CONCERTO GROSSO PER I NEW TROLLS

Avanti il Popolo! La vittoria e nostra! (Progressive rock music has arrived in Italia!) Side one of the New Trolls' 1971 album contains a nice blend of classical instrumentation into a kind of blues-rock operetta JETHRO TULL-style. It is not as well recorded or refined as some other rock-classical blends however I have to laud it for it's daring in being one of the first fairly successful rock conversions of famous themes from classical music (Vivaldi)--and for the gutsy daring of the musicians involved. One side note: As accent-less as Nico Di Palo's English is, I do find it strange that the band chose to sing its lyrics in English.

1. "Tempo: Allegro" (2:15) an awesome JETHRO TULL-sounding rock version of classical themes. (9/10)

2. "Tempo: Adagio" (4:50) What gorgeous singing voices Nico and his background singers are! No wonder they were so successful as generators of pop hits after their prog phase. It's too bad the orchestral arrangements are so syrupy (and strings-dominant) here. (8/10) 3. "Tempo: Cadenza - Andante Con Moto" (4:10) plays for the first minute and a half as for all intents and purposes, a violin solo. But then those syrupy strings get involved. Too bad. (Barely a rock song--were it not for the drumming.) Nice use of harpsichord and wordless and worded vocals over the strings and violin in the second half. Disappointing end with orchestral strings leading us out. (8.5/10)

4. "Tempo: Shadows" (5:30) a bluesy rock song in the PROCUL HAREM vein with a show of HENDRIX in the lead electric guitar department. The flute-led instrumental section in third and fourth minutes employs a very Hendrix- like guitar improvisational background (and, later, foreground)--and it works marvellously! Most excellent! it gets a little carried away with the guitar feedback solo in the fifth and sixth minutes, but it is ballsy! and well done. (9.5/10) 5. Nella Sala Vuota, Improvvisazioni Dei New Trolls Registrate In Diretta (20:32) opens as a bluesy Hammond solo for the first two minutes. As the full band join in, the breathy flute-led song begins to sound like the theme song from the original Mission: Impossible television series--as it might be played by The Netherlands' FOCUS around 1972. JETHRO TULL influences also come raging through in the second quarter of the song. After the mid-song break, the music returns in what sounds like a RAY CHARLES instrumental. Nice Hammond work is followed by a loud and dated-sounding electric guitar solo which is then followed by a surprisingly impressive (and surprisingly long) drum solo by Gianni Belleno. (I love the fast panning effect used near its end!) Gianni finally builds back the song base to allow the rest of the band to join in for the last 45 seconds. The highs of the musician's skills on display here outweigh the distractions of poor sonic effects and engineering limitations of the day. (9/10)

Despite it's flaws sonically, and the disappointing cheesiness of the strings inputs, I really like the ballsy confidence shown by these players. Electric guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums are all solid in both their ability to contribute to the whole while all are equally able to show their confident chops in the solo department as well.