APPUNTI PER UN IDEA FISSA

One of the greatest mishaps of 70s Italian progressive rock surely has to belong to the Treviso based CAPSICUM RED which existed for a very brief time from 1970-72 before calling it a day. The band name actually found itself representing two distinct entities. First the band itself that released this one and only album APPUNTI PER UN'IDEA FISSA that consisted of a the four members Bruno Canzian [aka Red Canzion] (guitar, vocals), Mauro Bolzan (keyboards), Paolo Steffan (bass, vocals, piano) and Roberto Balocco (drums) and a group of session musicians that released two singles earlier. The band that was signed to Bla Bla records which also featured artist such as Franco Battiato, Osage Tribe, Juri Camisasca, Genco puro & Co. and Aktuala unfortunately hired session musicians to record a couple singles, one of which "Ocean" would become a theme song for a TV program. The second single "Tarzan" was recorded by another group of session musicians entirely and released on the "Tarzan" soundtrack.

After going through the trials and tribulations of dealing with a record label looking to cash in, CAPSICUM RED turned to the Italian prog scene for inspiration and recorded its one and only album. Very confusing to say the least. To make matters worse, APPUNTI PER UN'IDEA FISSA suffered one of the most botched production jobs of any album i've really ever heard with the mix too low for some parts and way too high for other. Despite all these flaws the band delivers a beautiful rock interpretation of Beethoven's "Pathetica" as the entire A?side of the album which fit into the spirit of the symphonic prog universe that was blossoming all around Italy. Similar to bands like New Trolls, CAPSICUM RED did an excellent job of rocking the classics despite all the obstacles and awful recording results.

The B?side of the album features four additional tracks that also suffered from the same abysmal production job. These tracks are shorter but still delved into the complexities of Italian prog splendor. Tracks like "Rabbia & Poesia" display a clear knack for nailing that romantic symphonic prog sound Italian style. Lead vocalist Red Canzian's vocals sound a lot like the more successful bands such as PFM or Banco and the instrumental workouts on the album are just as sophisticated and the album ends with the excellent "Corale" which showcases all the classic Italian prog trademarks: dramatic build up with complex fills and licks thrown in as the tension builds and a feisty rock accompaniment to symphonic atmospheric backing. The track also features a killer guitar lead performance which was fairly energetic for 1972.

Later reissues also feature the two earlier singles and their B?sides however they are less compelling than this album itself as they were designed to be more pop oriented for hit potential however if you want the entire output of the band including these singles then the reissue that has been remastered as best it could be is definitely a boost up from the original vinyl edition which ironically sells for quite a hefty price despite being an inferior product. This is one of those great lost opportunity bands of the Italian prog scene but guitarist Bruno Canzian better known as Red Canzian would go on to have a successful career in the progressive pop band I Pooh. All in all if you can't stand bad production values then you should give this one a miss but if you can handle imprecations for the sake of enjoying the compositions then this is as essential as any great Italian prog release because the musicians were above average in their performances.

3.5 stars but what the hey, i love the music so i'll round up even though the production is gawd awful