MELLONTA TAUTA

Lush 70s symphonic for Genesis fans, by Genesis fans

If you love warm, accessible symphonic and neo-prog, you're going to love this open-hearted gem of uplifting melodic prog-rock. The band hails from 1970s Italy but this is no rough and tumble RPI group. This band loves Genesis so much that they eventually morphed into the Genesis cover band "Duke." They sing in English and write songs that could have come from some lost late 70s Genesis project. There is also an early neo-prog edge to these late '70s recordings. The final product doesn't sound too far from the early albums of the German band Rousseau, but perhaps with more bite and fire in the guitar solos.

The studio tracks are beautifully atmospheric with a fat and mellow bass, constantly floating synths and e-piano, and impressive drumming. The English vocals have a slight Italian accent but are pretty decent. Guitarist Mauro Scapolo is a melodic monster, spinning one romantic, soaring lead after another. With an up-front fiery sound yet tasteful delivery he really puts this band over the top. The songs do not hold back trying to be cool or aloof, they are extroverted, they build, and they wear unashamed emotions on their sleeve for all to take freely. The long and dramatic tracks have a wonderful acoustic solo named "La Rochelle" planted in the middle. Two tracks feature enthusiastic saxophone solos. If you enjoy stuff like Sebastian Hardie, Moongarden, Novalis, or Druid; if you like pleasing music that doesn't take itself too seriously, you might want to consider this rarity before it goes out of print.

In the early 1980s the band changed some members and became "Duke" who continue to this day. This album contains three live Genesis numbers, Hackett's "Every Day" plus two long classics medleys bringing the album to 73 minutes long. The live Genesis tracks are exciting and quite well done. Understand this is a regional group and the album does not have the exact perfection of a Genesis release. You'll hear some mistakes and production issues, but if you can tolerate that and just enjoy some positive music whose sole purpose is your entertainment, you should love this. I enjoyed it very much even though it is derivative and not the kind of music I generally go for. I also appreciate the wide-eyed innocence of the album cover, whose simplicity is so refreshing in this age of album-art overkill. The cover perfectly sums up the spirit of Mellonta Tauta. Yet another reward for those willing to dig deep through the Mellow ranks. Bravo.

Mellonta Tauta were a late-70's Italian band from Padova, which never made it to a studio album around the time, despite recording a good number of tracks.The band was Mauro Scapolo on lead guitar/backing vocals, Alessandro Garbelotto on drums/flute/backing vocals, Massimo De Mari on lead vocals, Maurizio Fava on keyboards and Andrea Pasqui on bass.Archival sessions of the band were collected and released in 1993 by Mellow Records as a self-titled album.

11 tracks in here and 8 of them show Mellonta Tauta' huge GENESIS influence, these pieces were recorded at the Gardus Ad Parnassum Studio in Padova in 1978 and at the La Fattoria Studios in Vicenza in 1980.They show a group revisiting the more recent GENESIS albums, as their influences come mostly from the 75'-80' period of the legendary Englishmen with some backdrops from the far past, especially during the acoustic parts.The sound is mostly based in acoustic and electric piano, synthesizer and guitars, creating a very soft atmosphere, which combines sensitive vocal lines with melodic soundscapes and a pre-Neo Prog feel.There are bits from symphonic keyboards and some STEVE HACKETT-like guitar chops, but the overall mood recalls GENESIS circa-''Wind and wuthering''/''...And then there were three...''.Mellow instrumental passages and light, melodic tunes dominate these recordings without the epic atmosphere of their idols, propably a sign they were downgraded by the period fashion for more accesible and harmonic arrangements.''In the name of God'' contains some nice echoes from the old GENESIS with trembling guitars, throbbing bass and crying solos, but it sounds extremely similar to the British band to be trully appreciated.

No wonder, the band evolved to the cover act Duke in 1981 with Scapolo, Garbelotto and De Mari joined by Marco Zorzato on keys and Giuseppe Borigo on bass.Three live tracks from 1983 at two different stages are displayed in the album, Steve Hackett's ''Every day'' and two Genesis medleys despite the confusing titles of ''I know what I like'' and ''The lamb lies down on Broadway''.All three executions are great with a full GENESIS-inspired sound, highlighted by the great bass and guitar work and the good use of keyboards (mainly organ and synthesizer).Good thing is the singer never tries to sound like Peter Gabriel.

When the album comes to an end and the three best tracks are the Genesis covers this is a problem.The original material is not bad, some melodies are pretty nice, but the lack of dynamics and a personal approach hurt these recordings.Recommended to fans of GENESIS-styled Neo Prog, but be warned that there are several albums better than this one out there...2.5 stars.