CAUTION RADIATION AREA

Are is one of the Italian prog's most famous bands and their highest ranked record on ProgArchives is the seventh highest ranked in the subgenre. Therefor i was very excited to investigate their music when I so deeply respect the Italian prog. When I am acknowledging records from 1974 I now have picked Area's second studio album. Their first came the year before. "Caution Radiation Area" features Giuilo Capiozzo(drums, percussion), Patrizio Fariselli(piano, bass clarinet, synthesizer), Ares Tavolazzi(bass, trombone, contrabass), Paolo Tofani(guitar, flute synthesizer) and Demetrio Stratos(vocal, organ, cembalo and percussion).

This fourty years old record doesn't contains usual songs. Prog listeners don't demand such usual things either. "Area" must be one of the most experimental bands I have heard. When I put this record on I was totally amazed by the two first songs(both 10/10) which was both so coherent and perfectly fitted and still totally crazy. My inner self screamed out how good this music was and I though the success was a fact. But the music continued and the experimentality didn't end but became intensified. "Brujo" is a fine and interesting jazz piece but it lacks some of coherence(6/10). Even weirder is "Mirage" which partially is very good but most places on this area of the record are so very random(5/10). The last song "Lobotomia" is, I am sad to say it, just cacophony(1/1). This short record are full of musical information so the shortness is not a shortage. But the difference between a fantastic A- side(4,33) and a bad B-side(1,5) is too big for me to enjoy it fully. The creativity and the greatness it mediates makes though this still a fine record. I give it three stars and recommend it for fans of very experimental prog. Best tracks: "Cometa Rossa" and "ZYG(Crescita zero)".