ZARATHUSTRA

well,its not that easy to give a review on albums that you simply adore but here it goes. i first got this album after i saw good reviews on it and after hearing it (again and again and again) i would like to say that IMHO this IS the best italian prog album ever released (in the race with YS by il balletto di bronzo and milano calibra 9 by ossana) and i would dare say stands very nicely with the guys in the big league of prog (KC,ELP,genesis,VDGG,and others of course). well to the review,zarathustra itself is a long suite (more than 20 minutes) devided in to five pieces. the first part is l'ultimo uomo which starts softly with the organ playing alone and then and then some soft singing in italian (the whole thing is in italian-i like that yet dont understand a word) the volume goes up slowly as tension grows which ends with the guitar entering and playing a rather hard riff which at the end dies down. then comes part two il re di ieri which tarts with a soft piano soon replaced by the organ and the melotron (lots of melotron on the album the guys love it) then they become havier again with the entrence of the drums (the guy can play he changes rythems like a human metronom) and the base and a nice riff by the guitar and they play in a nice faster tempo which continues thru all of part three al di la del bene e del male. part four superuomo starts again slower with the vocalist building tension which ends with a kind of jazz improv by the KB which the band does not wish to continue for long on so they quiet it down and start another great high tempo following the theme from i think part two. the last part,il tempio delle clessidre, starts with a kind of pause for thought and then enters the melotron with the rythem section to play the main theme from part 1 on which the guitar plays a nice solo improv and that is how you finish another great prog masterpiece. the other 3 pieces on the album continue in the spirit of zarathustra (that means a lot of melotron great guitar riffs and that wonderful drummer) and finish the album apropriatly. you know my words are worth nothing if you dont prove me wrong or right so i recomend CHECK IT OUT....