FELONA E SORONA

I had a tought choice to make when the time came to rate this album. Definitely more than a three stars, Probably more than a four, but not quite a 5. So this leads to a 4.5/5 But as the star system goes, you can only give albums full stars, and so I had to decide between afour and five stars. I felt that four stars was a better choice, as it is not perfect, but it tore my heart not to give it a five. Still, I went with the foru stars. Here is why.

This album is pure Italian Prog and one of the most representative of the genre. The keyboards under all their forms are omnipresent, and as a power trio, Le Orme thrives. Of course, the ressemblance with Emerson, Lake and Palmer cannot be denied(The simple yet melodic bass, the overpowering drums and the huge variety of tone from keyboardist Toni Pagliuca), but they definitely have a sound of their own, maybe less bombastic than ELP, but a bit more melodic and even theatrical at times(it is, after all, a conceptual album).

An excellent crescendo is created on the first side of the album, starting with Sospesi Nell Íncredibile, a song that is highly influenced by ELP, maybe the most of the album, along of course the closer Ritorno Al Nulla but it is still excellent and creat a great feeling to the album. Than the nice acoustic felona enters, an absolutely beautiful little pastoral song. The vocals are as good as they would get on the album. This is the first problem of the album: the vocals are not always working with the music. Yet, on the 2 acoustic pieces of the album( Felona and All Ínfuori Del Tempo), it works perfectly.

As high as it is rated in the prog universe, you have to have high expectations when you listen to it. This is my advice: try to listen to the album for what it is than what you would want it to be. So, a great 4.5/5 for this great Italian album.