All Prog From Italy Appreciation Thread |
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jimmy_row
Forum Senior Member Joined: July 11 2007 Location: Hibernation Status: Offline Points: 2601 |
Posted: February 09 2008 at 11:46 | |
but that brings up another thing about some RPI ...we know the "tough" ones are very divisive: Osanna, Battiato, Cervello, Area, Jumbo, etc., but also most of the soft, "easy" ones have mixed reviews to the same extent (Celeste, Era di Acquario, Locanda delle Fate...).
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jimmy_row
Forum Senior Member Joined: July 11 2007 Location: Hibernation Status: Offline Points: 2601 |
Posted: February 09 2008 at 11:50 | |
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 10 2008 at 09:39 | |
thinking back on RRR... nice to see this review.. from another site
http://www.vintageprog.com/rrr.htm |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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jimmy_row
Forum Senior Member Joined: July 11 2007 Location: Hibernation Status: Offline Points: 2601 |
Posted: February 10 2008 at 11:39 | |
that looks like an interesting site, lots of rare stuff, I noticed RDM on that same page...actually there's quite a few Italian albums now that I look down through. L'uovo di Colombo and Panna Fredda are two more that I need to put on THE list...and RRR now goes to the top due to the Tull reference in that review
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 10 2008 at 14:00 | |
hahahha. . yeah really.. but don't expect Tull when you hear it. Remember to some.. if you hear a flute in prog... it is called Tull influenced
it isn't Tull .. but man is it good. |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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jimmy_row
Forum Senior Member Joined: July 11 2007 Location: Hibernation Status: Offline Points: 2601 |
Posted: February 10 2008 at 18:38 | |
well, if their flutist stands on one leg I'll call it even... |
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Signature Writers Guild on strike
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 10 2008 at 18:40 | |
*imagines as much if it helps* |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 10 2008 at 22:02 | |
here's a review from James.. I don't have this one... for those like me that don't...
BLOCCO MENTALE
Review | Album details | All reviews | Buy Music Review by Finnforest (James) [Prog Reviewer ] Posted 8:10:29 PM EST, 2/10/2008
Pure pleasure, on my list of rare Italian gems While the accomplished heavy hitters of the Italian scene get most of the buzz, it is the undiscovered artistic gems of the lesser known groups that excite me, as they toiled in obscurity to produce their one-off magnum opus likely realizing they wouldn’t get another chance. Blocco Mentale is one of my favorites, blending superb musicianship, great vocals, enthusiastic flurries of ideas, good sound, and thoughtful arrangements. While certainly not hard-edged and harsh like the more daring Italprog groups, Blocco is by no means pop drivel. They instead inhabit a middle ground combining catchy and memorable melodies with playing that is not flashy but is nearly understated perfection. The album glows with a warm organic sound that stimulates emotionally and intellectually on the musical side. Lyrically of course I cannot comment on the quality and I’m happy about that as the vocals are just another color of the sound. POA stands up with my other favorite lesser known gems like Reale Accademia, RRR, and Apoteosi in providing a musical experience that is extremely accessible and yet fulfilling enough for Italian prog fans. Gnosis2000’s Peter Thelen notes “Here's an Italian band from 1973 that, instead of taking their cue from the keyboard driven sound of ELP, have more in common with the sound of Jethro Tull, early PFM, maybe Blodwyn Pig, and perhaps early Yes as well; there are near-schizophrenic outbursts of high speed sax-driven rock going right into the folky flute and guitar textures similar to Per Un Amico era PFM. Of course there are keyboards here, piano, Hammond, mellotron, and more, but it's more an integral part of the music than a dominant force and vehicle for solos. The band has two lead vocalists, Aldo Angeletti who doubles on bass, and Dino Finocchi who also plays sax and flute. One of the two sounds surprisingly similar to the vocalist in Latte E Miele. The band creates a diversity of moods and currents within their music, moving effortlessly between styles, doing fast changes from a simpler accessible folk styling straight into ripping bits of jazz-rock, with intense involvement from all…”[Peter Thelen] Dr. Progresso’s web review adds “The album opens with angular staccato sax riffs and then slides into a lush melody somewhat reminiscent of PFM in their early (and best) days. There are rich vocal harmonies blended with organ and flute, and once again a Mediterranean sensibility which distinguishes much of the best Italian progressive rock. Swelling Mellotrons blend into vocal harmonies, and give way to a cascading piano line. The music moves around a lot in the course of the album. The fourth track, Io E Me, is an amazing Mediterranean blues, with a wailing harmonica taking the lead. One has the sense that the group was striving to produce a well-rounded album, rather than stamping out each track with the same stylistic cookie cutter. (This was an approach much more common in sixties and early seventies rock than it is today.)” [Dr. Progresso] Blocco Mentale were a band from Rome who released this one-off in the most orgasmic year of Italian prog, 1973. It is slightly longer than most at 40 minutes and deals with nature and the creeping realization that man was altering the environment in ways that would eventually lead to destruction. The group released another single after this album but then quickly folded which is a real shame. A message from the band in the liner notes states “We’d like to talk about nature. With these