IL PITTORE VOLANTE

I guess this means you can't call RRR one of those "one and done" Italian bands now. It's been 38 years since their classic album was released. I must admit that for whatever reason I didn't enjoy that one very much even though objectively I have to say it's excellent. Weird but all these years later I feel the same about this one. I do enjoy it more than the debut but again not enough to offer up that fourth star. I have a feeling I will be one of the few who won't give this 4 or 5 stars. Interesting pictures in the liner notes although I find a lot of them disturbing in one way or another. I'd like to know the concept behind this because I believe it's about an artist or artists or paintings or something like that. The original singer and guitarist are back and there's lots of female vocals helping out.

"Il Cambiamento" features female vocal melodies and atmosphere early. A full sound before 1 1/2 minutes. Vocals follow. A nice heavy soundscape here. Guitar 4 1/2 minutes. Drums and piano lead a minute later. "Il Vecchio" opens with piano. Bass and a dark mood follow before 2 minutes. Reserved vocals with violin follow. Piano and aboe are next. It picks up after 5 minutes with vocals and violin. "Il Fuoco" opens with acoustic guitar and female vocal melodies. Vocals follow. Female vocals are back as they both trade off vocally.The tempo continues to change.

"Eagle Mountain" opens with piano and acoustic guitar (I think). Drums and a fuller sound before 2 minutes. Vocals join in.Some nice guitar too. It settles again as contrasts continue.The guitar is great 9 minutes in. "La Mente" opens with strummed guitar and reserved vocals. Drums 1 1/2 minutes in. Sax 2 minutes. It's heavier before 4 1/2 minutes. It gets crazy a minute later (haha). "L'Uomo Novo" starts with organ and drums. Violin joins in. It's brighter with piano before 3 minutes. Lots of synths before 6 minutes then the organ returns. Flute too. "Le Anime" opens with bluesy guitar before vocals and a slow beat take over. "Raoul" is a bit of a rocker with female backing vocals. Not a fan. "La Spiaggia" is the mellow closer with acoustic guitar, flute and reserved vocals. Some piano too.

3.5 stars. I'm not going to give up on this one though.