IL PITTORE VOLANTE

I'm sure for fans of Italian prog one of the highlights of 2010 will be the reformation of Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno. Luciano Regoli, now a successful and talented artist has put down his paint brushes long enough to write and record Il Pittore Volante with some past RRR members and some stellar guests including Claudio Simonetti (Goblin) and Lino Vairetti (Osanna). RRR, like many bands in the seventies Italian prog movement only managed to release one album before splitting and here comes number two thirty eight years later! What a return though! Il Pittore Volante is a superb album and no doubt destined to be one of my favourites of the year, even at this early stage.

Whilst looking back to the glory days of RPI in the seventies Il Pittore Volante keeps one foot in the present with a stunning and diverse blend of symphonic prog, heavy rock, blues, folk and jazz. The album is brilliantly executed from the first rate cast and Regoli's singing is excellent.

Il Cambiamento, a mid paced rocker makes a fantastic opener with its Led Zeppelin style groove until Walter Martino lets loose with some dextrous drum fills towards the end. Il Vecchio is more restrained, starting with jazz piano, it features some lovely violin and has a melancholic and haunting vibe for the most part. Il Fuoco is a beautiful ballad featuring acoustic guitar and lovely female vocal parts courtesy of Cristina Cioni alongside Regoli.

Classical guitar introduces Eagle Mountain before turning into a fairly straightforward rock track with some searing electric guitar work from Nanni Civitenga. Mid song it totally changes tack; drums dropping out and acoustic guitar returning for this lovely melancholic part with more excellent Gilmour-esque soloing. Wonderful stuff indeed! Continuing in this vibe is the beautiful La Mente which features some fine sax playing. The reverse of Eagle Mountain, it picks up pace mid song, powerful bass and drums driving it along overlaid with some wild dissonant sax.

Hammond organ takes a front seat on L'Uomo Nuovo which is more in the symphonic vein. A keyboard led instrumental workout also features some obligatory flute giving it a Jethro Tull vibe. One thing that's worth mentioning about the whole album is the strength of the melodies which while often sublime are always first rate. Le Anime has a bluesy vibe, yet in keeping with proceedings has a few surprises up its proverbial sleeve. Raoul is a bit unexpected, being a rocker with a kind of ZZ Top style guitar riff. Another twist has the tempo halving and there's more excellent guitar work. The acoustic La Spiaggia closes in fine style in restrained fashion.

Many bands reform, often for the wrong reasons, but few make such a triumphant return as RRR. I can't recommend Il Pittore Volante highly enough. This album is essential listening for RPI fans and highly recommended to everyone else.

RPI album where the main RPI element is the language in which it's sung. Or maybe I lack necessary knowledge of this genre (which I lack), but presented album is quite Heavy. Not too heavy for my taste, but for what I so far heard from Italy, it is. There's strange thing that it doesn't work as much as with my ancestor (Nightfly for those who didn't understand), maybe it's because I'm used to different kind of Rock Progressive from Italy than it is presented here, but my wild guess it that it just takes some time. I would like to write something about music, about advantages and disadvantages, but I can't, because even I like it, this music somehow takes the words from my mind. Actually, I'm not even sure whether I like it or not. If this sounds like drug addict talk to you, if you think that I took some shrooms, that you're not alone. I'm thinking about the same thing, but I understand that if it's the way this music works, than it's fine and I'll comply. With

4(-), because sometimes, this music is just tasteless, without any deeper emotion (even he's screaming quite a lot at times, "it's" not here, but only sometimes).

There's something going on behind my back here, or "I don't know what's good about it, but I know it is" if you want.

Could this be an Italian Pink Floyd ? Or more precisly an Italian Roger Water ? The use of choirs, voice intonation and piano are strongly reminescent of Pink Floyd The Wall, notably the "In The Flesh" and "Hey You" titles. Other tracks take it from David Gilmour solos à la "Confortably Numbs". Even the drum track is somehow reminescent of Nick Mason's way. Then texts and accent is clearly Italian, melody bends toward latin music a few times. "Eagle Mountain" starts with a solo acoustic guitare in a very classical tone. I must say that I prefer this blend to most of core Progressive Rock Italiano, probably because I started my musical initiation with pure English prog rock.

