NEW TROLLS

As any other band leading the way out of beat-rock and into psychedelic-progressive rock in Italy back in the end of the 1960s (just think about early Le Orme and Formula 3), also the New Trolls - by far the most famous one in those years - had to satisfy their label by releasing catchy singles, which later would be collected in sort of "best of" album (maybe in order to be played at teenage parties without the struggle to change the record every two or three minutes). From this standpoint, "New Trolls 70" may seem a die-hard collector item; actually, it is much more, also considering that the band were at its creativity peak then. The songs here collected may sound, so, quite different from each other, and not so progressive, of course, but the high quality songwriting and the maturity the New Trolls can display in their performance are often astounding, even in the poppiest tunes. This is not the case of all songs: "Quella musica" is very badly produced and uninterestingly cheesy, "Un'ora" would figure better in their late 1970s production (by the way, these songs were not penned by the band), while the uneven mix of heavy rock and mellifluous Italian melodies makes "Una nuvola bianca" a quite irritating track. There's also the gentle "Io che ho te", an enjoyable song, indeed, with a fine performance by Nico di Palo at the vocals, but showing too heavily that it was meant for the Sanremo festival (the most important melodic music show in Italy; if you don't know it... consider yourself quite lucky). However, the other numbers are quite interesting. "Una Miniera" is a very epic song, with a solid verse on a descending chord pattern and a moving, very intense chorus (and impressive lyrics about the Marcinelle mining disaster) where Di Palo's voice sounds as if it wanted to tear the darkness of grief. On the contrary, "Cosa ne pensiamo dell'amore" is a light hard rocker, featuring a good riff and giving each member of the band room for a short solo. Despite being a classical love ballad, "Lei mi diceva" has got a hard rock approach, with an impressive performance by the rythm section and stunning guitars solos by Di Palo running through the whole song. Di Palo's love for Jimy Hendrix is evident also in "Corro da Te", which may remind you of the Deep Purple. "Sensazioni", their debut single (dating back to 1967), has always represented a turning point for Italian rock, the first Italian rock piece totally composed by the performing band and showing a hard-edge psychedelic approach (an obstinate riff for distorted guitars, Di Palo's high-pitched voice, that beautiful break for vocal harmonies in the middle). Going further (and skipping the above mentioned "bad" tracks) "Annalisa" and "Visioni" tipically witness how the early New Trolls were strongly influenced by Vanilla Fudge: melodic vocal lines, the band suddenly bursting into heavy passages, massive use of overdriven hammond organ and guitars. And then you get the final candy: "Davanti agli occhi miei" may sound like a quite light summer hit, but this very song features the band at its best; just listen to the incredible Di Palo's guitar introduction, the good harmonic structure, the beautiful vocal harmonies and you'll realise that this happy pop song is a small gem indeed. Don't be afraid to put your ear to this album: it could be a good way to rediscover the quality and importance of New Troll's early days.