IO COME IO

Inspired by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel this album (eng title sound as 'I as I'... terrible in all languages) is the 2nd album by RDM. And, in my humble opinion, 'Io Come Io' is one of the first Heavy Metal album of history.

If the words are inspired by Hegel, the music is clearly a mix between Cream, Jeff Beck Group, Led Zeppelin, New Trolls (Proto Prog period) and Black sabbath. Great is the voice of Pino Ballarini, one of the more beautiful Italian vocalsts as Francesco Di Giacomo, Donella Del Monaco, Alvaro Fella or Davide 'Jimmy' Spitaleri. Another winning element is the fuzz bass. This is a winning element in consideration of the complexity of writing and execution. Fuzz bass played by Stefano Urso creates the melody and the electric guitar by Enzo Vita creates another melody that in some passages is the rhythmic part that is usually due to bass. But bass played these rhythmic parts. And the guitars have also some soli... That beautiful duels!!! It is present also the acoustic guitar but this is only an excuse to insert a few moments of melody... That is not melodic! The drums by Gino Campoli is powerful as an atomic bomb!

'Io Come Io' is an album extreme difficult be heard today. It looks like a flat album, without a logical and even boring. But if we listen to 'Io Come Io' in comparison with other RPI albums of the period we find that 'Io Come Io' is only an Heavy Metal version of Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso! Usually we underestimate an album like this, also because too immediate. But to consider 'Io Come Io' an immediate album is out of logic. The construction of the compositions ranging from jazz to blues, from Folk to Rock, via the POP and psychedelia, combining and mixing all this that the music can be truly original. Though it seems, the vocals are derived by opera.

At this moment I'm listening to 'Non Io' (eng: 'Not I'), a very complex composition that at some moments anticipates Iron Maiden! So if you have listened carefully to the first 2 albums by Judas Priest or Saxon's first album have noted (intelligently) as 'Io Come Io' is the fourth album to be included as a comparison! But certainly if you are great fans of Black Sabbath I think that 'Io Come Io' is another hot album for you!

Of course, and this is only my humble opinion, 'io Come io' is one of the more underestimated RPI albums. This thing saddens me greatly. Also because 'Io Come io' sounds in my head, as the beginning of Prog Metal. There is no logic to define what I said, many of you will not believe what I'm saying. Yet the truth is this!

Just now I elaborated as follows: you see that Bijelo Dugme (with Goran Bregovic) have used 'Io Come Io' and Rovescio Della Medaglia to forge their music? And if I had not mistaken? This is a pure mistery (and I'm not Micky Mouse!).

But beyond these considerations... I heard carefully 'Io Come Io' several times in these last weeks and I could elaborate the considerations which I wrote because the magic and power of 'Io Come Io' are too immense!