All Prog From Italy Appreciation Thread

Review by Raff
Special Collaborator Heavy Prog Team

Palepoli (The Old Town, currently the gorgeous seafront area called Santa Lucia) is the original nucleus of the city that would later become Naples, the pearl of the Mediterranean, one of the most loved and loathed places in the world - the Italian music capital, and a notorious abode of crime and squalor (cue the recently released movie Gomorrah, and the deplorable rubbish débacle of last summer). Naples is breathtaking in its splendour, and infuriating in its unbridled anarchy - perhaps not the best place to live for someone who likes quiet and order, but an experience to be had at least once in a lifetime (for the glorious food as well as for the scenery, the art and the music). Yes, it's true... See Naples and then die. A walk in the so-called Spanish quarters is the closest you can get to a Middle Eastern souk in the heart of western Europe - and probably no one has managed to capture that heady, intoxicating atmosphere better than Naples' own sons Osanna in their third album, released in 1972.

Still active after a long hiatus, Osanna were hot stuff back in the Seventies. With their painted faces (harking back to the city's traditional mask of Pulcinella) and wild, energetic sound, they blended British-style heavy rock with unashamedly Neapolitan influences, coming from one of the oldest, most time-honoured musical traditions in the world. It has even been intimated that Peter Gabriel took his cue from Osanna when the two bands toured Italy together. As most of their fellow Neapolitans, the four members of the band had music in their blood - not the tasteful, restrained kind practiced by northern Italians PFM, but rather a full-throttle blend of passion, energy and technical skill.

Much in the same way as bands like ELP, Palepoli is not for those in search of subtlety, though I would not call it self-indulgent either. The chaos on display on the album is of the controlled variety, in spite of the somewhat fragmented nature of the compositions. However, those fragments, like the pieces of a puzzle, eventually fall together to form a complete picture. The two main tracks, sprawling epics that approach or even exceed 20 minutes in length, are linked together by a short piece reprising the opening of the album itself, and give an entirely new meaning to the expression 'a wild ride'. It is no wonder Palepoli commands such adoration on the part of prog fans - it shows progressive rock at its authentic best, soothing and lyrical at times, and at others raw, aggressive and passionate. It also shows what a wonderful contribution local musical traditions can bring to the melting pot that is prog music.

The first track, Oro caldo, can be best described as a colourful, richly-textured patchwork of musical moods. Its opening suggests the atmosphere of Naples' narrow alleys and street markets, dirty, noisy, and thoroughly fascinating, a babel of sounds, voices and sights. The influence of Neapolitan folk music, such as the frantic rhythms of the tarantella, is evident throughout the piece, especially when, at the beginning, the band members sing in the Neapolitan dialect - probably one of the best vehicles for song and music ever known to man. The sax and the flute are the trademarks of Osanna's sound, bringing a mixture of lyricism and aggression to the already exciting texture of their music. Oro caldo rocks hard (I wouldn't mind adding Osanna to Heavy Prog, though I'd rather avoid domestic strife...), but also offers quieter, more meditative moments - just like escaping the chaotic atmosphere of the Naples alleys into a darkened, half-deserted church.

The second epic, Animale senza respiro, is somewhat more structured, though it does adopt the same eclectic approach to composition as Oro caldo. It is also a distinctly darker offering, with some angular, jazzy stylings bordering on the avant-garde, dominated by flutes and saxes, interspersed with almost unexpected acoustic breaks. Not subtle, and definitely not easy listening, but totally captivating. The vocals on both tracks are stellar - lead singer Lino Vairetti would deserve to be mentioned much more frequently among the great prog vocalists, though the rest of the band are no slouches either. Being heirs to one of the greatest singing traditions ever, Osanna's vocals are much less of an acquired taste than most other RPI bands.

If you want soothing, pastoral beauty, or music that does not demand too much engagement from the listener, give this one a miss. Like the city of Naples itself, it is not for the squeamish. However, if you like your prog with some bite (and here there is plenty - think lashings of red hot pepper), and don't mind hearing people sing in a language other than English, this will grab you like few other discs produced in the Seventies will. A concept album that is rooted in gritty reality and not in the airy-fairy, first-class musicianship and singing, the heady scent of one of the oldest musical traditions in the West... What else are you looking for?

P.S. This review is dedicated to the city itself, which in October 2008 finally saw the end of our long wait to be together...

