ARIA

My Rating: 9/10.

Before taking the path of commercial success with songs like "Figli delle stelle" and "Tu sei l'unica donna per me", Alan Sorrenti wrote prog music. Have you ever listed to "Figli delle stelle"? If you are not italian, as I am, I think not. Well, I don't want to judge but ...ehm... I don't like this song very much 'cause it's nothing more or less than 70's disco / 80's pop or something.

So imagine my surprise when I learned that Alan Sorrenti had to his credit a couple of prog album! And now imagine my surprise when hearing "Aria" the first time I realized it was a very good album. And when, at the second hearing, I thought that the title track suite was a masterpiece. Today I listened to this record probably at least thirty times and I can safely say that Aria is my favorite suite of Italian prog with Banco's "Il Giardino del Mago".

A delicate guitar arpeggio introduces Aria, the suite of nearly 20 minutes which is the highlight of the record. The voice of Sorrenti is soft initially but soon, when the music becomes more frantic, it turns and becomes rougher, and more intense and dramatic tones emerge suddendly, in a style very close to Peter Hammill. Acoustic moments alternated instrumental crescendo with typically Mediterranean percussion style and great demonstrations of virtuosity of Jean Luc Ponty on the violin. Note that the keyboards do not have large space in favor of other instruments much closer to latin tradition. The lyrics seem to be related to a mental trip, a dream or something, until the final part of the song, where is a sudden return to reality: Attraverso i vetri della mia stanza io guardo fuori, e fuori piove / e nelle gocce sospese alla ringhiera vedo le perle della tua corona / Aria, in ogni angolo della mia stanza io ti sto cercando / Aria, sull'asfalto bagnato della mia strada io ti sto inseguendo e tu ti stai sciogliendo / Aria, io sento che ti sto perdendo (Through the windows of my room I look outside and outside it's raining / In drops hanging from the railing I see the gems of your crown / Air, in every corner of my room I'm looking for you / Air, on the wet om my street I'm chasing you and you're melting / Air, I feel that I'm losing you).

The second track, Vorrei Incontrarti is a delicate acoustic ballad, much more simple and melodic, very relaxing and beautiful. The final two song are more complex: La Mia Mente, with a lot of piano and mellotron parts, reminds me the Hammill style quite clearly and so well the final track Un Fiume Tranquillo, that stands out for its large use of wind instruments. In conclusion a great album that will appeal to fans of ethnic and folk prog, maybe a little less to fans of symphonic prog and other groups of the 70's italian scene, too much oriented towards a music dominated by keyboards.

A masterpiece of italian prog: after many hearing (and you need a lot of hearing to understand this work), I give 5 stars to it.

P.S. For VDGG fans only: If you want to hear the "italian answer to Peter".... what are you waiting for?

Best song: Aria

Share this ALAN SORRENTI review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Dark Nazgul
• Report this review (#356069)
• Buy ALAN SORRENTI music online with PA partners
• Show all ALAN SORRENTI MP3/Stream
• Go to ALAN SORRENTI page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Aria page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for ALAN SORRENTI related discussions