I guess this means you can't call RRR one of those "one and done" Italian bands now. It's been 38 years since their classic album was released. I must admit that for whatever reason I didn't enjoy that one very much even though objectively I have to say it's excellent. Weird but all these years later I feel the same about this one. I do enjoy it more than the debut but again not enough to offer up that fourth star. I have a feeling I will be one of the few who won't give this 4 or 5 stars. Interesting pictures in the liner notes although I find a lot of them disturbing in one way or another. I'd like to know the concept behind this because I believe it's about an artist or artists or paintings or something like that. The original singer and guitarist are back and there's lots of female vocals helping out.

"Il Cambiamento" features female vocal melodies and atmosphere early. A full sound before 1 1/2 minutes. Vocals follow. A nice heavy soundscape here. Guitar 4 1/2 minutes. Drums and piano lead a minute later. "Il Vecchio" opens with piano. Bass and a dark mood follow before 2 minutes. Reserved vocals with violin follow. Piano and aboe are next. It picks up after 5 minutes with vocals and violin. "Il Fuoco" opens with acoustic guitar and female vocal melodies. Vocals follow. Female vocals are back as they both trade off vocally.The tempo continues to change.

"Eagle Mountain" opens with piano and acoustic guitar (I think). Drums and a fuller sound before 2 minutes. Vocals join in.Some nice guitar too. It settles again as contrasts continue.The guitar is great 9 minutes in. "La Mente" opens with strummed guitar and reserved vocals. Drums 1 1/2 minutes in. Sax 2 minutes. It's heavier before 4 1/2 minutes. It gets crazy a minute later (haha). "L'Uomo Novo" starts with organ and drums. Violin joins in. It's brighter with piano before 3 minutes. Lots of synths before 6 minutes then the organ returns. Flute too. "Le Anime" opens with bluesy guitar before vocals and a slow beat take over. "Raoul" is a bit of a rocker with female backing vocals. Not a fan. "La Spiaggia" is the mellow closer with acoustic guitar, flute and reserved vocals. Some piano too.

3.5 stars. I'm not going to give up on this one though.

A triumphant comeback

Not only did Italian bands makes some of the most creative and emotionally inspiring albums of the 1971-1974 period, they have also birthed some of the best modern prog projects like Il Bacio Della Medusa, DFA, and Garamond among countless others. Yet another way Italy has excelled, besting many other places, is in the quality of their "comeback" albums. There is a reason for this. While some of these other "popular" classic progressive bands have had to struggle to marry commercial approaches into comeback attempts, many of the Italian comebacks have been all about the art, making music from the heart without boardroom considerations. Making the kind of music which inspired their fans in the first place while embracing advances in sound and technique. Understanding why there has been such an explosion of interest in the original RPI scene. This is evident in recent comebacks albums from PFM, but even moreso in the amazing triumphs of Delirium, Latte Miele, and now RRR. Often these modern albums sound more diverse as the influences of Italian artists naturally range outside of their country, and yet the style and sound of many of them are unmistakably rich in the unique Italian touch RPI fans crave.

RRR circa 2010 unfortunately finds only two members from their first album's recording lineup still on board, Luciano Regoli and Nanni Civitenga. For whatever reason this is a bit disappointing to me as I prefer band names to honor line-ups. Here RRR have filled the gap with quality musicians from the RPI scene, including members of Goblin, Libra, and Osanna (Lino Vairetti). The album is also notable for showcasing the equally impressive talent of Regoli the painter. The lovely BTF/AMS/VM issue is a gatefold mini-lp sleeve. Both it and the booklet are filled with reprints of Regoli's paintings which are as striking as the music. Also included in my standard CD pressing was a limited, numbered edition drawing on heavy paper. Special editions with even more goodies were also made available.

