DALTON

This is very delicate and romantic Folk Rock with plenty of acoustic textures and a few proggy overtones, while Reduzzi always supports the music with his synths, electric and acoustic piano.Lots of male and female vocals present the thrilling bio of Paci Paciana in some very good vocal arrangements with warm singing.The music, while remaining fairly soft throughout, has an inner atmospheric content, mainly due to Reduzzi's symphonic keyboards and jazzy electric piano, while half of them contain the smooth electric guitar touch of Cereda or even some ethnic vibes through the sax and clarinet of Ferdinando Ghisleni.Of course the main driving forces remain the folky textures and the album has a strong singer/songwriter feel as a whole, but Reduzzi's obsession to constantly use his keys adds always a light proggy feeling.A couple of tracks are also close to DALTON's sound like the excellent closer ''Salto dal ponte'' or the keyboard-drenched ''Tema condutore''.

Paciana story toured the theaters for some years, featuring over a dozen of musicians and actors in a very good Folk/Pop/Prog opera, that definitely should have been a great experience if caught live.The nice CD reissue by BTF makes the album easily approachable and this comes warmly recommended to all fans of light Progressive Rock, Folk Rock or melodic Italian Prog.

Nice melodic folk not unlike Enbor's (from Basque region) debut album.

Maybe stretching it a bit but in a few spots, I'm even reminded of Kestrel's s/t album from the same year (an essential album to get).

Trying to draw more comparisons, "La Famiglia Di Ortega" meets a small piece of "Kestrel's" s/t album meets a little bit of Enbor (with the vocal harmonies at times) with a washes of Dalton (not surprisingly Dalton ex members on this album). Throw in some dramatic vocals at times along with nice musical interludes. The instrumental parts sometimes remind me of Ennio Morriconi's more cheerful parts.

Being a big fan of RPI, this album has many of the ingredients that RPI fans come to know (italian sounding keyboards, over-dramatic vocals at times (which some may love and others may find annoying) and unmistakebly brilliant melodies even if many of the melodies are short-lived ideas and quirky as are on this album.

I cannot make the recommendation to go out and shell $20 on this as you'll get a 31 minute album that is primarily italian folk with touches of prog.

Personally, what i did was to buy the MP3 album at Amazon's store (believe it or not, it's there) which costs approx $9 at the time of this writting. Musically, I can't say I got a great deal even at $9 but I don't feel ripped off either. I consider this on the lower echelon of the tier-2 RPI albums (maybe even higher echelon of the tier-3 albums). So many other italian releases to get first. But if you're like me and have all the main RPI albums and all the necessary tier 2 - RPI albums, then it might be worth checking this one out. You may find a pleasant surprise or two waiting for you on this release. Don't expect a masterpiece but don't expect a bad album either.

since this album contains ex-Dalton members, I must say that Dalton's first album is better than this one so check that out first if you have not done so before getting this one. However, if you're an RPI fan in search of more obscure titles that are worth listening to, you can go to amazon.com and do a search for this album in the mp3 store and then you can listen to 30 second samples for all of the tracks to make your decision. Also, go to youtube and do a search for this album as the full song "Tema Conduttore" (track 2 which reminds me of a happier Ennio Morriconi piece) is on youtube awaiting your listen. If you like that song, the others on this album hover about the same level.

Good listening (and grows with repeated listenings) but not essential. At least give the sound samples on amazon a chance along with the youtube video.

The album opens with the impressive Idea d'Infinito. This is a mid-tempo song with a stately rhythm featuring Ian Anderson inspired flute-play along with several interesting synthesizer and guitar tones. There's a particularly nice double-tracked synth part near the end of the song. The first of several little ritornello between tracks then leads into Stagione Che Muore. This song pays more than a passing resemblance to In The Court Of The Crimson King (listen to the main flute refrain), but don't expect any of the pyrotechnics of the King Crimson song. It does contain some great guitar licks and nice organ in the background, but no Mellotron unfortunately. Cara Emily is a tender ballad featuring piano, acoustic guitar, flute and synth. This track strikes me as the kind of song on From Genesis To Revelation. All five band members are credited with vocals, which are excellent throughout the album; some wonderful passionate singing in the great Italian tradition. So far so good, but the second half of the album doesn't live up to the standard of songs on the first half.

Track 4, Riflessioni, just sounds like the band jamming in the studio. It's certainly played with gusto and I'm sure it was fun, but it's lacking in interest I'm afraid. Un Bambino, Un Uomo, Un Vecchio has a very psychedelic-pop feel. Again, not of any great interest. The last track, Dimensione Lavoro, has more than a touch of Deep Purple about it. It's the only track on the album that's over 5 minutes in length (actually 6.42). This one starts with a brief drum solo before organ, synth and flute set the scene for the main riff to kick in. This consists of loads of whirling organ, raw guitar, Ray Thomas flute and a nice descending synth line. There's a short interlude with the guitarist trying to sound like Jimmy Page, then the Purple riff sees out the album. Great track.

