. While this album was released after the Italian peak it is one of those albums that had staying power, like Celeste or Locande delle Fate, because of the level of quality and good buzz from fans. The dual keyboards provide a wide range of different sounds and textures that will thrill keyboard fanatics, the arrangements are very solid. The drummer is also very good and particularly adept at playing fills that really add to the drama and atmospheres that the keys are putting out there. Occasionally he sounds like a lead musician here. Vocals are quite good in my opinion, certainly not the best I've ever heard but also not deserving of the scorn you will see written in some quarters. Production and sound quality are really great-often I must admit that while I love Italian music the sound can be less stellar than bigger English groups who had more studio time and assistance. But Corte clearly had a decent producer and engineer because this one sounds fine.

There are many highpoints for me: the beginning of "E Verra L'uomo" is one of the most memorable in Italprog history. Another great moment is half way through "Verso il Sole" when the piano comes in all bright and crisp, offering some great counterpoint to the synths and some very lively playing. I really enjoy the sense of melody and brightness that this album possesses but it has a couple flaws. There is a cheesy moment here and there. And the lack of guitar is like taking a color away from a painter, they manage to do very well without and yet occasionally the sound can have some sameness to it. I still like this album a lot and recommend it to keyboard prog fans without hesitation, and consider it nearly essential to Italian fans. 3 ½ stars.

The opener "L'elefante bianco" (The white elephant) is full of rebellious energy and blends rock with Oriental influences. It invites you to search for the obsolete rules that do not work anymore and to break them in a radical way... "Run fast boy, keep on running / People say it's your fault / White shadows, old powers are shamelessly buying the world / Old images, stupid saints are leaving everything as it is / Look foreword boy, don't think about it / History is running along with you / Run fast boy, keep on running / People say it's your fault / Take everything, don't stop / Fire is burning your virtue / Lift up your fist boy, do not tremble / Look at reality straight in the face...".

Next comes "La mela di Odessa" (The Apple from Odessa), a complex track that begins with experimental sounds and a drum solo... It tells in an allegoric way the story of a dadaist artist, a certain Apple, that in 1920 hijacked a German ship and led it to the seaport of Odessa, in the communist world. The people celebrated Aplle's heroic action blowing up the ship... Demetrio Stratos' exuberant and theatrical recitative vocals soar from a fiery rhythm pattern narrating this terrorist act like a fairy tale..."Once upon a time, there was an apple riding a leaf..."...

"Megalopoli" (Megalopolis) is an instrumental track that begins with synthesizers and vocals used as an instrument, then, after a drum roll, rhythm takes off blending modernity and tribal rhythms. According to some interviews with the band this piece was inspired by the construction of Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, and by the blind megalomania of some governments that waste money building modern and useless cathedrals in the desert instead to think to the primary needs of their people...

"Nervi scoperti" (On edge) is a vibrant and tense jazz rock piece that leads to "Gioia e rivoluzione" (Joy and revolution), that after a peculiar introduction, features strummed acoustic guitars and powerful melodic lines... "I sing for you who come to listen to me / I play for you who don't want to understand me / I laugh for you, who can't dream... We fight our battle / With the sound of our fingers... My machine-gun is a counter-bass / Shooting into your face what I think about life...". It's one of the best known Area's songs.

"Implosion" is an instrumental track that begins calmly and then develops with sudden changes of mood and rhythm allowing the musicians to showcase their great musicianship while the last track "Area 5" is a short piece of "contemporary classical music" composed for the band by Juan Hidalgo and Walter Marchetti, two followers of John Cage. A bizarre way to conclude a great album!

Well, you can like or dislike Area's committed approach to music and share or not their revolutionary point of views about art and life but this is for sure one of the most influential album of the Italian prog scene of the early seventies and a must for every prog lover...