This joyful and enthusiastic celebration of both musical and visual art begins in the most clever way. You here this distant, fading, eerie music with fidelity indicating an old vinyl album as it ends, and if you listen close you will realize the music is the end of the last track from RRR's debut some 38 years prior. So they truly are beginning from where they left off! Really nice touch. But from there most associations to the past fall away as this album is a different animal. The songs display updated rendition of "Italian prog" with dramatic operatic vocals, which are often the high-pitched wails associated with Ian Gillan or the New Trolls, punctuated by the lovely use of flute, violin, piano, sax, and Hammond. The other side of the equation sounds almost like an influence of 1980s Pink Floyd and Gilmour/Waters solo, with songs boasting the blues-rock bravado Gilmour would grab in his heavier moments, along with the soulful female backing chorus you've heard on 80s Waters tracks, or like the backing vox of "Not Now John." But along the way they will venture through hard prog, bluesy prog, occasionally classical, jazz, and avant, showing skill in multiple waters. Not surprising considering the backgrounds of RRR and Samadhi. Also notable are the exceptional arrangements of the performers, with each piece of the sonic puzzle very clear and easily heard---no mud, nothing lost in any "soup of sound."

There are interesting real life sound interludes, such as one sequence when we are placed in the middle of a party, with laughing and conversation all around us as violins play festively in the background. In moments like these you can feel the joy of the composers as they indulge their heart and let their hair down. My favorite track "Il fuoco" features amazing angelic vocals by Christina Cioni, in a classy and elegant piece reminiscent of the recent Delirium album. Her beautiful singing is accompanied by superb melodic acoustic guitar leads, which continue with a classical feel in the opening of the next track. We have some of that fun Italian prog madness at the end of "La Mente" with outrageous wailing saxes doing battle with barking dogs. There is another section with a very Tullish sounding flute solo, while other parts range from the very mellow and introspective to the fiery and funky. A well rounded album which perhaps could be accused of trying to put too many ingredients in one dish, but I'm sure that some of these ideas have been percolating for years and restraint/minimalist considerations were not among the goals of the project. Thank goodness for that, as musical extroversion is usually put to great effect by RPI bands!

"Il Pittore Volante" offers great variety, superb musicianship, and gorgeous packaging/artwork. This is one of the most interesting releases of 2010 and should make some end of year lists.

Another imaginative italian return

After the return of Delirium in 2009, I'm pleased to see the return of another remarkable italian band - Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno. I'm new to Delirim as well as I'm new to Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno, so the newest albums are my only touch to these creative bands. I'm absolutely agree with Finnforest, that it's pure art. This is the face of pure art without any commercial aspirations.

Il Pittore Volante contains a lot of beautiful paintings outside art cover and a lot of beautiful tunes inside the sound. Typical for italian band... It's full of melancholic feelings and imagination. In my opinion, that's the reason why italians are the best musicians - imagination, the attitude to the art as whole.

The songwriting is exceptional and very original; the musicianship is full of surprises and masterful experimental decisions. The music continues the modern tradition of old italian progressive rock bands to produce strongly jazz fusion influenced albums. The variety of the instruments is also impressive. There are violin, flute, different register of keyboards and another wonderful instruments. And the combination between all of them is very well constructed.

As a conclusion: thrilling and beautiful art rock experience without weak song.

Second album, released 38 (!) years after the debut sounds ... weird. Whenever RPI golden age is gone around same time ago, it was interesting to listen, how could it sound now. Can't say I am impressed at all.

First of all, it is singing poetry. With melodic and even beautiful support from folk-neoclassic-baroque chamber team of musicians,playing vintage folk rock. Strongly influenced by Italian pop-music of last 3 decades. No, it's not San Remo funny reincarnation, happily. This music is rooted in some decades of Italian singing poetry-urban-pop songs tradition. Half-spoken singing or over dramatic pop-operatic vocals , plenty of acoustic balladry guitar, minstrels aesthetics. Nice operatic female back-vocals though.

To be honest, there are some rock elements as well. Time to time you can hear keyboards passages and even hard rocking guitar solos. But don't worry, it's just some internal attributes. They don't destroy scenic beauty of minstrel and supporting band.

Possibly, this music has it's beauty, especially if you like European singing poetry. Not too complex, and hardly progressive at all, this is nice example of such genre, popular around Europe and represented by hundred minstrels from different countries. Even more - this album obviously has its Italian signature - more polished sound, plenty of baroque elements, dramatic bombastic emotive atmosphere, usual for Italian music melodies.

The main question for me is how could such music be connected with RPI phenomena from seventies? I tried hard , but besides of some same names I didn't find that connection at all.

