The Italian Prog Appreciation den

 

I initially was put off by the sound of the Japanese SHM mini lp as well. For me, I was appalled at the vinyl surface noise. In fact, I almost returned it!

That Japanese SHM mini lp is a new vinyl rip, which contains an extra minute of music on the song "Amico Suicida," which was inexplicably deleted when Vinyl Magic released the CD in 1989. That same Vinyl Magic release has been the source of the subsequent editions, including the BTF mini, the Korean mini, and the box set Un Biglietto per l'Inferno, although each of these has been mastered slightly differently. 

As I have come to appreciate more the original vinyl sound, I have also come to love the sound of the Japanese SHM mini, free of compression and mastering. True, it sounds flatter than the others, but to my ears anyway, I prefer that sound. But that's just me, and frankly some remasterings just sound better than the original. Like the remastered Tales from Topographic Oceans--not to mention the addition of the introductory two minutes on The Revealing Science of God.

Two truly amazing albums!

By the way, the other Biglietto material to my ears falls short of the amazing debut. The comeback album is good, but not nearly as good as the original material. And likewise for the aborted second album which saw a posthumous release.

 

Unfinished one, but if you like it get the BTF edition. The original Mellow has a terrible sound.

Do you know the live of Corte Dei Miracoli (a 1974 concert) ?

 

 

Just found this one on an old whishlist. I had completely forgotten it. Sometimes cheesy, sometimes great.

 

Sensitiva Immagine was an Italian group that released one album in the late seventies. The group consisted of Alfredo Olivieri (vocals), Massimo Buriani (guitars), Stefano Bertonazzi (keyboards), Andrea Pavinato (bass) and Franco Buriani (drums). The music is somewhat reminiscent of the other Italian symphonic groups like Locanda Delle Fate and later group Nuova Era but with some foreign influence as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel glad and sad about the music, since I was like a 17 year locust and really strayed away from the music scene entirely (except for a period of Classical) up until the early/mid-2000s, which was the sad part.  Thats when I hungered for the music of my youth again (prog) and listened to my old favorites, got stuff from that era that I always wanted but never heard and eventually led to PA discovering old and newer stuff and I soaked it up like a sponge and then RPI a few months ago, that was a defining moment and the glad part.  Discovering something that is old but new to me has been mind blowing!     Sorry for the soap box moment.....