BIGLIETTO PER L'INFERNO

Biglietto Per L'Inferno, A ticket to Hell, as we all know hahah.. that sums it up I guess. This, their debut album, was released in 1974. It is generally considered as one of the great prog albums out of Italy in the 70's. A heavy sounding album with aggressive guitars and the thunderous sound of duo keyboardists. I had heard about this album and was one of the first I got as I moved past the real big artists and albums down into the classic 2nd tier of RPI. The album is one of 5 favorite from the genre. A classic.. with moments so good.. they even had to repeat them hahha.

The album kicks off Ansia which has a nice pastoral easy organ and guitar intro but you know the relative calm is only temporary..then the pace kicks up then ..wham....a brutal bass riff with some 'Tull'esque flute dancing about it come in... then all of sudden it ends and a majesty mini-moog section straight out of ELO comes in. The dynamic contrasts are just catchy as hell.

If you weren't caught by Ansia then Confessione will grab you for sure haha. Powered by a driving bass riffand fiery guitar sections, the song is really a spotlight Canalli's singing. From softly spoken words to his priest to howls of pain and anguish. It is a very impressive vocal performance. Released as a single in Italy. Great song. So good they brought it back to close the album as well. After the horror of Confessione we have a nice letup, and a welcome change in in Una Strana Regina. Here the keyboards play lead the song. I love the guitar solo. Full of emotio and tons of reverb.

Next up come the meat and potatoes of the album. Il Navare with it's bombastic chorus E tu cosa fai? It leads into one of my favortie pieces of music in RPI. L'Amico Suicida. The intro to this is priceless.. so full of sorrow and darkness... the organ is just so moanful over the picked guitar. Sets the mood for the piece right from the start. Canali's vocals again are just so filled with angst and emotion.. it is hard to not get drawn it and captured by the musical moment. The song features hard driving aggressive musical sections.. sections of calm and mourning. Great keyboard work abounds in this. I love this song. A instrumental reprise of Confessione ends the album on a bit of a high note.. though more original music would have been nice.

The album is a great introduction into what I call the classic 2nd tier of RPI albums. If you have tried the classic 9 by Le Orme, Banco, and PFM and want to explore deeper into PRI. This album is as good as any to start. For me personally 5 stars... amoung my favorite of all RPI albums. For the forum at large not quite essential.. but just on the next level. 4.5 stars. Lots to love in the album. Highly recommended.

Michael (aka micky)