PERDIO: RACCOLTA COMPLETA 1973-76

Another lost gem!

Another entry on the far-too-long list of 'RPI What Might Have Beens.' Hailing from Bergamo, the trio initially formed in 1972. Colleoni and Capogrosso had played together in I RAMINGHI and TERZA CLASSE, a band which also provided the nucleus for another band from Bergamo, MADRUGADA.

Despite some decent live activity, most notably in support of BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO, PFM, AREA, NEW TROLLS ATOMIC SYSTEM, ALAN SORRENTI, and FRANCO BATTIATO, PERDIO was only able to garner work as session musicians and never able to release an album during their lifetime. By the end of 1974 they decided to split up. They reunited briefly in 1976, but this reunion was short-lived, and the band disappeared.

During the prog rebirth in the 1990s, several Italian labels released posthumous albums of 1970s bands that never issued albums during their lifetime. Such it was that in 1998 Giallo Records released a compilation of some of the surviving recordings of PERDIO, four tracks from 1973 and two from 1976, entitled 'Perdio: Raccolta Completa 1973-76.' The sound quality is that of demo or good live recordings, and the instrumentation consists of organ, bass and drums, with guitar added to the 1976 tracks.

The music shows promise and good improvisational skills. Of note are two versions of the lovely ballad 'E' Triste il Vento,' a song also performed by MADRUGADA, probably a carryover by both bands from their TERZA CLASSE days. To my ear, the 1973 tracks are better and are more typical RPI sounding, with a nice mixture of strong melodies and improvisation. The 1976 tracks, including one version of 'E' Triste il Vento,' incorporate a much spacier, extended feel, perhaps even showing some Krautrock influences. Check out the video for "Londonderry" on the PA artist page, which gives a good feel for the 1973 tracks. (The other video, a recent live version of "E' Triste il Vento," is much more world-music-sounding than either the 1973 or 1976 versions on this album, but is another really nice interpretation of a beautiful song.)

Certainly not essential in the vast RPI catalogue, PERDIO nevertheless is a solid entry in the annals of RPI. If you are inclined to investigate this delightful band, I would recommend starting with this compilation and go from there. Although the CD is out of print, the album is available for legal download at eMusic and Amazon at least, probably others as well. 3+ stars (Gnosis 10/15).

Perdio were unsurprisingly another case of a 70's Italian band with no recordings during their early lifetime.Found in 1972 and coming from Bergamo, they were led by former I Raminghi members Michele Capogrosso (drums, vocals) and Titta Colleoni (keyboards) along with bassist/vocalist Fulvio Monieri.Perdio had a good live activity but disbanded in 1974, failing to sign a contract with a label, returning for a brief reunion in 1976 with the fourth member being guitarist Diego Valtorta.Four of the 73' recordings along with two ones from the 76' line-up were captured and released in 1998 as ''Raccolta completa'' by Giallo Records, at a time when the band had returned alive and kicking after more than 20 years.

The album features two reworkings of the Madrugada classic track ''E'Triste il Vento'' (both Perdio and Madrugada members played in the short-lived band Terza Classe), the first by the 73' trio being close to Italian Classic Prog with a soft symphonic atmosphere, fantastic vocals and excellent keyboard work, the secong edition from 1976 being close to a psychedelic jam session with some spacey parts and far from the original track.The 1973 Perdio were actually a pretty good band, the other three cuts from that period are nice examples of their trully progressive sound, which was a mix of organ-driven Psychedelic Rock with CLEARLIGHT-like Space/Fusion-esque keyboard touches and smooth Symphonic Rock in the vein of GENESIS.The compositions are long, semi-structured, with plenty of instrumental parts and Colleoni's unique keyboard approach on the forefront, accompanied by a pounding rhythm section.In a blink of an eye the band switches from heavy organ grooves to classic Italian canzone and from synth-based trippy experiments to calm melodic passages.Some moments though are a bit excessive, however the majority of their length are well-executed Italian Prog with a tendency towards experimentation and improvisation.The other track from the 1976 line-up is actually an ultra-long jam, clocking at over 22 minutes, with guitars, organ and electric pianos being quite dominant, still this has some interesting psychedelic parts and of course the familiar Perdio energy, but it is definitely overstretched and hard-listening.

A great archival release for fans of Italian Prog and a pretty nice addition for the rest of the prog audience.Especially fans of more experimental prog forms with a good dose of Classic Prog stylings are more likely to appreciate it.Recommended.