ASTROLABIO

In my opinion this is a huge improvement over "Nuda" the debut.Those Jimi Hendrix hero worship moments in the vocals and guitar work are not so obvious here, in fact they're all but gone. Bambi Fossatti the guitarist is such an amazing player he really doesn't need to imitate anyone. I really like the fact that this album consists of two over 20 minute suites, it gives Bambi and the band lots of time to stretch out and experiment.

"Madre Di Cose Perdute" opens with the sounds of birds as relaxed guitar sounds come and go.Drums and organ 2 minutes in, reserved vocals 2 1/2 minutes. A change after 7 minutes as it builds quickly and becomes fuller sounding. Nice. The guitar is soloing beautifully as the bass throbs and the drums beat. A calm before 10 minutes with guitar expressions.The beat is back 12 1/2 minutes in as the guitar continues. An earlier theme returns 15 1/2 minutes in and the guitar is fantastico ! The theme ends 19 minutes in as we get some laid back organ with bass to the end.

"Sette?" is actually a live track. We hear it introduced then this excellent bass line comes in with guitar and drums in tow. It kicks in at 1 1/2 minutes.The organ dominates after 2 minutes. It's the guitar's turn before 4 minutes to lead. Vocals before 5 minutes. Love the guitar here. Check out the guitar / organ interplay before 8 minutes. Vocals are back 9 minutes in but he's pretty much speaking the words. His guitar is talking too. It picks up before 12 minutes with singing. A calm a minute later then the guitar starts to solo. Incredible performance here. A change 16 minutes in as the organ takes over. The guitar is back after 18 minutes. A huge applause ends it.

A solid 4 star album.