This album isn't a classic although I'd say there are enough good moments to keep most RPI fans happy. Despite its short length it still manages to include a couple of fillers so it wouldn't be in my RPI top 100. The first half is very pleasant and the album then finishes strongly with its most progressive track, so I'll give it 3 stars.

"Idea D'infinito" opens with synths until the flute takes over followed by a full sound. Vocals before 1 1/2 minutes and they're very expressive in the Italian tradition. String-synths later and some good guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. Organ late. "Stageone Che Muore" opens with lots of flute as well as prominant bass,organ and vocals. Guitar after a minute. The tempo picks up after 3 minutes with flute and drums out front. It settles a minute later. "Cara Emily" opens with harpsichord as fragile vocals with acoustic guitar and piano follow. String-synths also join in then drums and bass as it gets fuller. A calm after 4 minutes with flute to end it.

"Riflessione" starts with some aggressive guitar then drums and bass kick in. Organ 1 1/2 minutes in and flute follows.This is all about the guitar though. "Un Bambino, Un Uomo, Un Vecchio" features keyboards and flute as vocals come in. Harpsichord 2 minutes in. "Diminsione Lavoro" opens with a drum solo as the organ comes ripping in. A calm then piano and flute lead. Drums and guitar after 1 1/2 minutes as the tempo picks up. Vocals too. Organ before 3 minutes. A calm follows then the guitar starts to light it up with the organ trying to keep up. Nice. Synths end it.

Not a bad album but I can't get too excited about it.

A lot of the songs have a strong 'Spaghetti Western' atmosphere... i can picture cowboys wearing dusty clothes heading for a shootout; roaming arid landscapes full of tumbleweed. I don't speak Italian so i have no idea if that's the intended imagery, but from the music (and the band name, and album cover) that's what i see in my head.

The album starts off very strong with two hard and heavy songs laced with gloriously flauting, fuzzy rock guitars, and sporadic Moog and organ all mixing together perfectly and giving the impression that this will be one great rocking album. Sadly, near the end of 'Stagione che Muore' things start falling apart... there is a decent flute solo but it's backed alone by dreadfully shabby drumming that sounds like a rickety mining car about to fall off a rusty track.

There are some very weird and/or bad transitions from song-to-song; one songs fades in as the last one fades out... it gives the impression that the songs were all unfinished and hurried through a rough splicing process in a weak attempt to make it flow like one long suite. The album is less than 30 minutes long, which adds to the feeling that the band must have been rushed to complete this album and didn't have enough time to flesh out each song.

'Cara Emily' is a beautiful heartfelt ballad which features very nice piano playing. This song reminds me a lot of a 'Rolling Stones' ballad, but i can't recall which song it is... i'm thinking 'She's Like A Rainbow'. It doesn't sound exactly like that, but it's similar in approach and mood... and i really quite like it, though it isn't very 'Proggy'.

'Riflessioni' is a bad Boogie Woogie track that reminds me of old Country-fied Electric-Blues and features some very annoying metallic clangy keyboard sounds that are way too loud in the mix. This is not my cup of tea at all... and the rest of the album isn't much better honestly. It's sad that such a poor second half has tainted an otherwise very good album.

This album would be a good addition to an already large RPI music collection, but it's not essential nor is it a great investment if you're new to the genre. I wasn't sure whether this was worthy of '2' or '3' stars... but i'll award it '3' for the strong opening half.

"Paciana Story" may be called an "opera" on the front but really the music is folk-rock with light prog touches. It was a conceptual work based on the life of a Robin Hood type brigand from the Bergamo area named Pacin Paciana (1773-1806). Legend has it this man stole from the rich and gave to the poor (kinda the opposite concept of today's Capitalism) going so far as to leave food for them in mountain shelters. He apparently is still something of a folk hero in the Bergamo area to this day representing rebellion against authority. The "pop opera" was even transformed into a theatrical presentation with actors and musicians touring theatres for a few years. The album itself was recorded in the studio of Raminghi's Franco Mussita and privately pressed. It was an offshoot project from Dalton written by keyboardist Temi Reduzzi and featuring their guitarist Aronne Cereda. Reduzzi apparently left Dalton between their first and second albums along with their flautist while Cereda appears on both Dalton albums (Argitari and Paciana Story both came out in 1975). The Dalton history is pretty hard to follow.

