Augusto Croce's "Italian Prog" has arrived!

 

It's a very nice hardcover, with a good looking format.  Very well done!  The first 650 pages are black and white, the last 120 in color.

 

The book is encylopedic in format, with tabs from A-Z for easy access.  The information listed for the bands is essentially the same as on the Italian Prog website.  Initially I thought there were a lot more bands included in the book than on the website, but after going back and clicking on "Entire Listing" under each letter, all the bands included in the book are available there (consisting of mainly minor bands).  From what I've seen, there isn't really any significant new information given about the bands. 

 

The format under the bands is the same as on the website, including personnel, history, collectors corner, and discography.  The albums from all the bands are pictured together in the last 120 pages in order, rather than with the band information in the black and white section.  The interview sections of the website are not included in the book.  The Labels section of the book is essentially the same as the website also.

 

The book came with a bonus CD, which includes unreleased tracks from several bands, including RRR, EA Poe, Il Paese Dei Balocchi, Dalton, Estate di San Martin, members of Officina Meccanica, and others.  Overall the production is not great, as you would expect.  My opinion of the tracks are as follows:

RRR - Io e Iuio parts 1 and 2 - not very good, fairly bouncy rhythm, very pop

Il Paese - Note di Vietro - very lovely pastoral type piece with acoustic guitar and flute, then some drums

      L'amore Innato - good song, with acoustic guitar and harpsichord, later organ and drums

EA Poe - Jaws Main - psych pop song

     Jaws End - folk pop

     Canzone dell'angelo - soft, melodic, electric piano with guitar

Barbati/Maioozi (guitarist and vocalist for Officina Meccanica)

     Stai - funky rhythm, almost reggae, not very good

     Vieni Via D Qui - nice song, good atmospheric use of synthesizers and drum machine

     Overall lacks the quality of the Officina Meccanica compilation

Gli Esseri - 2 pop songs, the second with some psych influence, not much prog

Dalton - Riflessioni vocal version - not nearly as appealing as the album version

Latitudine 45 - who?  Decent songs, more pop/rock with some okay keyboards

I Numi - 10 minute song Infiniti Mondi, just okay.  Very slowly builds from mellow organ to drums/brass

Breznev Fan Club - who? strange vocals on these two songs, the first with a funky r&b groove with some jazzy breaks, the second with spoken vocals over soft guitar, then some harder rock

Estate di San Martin - the best bonus track of the CD - Sere d'Agosto - great use of atmospheric keyboards and drum machine (a la Duke), gradually building but never excessive.  Live track.

 

So my overall impression is this: I like having the book format, because I like books.  There are some bands I've discovered looking in the pages of the book that I wouldn't have if left to my own exploring links.  But in terms of information, there is actually more on the website than in the book.  I like the layout of all the albums of Italian prog in the last 120 pages.  The bonus CD is okay, certainly not essential. 

 

I'm glad I bought it, but it is a slight letdown.  I was hoping for more of a general introduction (there is a 4 page introduction) or narrative discussion of Italian prog.  But I learned more along these lines from Andrea's piece on this site than in the book.  I think it will help me as I continue to discover the magical world that is Italian prog!