One thing you can be sure of, that album was not going to be a Palepoli pt 2. Osanna as has been mentioned around the forums is a very hard group to stick into a nice tidy box. Each album has been quite different from each of the previous albums. Can you call them symphonic.. of course not... heavy prog?... no they were much more eclectic than that. Much as Raffaella mentioned with Sicily in her wonderful 'Sulle corde di aries' review. Naples was a crossroads of many cultures and musical styles. Previous albums were building blocks to Palepoi What they did masterfully on Palepoli was to fuse that in an avant-guard/quasi-symphonic/heavy as HELL cauldron that reflected exactly what I saw on a trip to Naples last year. A city so vibrant .. so alive.. a mass of kinetic energy unparalleled to none. Unfortunately this album did not catch the band at the best of time.. in the best of moods. The group was hit with strife coming from differences in direction which of course led to temporary break-up of the group for the next couple of years after this album. So after an album that defined them.. their city... their countries contribution to the world of prog, they tried to make an album to top their masterpiece. Sadly they failed, but still left a damn good album for us to chew on.

Landscapes of Life opens with 'Il castello dell'es' which hit you right SQUARE in the chest out of the gate. A song that easily could have been on Palepoli. both in sound and in fury of sumptuous mellotron, blaring saxophone, and fast and furious charges with the stellar rhythm section. It would be no surprise to say that this is my favorite on the album. Simply ..it rocks and progs with a passion few groups approach. Especially the wimpy stuff so popular with many proggers. Imagine my surprise though, the first time I listened to this album, when I hit the second track. The title track, Landscapes of Life, yep.. big spoiler alert. Vocals in English. Repeat after me.. English is as musical a language as the dog across the street barking at the mailman. Big thumbs down from me on that. Musically.. the song is the first thing you have heard from them literally.. in years on record that is mellow and laid back. You know.. if the term AOR had existed in Italy at that time. Some wag would have thrown that tag at this song. Is it a bad song?.. no it's not. If anything it is a nice stylistic shift. It is nice anthem like song. I could see the kids flicking their zippos at the chorus of this song haha. Next please....

As if knowing their audience would want something more meaty. We get Two Boys up next. More English lyrics again which are so low in the mix, and really unintelligle due to the heavily Italian-accented English we are listening to here. The great thing again though... is we are listening to prog.. not pop. The music is what is boss here... Two Boys is an uptempo driving song with Elio D'Anna giving us swirling flute and dissonant saxophone blaring. Rustici let's it rip with a great guitar solo as well. Rather typical.. thus great example of Osanna's avant sounding bone crushing prog, minus any symphonic trappings. Again.. not the greatest thing they did, but good stuff. Fog in my Mind is up next. A stately organ introduces the song with Varietti singing...again in english. Lyrics that ...damn.. I have to say it would have been much better in Italian hahah. After two minutes akin to slow torture.. the band kicks in and all hell breaks loose.. YES.. someone has returned the Osanna I love hahha. A stuttering rhythm with powerful drumming by Massimo Guarino. All the elements that make them great are on display here. Including the wild and crazy. The complete divergence into a avant sort of percussion section was totally unexpected and yet I think really worked. We are brought back to sound and fury by the saxophone and Rustici's guitar and we crash headlong into anything in our way on the road till the whole thing breaks down at the end in a mass of twisted steel and broken bodies. If that isn't prog... what is.

I guess the band, and the audience needed a break after that high-speed car crash so what do we get. Yep.. break out the zippos and fire up a smoke. We get a minute and a half throwaway called Promise Land. Here though.. the album fails. Having set the mood to have the listener ready to be taken away we get a mid tempo number featuring acoustic guitar, slide guitar and flute called Fiume. Actually a very nice song. A good one, but as a listener to this group. I wanted to hear crunching metal and screams of fright and be taken on a wild ride. Oh well. Like I said, they probably didn't want to deliver a Palepoli pt.2 and they did not. They wanted to showcase another side of the group, don't get me wrong, it is very good. It simply is not what I wanted to hear. Somehow, Somewhere, Sometime brings the album to a close and really is an interesting track. More laid back, but musically rather interesting with some nice synth work along with some crackling guitar playing by Rustici. It moves along a nice pace till we get the cherry on top .. a fabulous mellotron section which true to the way they used it on Palepoli is out of this world. Many groups use the mellotron. Osanna is one of my favorites in the WAY they use it. The spots and places they decide to whip it out are always for maximum emotional effect. Who here doesn't have the hair on their arms stand up during an effective mellotron section. A great album closer.

Rating the album..ooohhh.. that is tough. I do love this group. However this was the weakest I think of their first 4 albums. Yes.. the english vocals do have a large part to do with it. You can not seperate the music from the singing. In so many cases the vocals can add to the overall experience of the album. Some times though.. it can detract. I do really like this album but for one checking out Osanna. This one ranks 4th of the 5 ones they issued in the 70's. For the site. 3 stars. For me somewhere in between 3 and 4... like that matters hahha.

Micky (aka Michael)