Possibly, I am wrong person for such music - I don't like over emotive sweetie singing, romance guitars, dramatic looks and pop-music, wearing intellectual clothes. But it's just me.

My rating - 2,5, rounded to 3.

In 2008 Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno, one of the many one shot bands of the Italian progressive scene of the early seventies, came to life again on the initiative of singer and guitarist Luciano Regoli and in 2010 they released a new album on the independent label BTF, "Il pittore volante" (The flying painter). Along with Luciano Regoli the line up on this work features the veterans Roberto Gardin (bass, guitar), Nanni Civitenga (bass, guitar, keyboards), Walter Martino (drums) and some prestigious guest musicians like Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli, Lino Vairetti, Nicola Di Staso, Maurizio Pariotti and Carl Verheyen just to name a few. Anyway "Il pittore volante" is mainly the brainchild of Luciano Regoli who wrote music and lyrics and conceived it as a concept album inspired by a book with the same title, a kind of travelogue that he wrote and published some years ago and that he dedicated to the late Iginio Gonni, a painter and a friend, dead in 2003. The basic idea was that of an old painter who flies and look at his life from above. On the booklet you can find not only the lyrics but also a picture for every piece painted by Luciano Regoli himself. As for the music, the overall sound is not stuck in the seventies and on this work you can perceive even metal influences along with a more typical Italian progressive style. Well, during the nineties Luciano Regoli had been a member of the prog metal band DGM and he don't disown this experience...

The opener "Il cambiamento" (The changing) tells of a spiritual metamorphosis. It starts softly with a mystical atmosphere, then hard guitar riffs and harmonica introduce the changing... "It happened in those days / Something revolted inside me / Fast as a blizzard... Alone in that room I fell asleep / Dark dreams / Alone in that room I woke up in discomfort... Ah! I was changing and I didn't want it / But I was coming to life again / Yes! I was coming to life again...".

"Il vecchio" (The old man) begins with a piano solo introduction. It's a tense and melancholic track depicting the meeting with an old friend who has just had a stroke... "They had cut off his hair / That old madman was trudging up the hill / Marked by the paralysis that had darkened his mind, his limbs, his fingers / I remember him just a few months before / Enormous, disdainful, with a magnificent beard...They had cut off his hair".

"Il fuoco" (The fire) features a duet with sweet and dreamy female vocals and an ethereal and suggestive nocturnal atmosphere. Lyrics and music depict fire as a metaphor of fear in front of a natural impending event, a fire burning false fairy tales, pains, fears, desires and thoughts... "The night was over there, in front of me / Some rocks were burning / Above me gentle wings were flying away / They were flying high, they moved the air with a deaf noise / So I followed them, with the light behind my shoulders / Towards dark clouds...".

"Eagle Mountain" is a long and complex track that tells about a journey through the desert in North America. A good acoustic guitar intro by Nicola Di Staso (former member of Libra and in the line up of Daemonia) leads to new horizons and spectacular panoramas where two friends enjoy the quiet and strange atmosphere of the desert until, in the middle of a magnificent and silent landscape, they find an old truck. There's a sudden change of mood. The truck stands still but the engine is running, the driver is naked and... dead! "He let us staring at him while the night was falling in us / They day after in a café people were whispering about him / But the air was clear / We went out / I switched the engine on...".

"La mente" (The mind) features a dark and nervous mood. It's a kind of dive into madness and lyrics draw images that seem coming out from a Stephen King's novel. An enormous wasp trying to enter the room, an agoraphobic scene in the subway... "My God! What is happening to me? I'm alone, with my only enemy / I'm alone, with my ego...".

"L'uomo nuovo" (The new man) is another beautiful track. It features the arrangement by Claudio Simonetti and it seems conceived as a thriller score. It is about fear, the fear that a man has to overcome to reach knowledge. "At the beginning of the tunnel, under the subway / That noise of water running, under the subway tunnel / I paid attention but I couldn't understand the origin of that noise...".

"Le anime" (The souls) features a slow pace and a haunting mood. It depicts a nocturnal landscape. It's midnight on Elba Island and while the protagonist walks back home along a narrow street he can see the people that used to live there when he was a child and that now are nothing but shadows. "They can't see me / But I recognize them all...".