few tracks we’d like to remind the little green world that is still around us. Maybe there could be a different world than the one we’ve created…maybe you could discover too all the values of life that we have been lately disregarding. With love.” Nothing dated about the message although the telling of the story lyrically and visually is noted by some as perhaps….well…the main character deals with these issues via conversations with a flower…so yeah. While that aspect may come off as dated or naïve set it aside and enjoy the fine music to be had. Eventually the band would reform under another name Limousine and have some modest success with a more commercial sound. That band folded when keyboardist Lazarri, dealing with depression, attempted suicide. He died in 1991 in a car accident while heading to a gig in Rome. Like so many other quality one-shot Italian bands, drummer Michele Arena said the label signed them up upon hearing them play and then never provided any support or promotion once the album was pressed. “Capita” begins with a guitar/sax tradeoff that instantly reminded me of Gentle Giant but soon becomes typical Italian sounding, with the romantic vocals, warm bass, acoustic, and flutes. Nice keyboard runs and good percussion accenting some choppy sounding guitar, the moods here move back and forth from contemplative to a mid-paced rock. I think it’s a very good opener with lots of thoughtful instrumental choices arranged nicely together leaving the listener primed. “Aria e mele” again begins with playful saxophone that leads into a bouncy synth that soon changes to piano and bass. Soon the piano, bass, and flute are caught in a fiery jazzy section with the drummer….breaking down into a heavy harmonized vocal section leading back to a dark Crimson-like riff briefly. Much is happening very fast so it’s hard to keep up typing as I listen…usually a great sign that the music is interesting! This song turns into a real maelstrom with everyone joining into this dramatic riff that stops as “Impressioni” is connected via the mellotron. The delicate opening begins with flute over a softly picked acoustic guitar and mellotron, the perfect balance to the stormy previous track. Then in walks a delightful nostalgic piano melody over the flute and tron. Yeah, it’s nice. I think even those who don’t like Blocco Mentale would have to admit that “Impressioni” is a fair piece of prog. Dramatic drum rolls arise and peak with cymbal crashes as the flute gets more intense. Then it falls back as the soft first vocal verse begins accompanied only by acoustic. There are several vocalists on this album and all are quite good and never annoying, and there is good balance between amount of vocal and instrumental sections. The chorus section is very nice with the mellotron coming back and a nice build-up of bass/drums. Around the 6 minute mark the sax and guitar spar for a bit with the keyboardist and they share some riffs punctuated by starts and stops controlled by the drummer. Then Finocchi lets rip with a nice front end sax solo and the song closes nicely leading into “Io e me.” Many of the tracks simply flow right into the next song giving the album a connected feeling rather than the typical fadeouts. “Io e me” starts with a bluesy harmonica section leading to the vocal and acoustic guitar strumming. Bass and hand drumming accompany the singing and harmonic until the mellotron creeps in briefly. The next section has harmonized vocals and a California sounding hippie vibe like they spent the afternoon jamming with Bobby and Pigpen. Definitely a shift in feel on this track that offers variety but is not up to the material preceding or following it. “La nuova forza” has a heavily pounded piano opening leading into a trippy keyboards sequence spiced with flute and good drumming, then a nicely altered acoustic guitar and flute play a pretty lead in to the vocals. Good sentimental melodies with catchy refrains put this close to proggy pop music but it is so well done it goes down very easily and there is enough care to the instrumental to sell it. Beautiful vocals blend with the warm bass and offer frequent guitar, flute, and piano as counterpoints. “Ritorno” is pure heaven with extended washes of lovely piano playing and amazingly well-crafted band jamming tight and focused-great track. “Verde” features a more sugary sound again over mellotron. The vocals are upbeat harmonies and the structure is standard but the playing expressive. Certainly the least proggy moment on the album but still enjoyable. There are two CD versions, one on Mellow and one on Vinyl Magic. While the Mellow issue gives you two bonus tracks and better art reproduction, the sound quality is reported to be better on the VM release that I have. I have not heard Mellows, but I can vouch that the sound is good on the VM. Thus you can decide between sound or bonus tracks/artwork, personally I’d take the one that sounds better especially when dealing with the early 70s period. While POA may never be hailed on the same level as the PFMs and QVLs I must recommend this album to all Italian fans. For those who like to find the gems, this one will deliver quality playing and melodic music to your ears and I think you will like it. It is not a perfect album or masterpiece but it’s a damn good one. Not every attempt works and there are other moments that cry out for some special oomph that is missed. But the unabashed enthusiasm is undeniable and the results good enough to recommend to fans outside the Italian fanbase. I’d have to put this on the south side of 4 stars but I have enough affection to round up. |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Dominic
Forum Senior Member Joined: January 02 2008 Location: Liberation Land Status: Offline Points: 651 |
Posted: February 11 2008 at 01:27 | |
"Sulle Corde di Aries" by Franco Battiato... wow! I'm sure that everyone here has probably chatted it up already about FB in past pages, but i just have to bring it up. Very beautiful and creative...
