INTORNO ALLA MIA CATTIVA EDUCAZIONE

This 1970s original has been on my radar a while as a supposed representative of the more melodic and romantic side of RPI, which, I might add, is already a relatively melodic and romantic branch of progressive rock. While I wasn't as impressed initially as I had been with a few others, like CELESTE, LOCANDA DELLA FATE and SENSITIVA IMMAGINE, ALUSA FALLAX nonetheless could be compared to all 3 similarly short lived bands and might even win the battle, an inappropriate analogy since all are lovers not fighters.

The opening instrumental "Soliloquio" begins with jazzy flutes similar to JADE WARRIOR, but the comparison does not hold for long, even if Mario Cirla 's flutes are prominent throughout the disk. In fact as the tune progresses the RPI aspect takes over particularly in the keyboard effects. In a way it's too bad because the latter half seems a lot less distinctive.

For the rest, the album sports a melange of 1970s spy thriller soundtrack escapades and memorable and substantial numbers influenced by Italian popular music, with a hearty serving of mellotron and guitars. The vocals are a bit rough edged which works fine as a counterbalance to the sweet melodies as in "Cio Che nasce con me", one of the few tracks with notable vocal harmonies but less well in the more raucous tracks like the inseparable "E Oggi" and "E Cosi". I definitely hear PFM but even more LOCANDA DELLA FATE in the vocals, while the music occasionally invokes CELESTE, especially in the blend of mellotron and brass in the soulful "Reflezione" and the more balladic "per iniziare una vita", which also includes some of the best flute. A few surprises - one pleasant and the other anything but - are the very latin sounding "Carta Carbone", with bouncy rhythms, spry flutes, and nifty organ, and the narrative "Perche ho venduta il" that is like nails to the proverbial chalkboard. Rarely has a track in an otherwise fine album cried out more to be skipped like so much rope.

Yet another time capsule that leaves me wistfully reflecting on the infinite possibilities of that time, and waxing sentimental about what might have been, "Intorno Alla Mia Cattiva Educazione" offers up a teachable moment that's also fun.