CITTA' DI FRONTIERA

3.5 stars. I'm of the opinion that CALLIOPE's best album was their debut and that each proceeding record was not as good as the one before. I know quite a few people who like this one better than the debut but i'm not one of them. On the Gnosis site they suggest this one is more contemporary sounding, more modern if you will. And I agree. I prefer the more vintage sounding debut.

"La Prova" opens hard and fast with organ (then keyboards) and drums standing out. Vocals before a minute then the organ becomes prominant. The guitar before 2 minutes and later at 4 minutes sounds great. Nice bass before 5 1/2 minutes. "Sarajevo" opens with drums and organ then the tempo picks up. Vocals after a minute as it settles some. The organ and drums continue to impress. The tempo continues to shift. I like the instrumental section 5 1/2 minutes in. "Margiherita A Rodi" opens with the guitar and mellotron standing out. Reserved vocals a minute in. It settles 2 1/2 minutes in. The mellotron is back. Guitar before 4 1/2 minutes starts to solo tastefully. Vocals and piano a minute later. Guitar and mellotron end it. Good song.

"Terra Di Nessuno" is not very melodic early on as keyboards and vocals stand out. It settles before 2 1/2 minutes then kicks in again. I like the organ/drum section after 4 1/2 minutes. Vocals eventually join in. "Senza Pretese" is a short acoustic guitar piece. "Windsor" sounds amazing early with all that atmosphere. Guitar then organ join in. The tempo picks up before 1 1/2 minutes with drums leading. It settles with vocals after 3 minutes. Picks back up after 7 minutes followed by a guitar solo. "L'attesa" is mellow to start but it turns powerful with organ and drums. It blends into "Il Ritorno" but it changes to a bombastic soundscape which i'm not fond of. Much better when it settles before 2 1/2 minutes.

So a good album for sure that just fails to captivate me like the debut does.