ALPHATAURUS

This album has one of the best covers from the 1970s. This is the band's only actual studio album; there was a collection of demos released years later. Like other Italian bands from the early '70s, they make good use of synthesizer here (most likely a Moog). The music itself is a combination of symphonic prog, hard rock with a little bit of jazz-rock and folk-rock.

You can listen to the first song "Le Chamadere (Peccato d'orgoglio)" here on PA. This song has some chorused guitars along with jazzy drums and bass before it gets more folky sounding. Lead vocals are accompanied by slightly off harmony vocals. Nice echoed/delayed keyboard sound-not sure what it is exactly (harpsichord?). Later gets more energenic with some synth. After some church organ before it gets almost Zeppelin/Purple style hard rock. Vocals again now. Later gets more ELP-sounding. More church organ along with synth, followed by some great drumming and another, more energenic section with some cool swirling organ. Nice spacey synth after awhile. Earlier folk section gets reprised at the end.

Thunderstorm sounds start "Dopo L'uragano" and then it goes into Italian style blues. More hard rocking blues later. Then an awesome phased drum fill leads to a mix of boogie-rock and classical-rock. Goes back to the bluesy part with great singing. "Croma" is an instrumental. Starts off sounding folky, jazzy and classical all at once. Then goes into typical symphonic rock territory. Alternates between the two sections. I love the beginning of "La Mente Vola" with harpsichord, synth and some kind of wind instrument sound being faded in. Good drumbeat too. Later on switches to a very melodic and classical influenced ballad. A catchy and memorable chorus featuring harmony vocals. Nice synth solo followed by a vibraphone solo. The tempo increases towards the end with some cool synth squiggles.

A short vocal section opens "Ombra Muta" before some great playing from the band. Back to a organ dominated section with great emotive singing. Later starts rockin' out with cool organ playing. Some start/stop playing as a wah-wahed guitar does it's thing. Then a nice synth solo with some snare rim hitting. Later on gets more symphonic rock sounding with a guitar solo. Cool clock sounds at one point. Back to the organ dominated vocal section. The band gets crazy and wild again and the song seems to end. Instead, we get some good repetative bass and guitar playing which is almost hypnotic.

I guess your average RPI fan would like this, although it can sometimes rock harder than some Italian groups from this period. For 1973, the sound and production is really good. This is one of those Italian bands you wish made another proper follow up to their debut album. Overall, a great album. 4 stars.