ASTROLABIO

I ran into a fairly expensive beater copy of this first pressing online. I have mixed feelings about this band. While Nuda gets all the acclaim, there is a sophistication on side one of this lp, Madre Di Cose Perdute that rises above anything on their debut. Here, they seem to get all the pieces in place to create a well crafted side long song that hangs together pretty well. The usually over the top guitar of Bambi Fossati combines with the creative drumming of Maurizio Cassinelli that take this places they didn't go in Nuda. Keyboards are tasteful and always add to things. You might not notice this song takes up all of side one at just over 20 minutes as it drifts in and out of themes seamlessly. More of a psych vibe than an explicit prog vibe, but very nice nonetheless. Side two is a completely different animal-the band is live in the studio with a small audience. Here the music is less prog oriented and more akin to a loose Hendrix jam (a guitarist Fossati clearly tries to emulate). Not quite up to the recording standards of side one, this reminds me of the german band Neu! second album where they carefully crafted some excellent stuff, but then the album had to come out immediately and they were stuck trying to fill it out quickly. This jam seems like an outtake rather than something intentionally created for the album. Overall, this album is frustrating-side one is fairly essential and side two is a throwaway sidelong jam. An unusual take on Italian prog that everyone should try, especially guitar fans. 3.5 stars.