"Raoul" is settled in Paris. It's a complex piece that starts as a strange mix of hard rock and Italian melody (a peculiar blend between Aerosmith and Quartetto Cetra I dear say), then rhythm calms down and the atmosphere becomes dramatic. Music and lyrics depict a drunken clochard who's sleeping under a cardboard... "What made him still appear like a man was just a name / That name tattooed on his wrist / Only that name, Raoul...".

"La spiaggia" (The beach) is settled in Portugal. It's an amazing short ballad featuring a swirling flute and a vocal style that could remind of the Italian minstrel Angelo Branduardi. It tells of a strange meeting on a solitary beach on the Atlantic Ocean with a threatening sea that seemed like dog on the chain, desperately barking because it couldn't go any further, blocked by the high cliffs... "I felt like I couldn't breath on the beach / The rocks behind me and the thundering sea in front of me / All night long with that deaf noise...". A good finale for an excellent album, one of the best releases of 2010 so far.

By the way, a special box set edition containing the album and the book was released for collectors and die hard fans. You can read the book (in Italian) also on the official website of the artist.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm..........

RRR is back again with their second album after a 38 years long break. As far as I remember, the first album was pretty much a complex slightly jazzy album. Il Pittore Volante is not.

In contrast to the debut album, RRR has taken a more pop-rock route on Il Pittore Volante. The music is pretty uncomplicated and therein; commercial. Commercial without the great tracks that require. Yes, there are a lot of RPI influences here too. The language for example. But most of this album is uncomplicated piano, female choir and guitar driven pop-rock. The opening track Il Cambiamento is the exception from this rule though.

Despite of my general disdain towards the pop-rock genre, most of this album contains some good to very good music. La Spiaggia for example with the strong Jethro Tull influences. The rest of the album is not of the same high standard as the two above mentioned songs.

This is a good effort and RRR is welcomed back again to the scene. But this album is does not hit the high notes in my home, I am afraid.

3 stars

Nearly 40 years passed between the recording of the bands debut album, the subsequent split- up, and the release of this, their second album. From reading reviews of those more familiar with the classic era of this sub-genre then myself, I get the impression that the music has changed quite a bit in this time.

This is to be expected, of course, and not just because of the passage of time or some changes to the bands lineup. This album was conceived by Luciano Regoli, who also handles the vocal and guitar duties on this album, as a companion to several of the paintings that he had done. My copy of the album (the mini-LP version) comes with a booklet that includes small images of the paintings, which is quite nice.

The music on this album includes some of the heaviest stuff I have heard in the RPI sub-genre thus far, especially the hard-rocking opener track (Il Cambiamento) which includes the use of a harmonica - a great sounding track! Luciano's singing really makes a great first impression, he just straddles the line where dramatic crosses over to cheesy, giving the music a lot of intensity.

Of course, the music on this album features more than just hard-rock sounding music, with jazzy interludes (Il Vecchio), great acoustic lines (the opening of Eagle Mountain), and even some great female vocals. This variety gives the album a lot of life.

Ultimately, it is these elements - the variety, the great vocals, and a healthy dose of melody, that really make this album an enjoyable listen from start to finish for me. It's obvious that many of these Italian bands coming back after so many years are doing so purely because they have something they want to say, not out of a desire for money, and as the listener, we reap the benefits of their passion.

Bassist Manlio Zacchia was replaced by Roberto Gardin after the release of ''Per... un mondo di cristallo'', but Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno disbanded shortly afterwards, refusing to play at the Sanremo Festival, forced by Fonit.Luciano Regoli and Nanni Civitenga later formed Samadhi and Francesco Francica became a member of Procession and Kaleidon.But in 2010 the band surprisingly returned with a new album and a line-up comprising of Luciano Regoli, Nanni Civitenga, Roberto Gardin and drummer Walter Martino, formerly of Libra, Reale Accademia di Musica and Goblin.The album ''Il pittore volante'' was released on BTF, featuring guest performances by Osanna's Lino Vairetti, Fabio Pignatelli and Claudio Simonetti from Goblin, Nicola Di Staso from Libra, Maurizio Parlotti from DGM and Carl Verheyen from Supertramp.It was recorded at Walter Martino's Minirec Studio on the island of Elba.