Musically "Paciana Story" is simply wonderful albeit for a pretty limited audience. It is a mixture of traditional Italian folk music and melodies with light rock, pop, and some marginally prog treatments. It is tailor made for those with a love for Italian folk-rock. As often happens with these rarities the first time I played it I wondered what the hell I just spend $20 bucks on! But does this ever weave its way into your heart after a few plays! Like many of these projects it was more of a musicians collective than a rock band per se and the recording definitely has the "home-made" feel to it. Loose, warm, personal, and festive, much of it plays like party music that I hear frequently blasted by Mexican immigrants in our working class neighborhood. Lots of gregarious vocals accompanied by acoustic guitars, bass, flutes, piano, trumpet, sax, and percussion. The proggier touches come courtesy of the piano, occasional mellotron washes, and swirly brass effects-again there are what seem like speed variances as you listen, and I just can't be sure whether these are intentional for effect, or actual sound problems. Either way, they only enhance the charm factor for me personally. "Tema Conduttore" features a somewhat cheesy synth earworm part that is reprised at the end of the last song adding to the concept feel, you'll laugh at it but it will stay in your head for days afterwards. "Tema D'Amore" is another highlight with beautiful piano and mellotron, lovely male/female vocals, trumpet, and dreamy atmospherics. "Alla Moda" and "Licenziamento" both feature some '60s sounding trippy psych guitar leads. "Rapimento" is pure wide-eyed sing-along folk music. The closer "Salto Dal Ponte" is actually some pretty dramatic Ital-prog though not loud or harsh certainly. Musicianship throughout is not flashy but it is quite good nonetheless.

All in all this is a wonderful little album of music that is quite moving to me even if its interest may be limited to the Italian prog/folk fan community. Another huge thanks to AMS/BTF for issuing this rarity in fine gatefold mini-lp sleeve format. It features remastered sound, nice booklet, gorgeous cover painting, and inside a drawing of Pacin and photo of the mountains he adventured in.

I DALTON play inventive and at the same time accessible music with virtuostic keyboards (piano, organ, moog, mellotron), flute, bluesy guitar, strong rhythm section, interesting interplay between instruments, good vocals and unique Italian grace.

There are hints of Jethro Tull and classic rock bands like Deep Purple. Strange, the beginning of the first track reminds me of keyboard intro in ''Tarot Woman'' from Rainbow ''Rising'' (released 3 years later). Despite influences I DALTON don't sound like any other band I know.

Songs on ''Riflessioni: Idea d'Infinito'' are always energetic, even in slower parts. The whole album is concentrated energy filled with melodies. And it has the quality I value most of all - it attracts your attention from the first note to the very end.

Powerful and elegant, I DALTON debut album, unfortunately generally overlooked, deserves to stay in the same row as well-known RPI classics like PFM's ''Storia di un minuto'' and ''Per un amico'' or ''Uomo di pezza'' by Le Orme.

Essential in any good RPI collection. Highly recommended. Very close to 5 stars. OK, 5 stars.

P.S. I have 1989 Vinyl Magic CD, transferred from vinyl (master tapes lost?), with some noises, specific for LP. If you decided to buy ''Riflessioni...'', better get 2006 BTF reissue, it contains bonus track and, additionally, those who own it tell there are no noises.

This album was the last version of Dalton and different than the one who made the previous album. "Argitari" has about two songs that are symphonic prog and the rest of the album is more prog folk and pop to my ears. It's a nice album featuring Italian vocals, acoustic guitars, flutes, keyboards, and laid back rhythm section. Most of the tracks are mellow with just a few rockers.

The harder songs have almost a Jethro Tull feel although I don't believe the playing here is to the level of Tull. The rest of the album reminds me of The Strawbs "Grave New World" album and maybe a little of the band Stackridge. There is even a cover of Dylan's "Blowin in the Wind" here with different lyrics written by Mogol.

An important note: This album was made while the band was disbanding and the flute player had already left. Thus the original vinyl version of the album was apparently missing some of the flute parts, a very key part of this album, and there were other serious production/mix related problems as well. Thus the original album was a bit of a disaster and was criticized accordingly. The new CD re-issue has fixed the production problems, and the original flautist has completed the missing flute parts and added them to this release. So the new version is the music the way it was originally intended to be heard. How cool!

The Vinyl Magic reissue is a beauty as usual, with a very heavy, gorgeous gatefold mini-LP sleeve, good sound, and an excellent booklet with photos, lyrics, and a band history. I can't claim this is a masterpiece but I do think it's a very interesting, unique album that's worth the money for Italian fans and for fans of the folk rock bands mentioned above who can handle Italian vocals. Four bonus tracks are also included.