ARGITARI

This is a real rarity that should be of note to fans of The Strawbs.

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.