Firstly you've got to give credits to Luciano Regoli for the impressive artwork of the album, the man had been a painter for years as well as a leading figure during the early years of Italian Prog Metal'lers DGM.Second, you shouldn't expect something very close to ''Per... un mondo di cristallo'', gone is the ethereal, bucolic and symphonic sound of the band's legendary debut and the style presented here is much heavier, retaining much of the symphonic qualities of the long gone past.''Il pittore volante'' should be considered propably as a Heavy/Symphonic Rock album with occasional Medieterrenean flavors through the use of acoustic guitars and violin, while the expressive Italian vocals dominate the album.The music is based on powerful electric guitars with some lighter solos and moves on the way, the extended use of synthesizers and the Classical-influenced calm piano lines, which are often interrupted by acoustic textures and more poetic moments.The tracks are pretty long with a deep sense of diversity and some BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO sensibilities during the romantic vocal parts, the flexibility of the album is definitely tremendous with some dark and complex passages via the use of sax and even some hidden Fusion tastes, when the violin is upfront.''Il pittore volante'' glances to the past in the sparse organ-colored tunes and the vintage acoustics are still pronounced for a fair length of the album.But the overall sound is rather updated, especially when the electric guitars, the high-pitched vocals and modern keyboards come in evidence.Fortunately the arrangements are certainly written with a symphonic background and the Italian nuance is evident throughout the album.

One of the most decent comebacks among the old Italian groups, especially when considering that many of them were pretty dissapointing.Updated Italian Prog with folky, symphonic, pop and Fusion vibes and a few pretty great instrumental parts.Recommended.

RRR went right by my radar in 2010, but thankfully I got a reminder from my cat burglar prog friend that I should go out and hunt this sucker down. I know of them but never took the plunge back in the 70s when they made a slight stir with their debut "Per?Un Mondo di Cristallo" released back in 1972. 38 years later they reappear with "Il Pittore Volante", getting marks for patience especially when one realizes these dudes are from Rome, the bastion of calm (hahaha!). The crazed voice of Luciano Regoli is a highlight to say the least and guitarist Nanni Civitenga is quite a legend in RPI circles (both having fronted the delicious Samadhi) and drummer maestro Walter Martino is ex- Goblin. Add to that list some stellar guest stars in Lino Vairetti (Osanna), Claudio Simonetti (Goblin) and Carl Verheyen (Supertramp) and you get quite a stage to fill.

From the opening rocking martial shuffle of "Il Cambiamento", one gets the gist of what will unfurl with this long awaited effort. Powerfully confident, creative and expertly played the album has a crisp sound, a sublime cover and artwork, everything is there to keep any listener fascinated. Sitar noises, distant voices and rattling choices, evolving into a surprising bluesy harmonica that introduces the megalodon riff, accosted by the shrieking Robert Plant-like vocal and the plaintive synth searchlight. Tinges of Led Zeppelin, what with the booming drums that only add to the glory. Guest guitarist Massimiliano Castellini peels off a rippling solo that oozes painfully forward, letting fabulous percussor Walter Martino to bash to his heart's content.

Jazzier realms surface on "Il Vecchio", a more controlled piece led by sultry piano played by another cameo guest in Francesco Venerucci that ultimately peppers violin and sax into the stew, a tumultuous track that definitely evokes the passage of time as Regoli sings in his tired and broken tone.

The charming ballad "Il Fuoco" sets the spotlight on Cristina Cioni and her rapturous voice, some slick guitar flicks, both acoustic and electric, and a gentle expanse for Luciano to duet wonderfully with the expressive female voice. I mean a prog duet! If someone says that's too poppy and should be labelled next to Andrea Boceli/Sarah Brightman, well they need to listen to the instrumental background as it isn't classical orchestra, by any stretch. Nanni actually handles all the instruments save the drums and does a masterful job on guitars (both acoustic and electric), keyboards and bass. Wow!

The longest track is the 10 minute "Eagle Mountain", deservedly beginning with an extended acoustic guitar introduction that is spellbinding, then morphing into a bluesy paced rocker with sweeping synth coverage, Regoli grasping the microphone and howling appropriately, organ boiling and guitar sizzling. Further alteration as another duet with Cioni kicks in, before veering into a cosmic groove that is close to Floyd than anything, extended by a lengthy synth streak, giving invitee Maurizio Pariotti a lot of room to display his ivory tickling skills. Nanni on bass really kills it, propelling nicely. Finally, Nicola di Staso shoots off a frazzled electric guitar solo that howls, screeches and pleads.

