I GRANDI SUCCESSI DEL ROCK PROGRESSIVO ITALIANO

"I grandi successi del Rock Progressivo Italiano" is an excellent compilation to discover the Progressive Rock catalog that Nuova Fonit Cetra offered in the 70's. And there are some of the biggest Italian Progressive bands of that decade (Osanna, Delirium, New Trolls, Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno, I Garybaldi or Uno) and other very interesting groups (on all the I Califfi and the extraordinary "Campane" in ELP or Goblin style but without the baroqueism of the English... But with a more Space Rock and Folk streak). In general one could read a certain derivation from English groups, which (as far as it is understood more generalizing) is typical of Italian POP and Rock music, but strong is the graft of the Italian tradition, which makes everything more passionate and colorful. It is also not easy to read, in several cases, where the Rock part ends and where the Progressive part begins, which transforms many songs (and bands) into something to be classified as progressive more for the complexity of their music and for historical period than for musical genre proposed. Luckily, here "1 ° Tempo: Allegro" (from "Concerto Grosso") was chosen to present the New Trolls, because, otherwise, they would have been forced to present them either as a Hard Rock band (due to Nico di Palo) or as a Symphonic Rock band (due to Vittorio de Scalzi). With this I hope to have made it clear what Progressive Rock was in Italy at the time (even if bands like Banco Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme or PFM were totally devoted to an English-style Progressive).

In conclusion, here are 16 bands with 16 excellent/ good/ honest songs and it is a good/ excellent introduction to a certain kind of understanding of Progressive Rock and what represented in Italy a musical genre that in countries like South Korea or Japan is considered true art.