CELESTE [AKA: PRINCIPE DI UN GIORNO]

Like QUELLA VECCHIA LOCANDA and LOCANDA DELLE FATE's "Forse Le Lucciole Non Si Amano Più" this is very melodious Italian progressive music, but is even mellower. Think sunny afternoons in a hammock; think walking through a pasture in the spring sunshine; think dangling your legs in a babbling brook; think lying in front of a warm log fire on an autumn evening. This music gently flows through you and over you, and is beautiful in places. This is definitely an album to listen to at the end of a hard day.

Flute, acoustic guitar and piano dominate the sound, but bass, Mellotron, synth, xylophone and sax (amongst others) also play a crucial part. The vocals are very calm and pleasant, almost susurrant at times. Percussion is very understated, with just some cymbal, bells, triangle, xylophone and hand clapping here and there.

In my opinion the music is not as adventurous as the music of the other two bands I mentioned above, but is still very well constructed and by no means simple in comparison. There is some very competent song writing and playing here. This album, however, has but one mood: laid-back. The start of 'Giochi Nella Notte' even reminds me a little of 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast' on "Atom Heart Mother". The individual tracks are not memorable to me; my memory is of the whole.

Is it a masterpiece of progressive rock music?: No. Am I glad I own this album?: Yes! Should you buy it? If you like the music of the two other groups I mentioned above, plus the softer melodic tracks of bands such as PFM, then my answer is "Yes!". It is so soothing to listen to, and some of the sounds please me so much, that I have no choice but to give this album 4 stars.