LIVE 1974

In 1974 Biglietto Per L'Inferno released their excellent debut album which is one of the essential purchases for any collection of Italian prog. Sadly this would be the only recording of theirs to see the light of day for many years and the only album that would be released in their original incarnation before they split up in the mid seventies. That's a real shame as they really were a truly brilliant band at the heavier end of the RPI genre, though creating dynamic music that could move from the most abrasive guitar riff to mellow restraint in an instant, helped by the versatile vocals of Claudio Canali and their dual keyboardist line up.

The shortage of live albums in the RPI genre might have made this an essential purchase for fans. Unfortunately the recording quality dictates otherwise which is of bootleg quality and a poor quality bootleg at that, with a bad mix and drop outs a plenty. The vocals are far too loud and overshadow almost everything. I've heard better recordings from a single microphone cassette recorder in the middle of the audience. Despite the obvious shortcomings it's clear that the band put on a fine performance with a set comprising of material drawn from their first album, the exception being the title track of their second album, Il Tempo Della Semina which didn't get a release until 1992. It's structured a little differently here and as the studio version wasn't recorded until the following year suggests it was in its embryonic stage.

It's a real shame about the sound quality as very little pleasure can be gained from listening to this, regardless of the fact that this was probably a very exciting show to have attended. As a result this is for the fan that needs everything only. A small redeeming feature is as is usual from BTF the packaging is excellent and comes in a gatefold vinyl replica sleeve.