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 08:39 | |
it is true listening 'experience' . Glad you enjoyed it |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 08:43 | |
Hey Ryan... how'd you make out with that ice storm. Ran into a guy who told me that left DC at 4.. and didn't get to Alexandria till 9:30. I-395 was a parking lot from Springfield.. into DC. People were stuck in their cars and pissing right out the door hahhahah.
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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NotAProghead
Special Collaborator Errors & Omissions Team Joined: October 22 2005 Location: Russia Status: Offline Points: 7910 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 09:30 | |
I see Angelo Branduardi has been added to Italian Symphonic Prog. "Mother did it need to be so high?" Yes, he's very special and outstanding artist, he collaborated with Banco members and he has orchestral works, but first of all he is a singer-songwriter, far from prog-rock in general. IMHO his proper place on PA is in Prog-related section. Edited by NotAProghead - February 13 2008 at 09:32 |
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Who are you and who am I to say we know the reason why... (D. Gilmour)
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jimmy_row
Forum Senior Member Joined: July 11 2007 Location: Hibernation Status: Offline Points: 2601 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 10:12 | |
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Signature Writers Guild on strike
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 10:26 | |
Amen to that ... would have taken the snow over the ice any day. |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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jimmy_row
Forum Senior Member Joined: July 11 2007 Location: Hibernation Status: Offline Points: 2601 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 10:29 | |
you bet...I have a daunting 45 degree angle of a hill to slide down, and I'll just say it ain't fun in my little Chevy if there's ice on it ...and I'm off to school through the winter wonderland, peace.
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Signature Writers Guild on strike
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 10:31 | |
be safe .. and peace
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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Raff
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 29 2005 Location: None Status: Offline Points: 24429 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 13:05 | |
First of all, Prog-Related additions are the prerogative of the Admin Team, so we can't just up and decide to add someone to that category. Secondly, Branduardi's early output (Seventies and early Eighties) is quite different from the standard singer-songwriter fare in Italy. The sources of inspiration (both musical and lyrical) for his Seventies albums are the same as for many acts included in Prog-Folk, and include both medieval and world music. As I happen to know Branduardi's albums from that period very well (I was a big fan of his as a teenager, and I even met him personally a few years ago), I wholeheartedly endorsed his addition. I'd like to remind you that we don't need an artist's whole output to be prog to add them - Alan Sorrenti turned to disco after his first three albums, but none can deny that these are essential to any self-respecting Italian prog collection. |
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 13:09 | |
and Branduaridi mixed symphonic and folk together... which is plainly obvious in his albums and his musical education.... which is why we added him
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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NotAProghead
Special Collaborator Errors & Omissions Team Joined: October 22 2005 Location: Russia Status: Offline Points: 7910 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 13:33 | |
Raffaella, micky, according to your logic, we can easily add Fabrizio De Andre' to ISP too.
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Who are you and who am I to say we know the reason why... (D. Gilmour)
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micky
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 02 2005 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 46838 |
Posted: February 13 2008 at 13:35 | |
we talked a bit about it.... but deemed he wasn't prog enough. We look at the artists.. and their output.. not tags. If you think we should take him up... I'll consider bringing him up formally before the team. |
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The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip
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