The withdrawn mood of "La Mente" calls on the marvelous Fabio Pignatelli of Goblin fame, one of my all-time favorite bass players, to take center stage with his Rickenbacker and lay down a tight furrow. A distressed saxophone emerges from the fire, likes some fiery phoenix. The second section propses a total change of sound, as dual guitars show off a hard-edged bluesy tinge with both Regoli and Riccardo Santini stinging their frets, ministered by smooth as silk synthesizer phrasings and an icy cool rhythmic drive. Regoli's voice is sonically altered to be detached and vacuous as the crazed sax (Fabrizio Desideri) returns angrily, dogs barking harshly in the background. Really fine track, indeed.

RRR does Goblin on "L'Uomo Nuovo" with the renowned Claudio Simonetti handling the raging and spooky Hammond organ, the thumping bass guitar, piano, vocoder and the guitars. Cioni does sublime backing vocals of a more angelic nature, as Regoli does his finest vocal performance, nearly the equal of giants like Di Giacomo, Tagliapietra and Corviglia. Fast, rapid and furious, this is a crimson red Ferrari rolling down the autostrada, handling the pavement like a blanket. At first I thought "Le Anime" was a classic Robin Trower song, until the symphonics kicked in, densely solidifying the theme with synthesized dynamics, booming bass and forlorn drum beat. The streaking guitars are up-front and center, bleeding notes as hard as Regoli's impassioned rant, shrieking at times like the Zep Plant. He also reminded me of Mona Lisa's theatrical vocalist Dominique LeGuennec on their classic "Voyage avec les Morts". ZZ Top riffs and a hard rock female backing vocal choir accompanies Regoli's agitated voice as the guitar sounds even more like Trower, here played by Supertramp sideman Carl Verheyen to prodigious effect, tossing in some Santana-isms to boot. Prog-blues at its finest, there is also some Floydian elements found mainly on the Martino drums and Pignatelli's sure-fire bass playing. This was "Raoul".

"La Spaggia" culminates this splendid offering, a dainty affair, bucolic and breezy, a dizzying butterfly flute and playful minstrel-like voice telling the story with hushed amusement, and mellotron backing. Perfetto.

4.5 Flying Pictures

In 1972 RRR presented their highly acclaimed debut LP entitled Per 'Un Mundo Di Cristallo (an excellent example of the very distinctive' classic' Italian progrock) with huge variety and blending many styles), then the group disbanded and some members started to play in other bands like Samadhi and Procession.. But almost 40 years later RRR delivered a new album entitled Il Pitore Volante, already during my first listening session I got exited. What a glorious return, RRR still change very easily different styles and their music still sound captivating and adventurous with lots of musical surprises.

The album opens with the alternating Il Cambiamento: first a thrilling blend of mouth organ and propulsive guitar riffs, then a compelling climate featuring wonderful classical orchestrations, a spectacular synthesizer solo and blistering guitar leads and finally an experimental part with drums, piano and brass. All topped by powerful, slightly theatrical Italian vocals. This promising start epitomizes RRR their music because in the other 8 tracks we can enjoy a huge variety, an adventurous approach and strong solos. For example, from the sultry Eastern climate with passionate vocals to a surprising acceleration with folky violin and cheerful vocals in Il Vecchio. And the varied guitar work in Eagle Mountain: a Hackett-like classical guitar intro, then fat Texan bluesrock guitar and finally a Floydian guitar solo. Or take the Seventies symphonic rock in L'Uomo Nuovo featuring swirling Hammond, flashy Minimoog and sparkling flute traverse and the cheerful folky final track La Spiaggia that contains warm acoustic guitar, vocals and flute. So much to enjoy!

RRR their music succeeded to keep my attention during every second, but you have to be up to their varied sound and their musical contrasts. In case you are, this album is highly recommended! By the way, 3 years ago RRR released the live CD Live In Elba featuring both old and new tracks as some surprising covers (Led Zep and Jimi Hendrix) in the second part of the set.