ANTICO TEATRO DA CAMERA

An excellent album by a solo singer/songwritter who wrote some pop songs in the late 60's/1970. Unfortunately, this album came out shortly after his death at a young age (italianprog.com says he was run over by a car). For me, that fact along with this albums sad/melancholic overtones makes for an uneasy but rewarding listen. The album is sandwhiched between an opening/closing piece of rain/thunder (potentially from within an attic amongst old photographs, etc.. ?) Several of the melodies are very memorable with melodic guitars/keyboards that we come to know and love from the vintage 1970's italian RPI scene. I'd say this album is a singer/songwritter concept album with progressive tendancies although he probably did not set out to make an album that would fit within the "RPI" category. I think the "RPI" label is something that came out decades later? At the time this (and the other 70's RPI classics) came out, they were just referring to this as "italian rock" whether it was the pop sounds of I,Pooh/Nomadi to the more experimental sounds of Osanna/Banco/Quella Vecchia Locanda.

GIANNI D'ERRICO had a wonderful singing voice not unlike Luccio Battisti or Claudio Rocchi/Claudio Fucci.

This album blends styles that you're familiar with from Luccio Battisti/Claudio Fucci (another underrated gem) from a singer/songwritter aspect along with some of the bombastic/delicate styles you hear across several of Le Orme's early 1970's gem.

I'd post a youtube link in here but if you want to sample some of the songs from this album, they're out on youtube to listen to.

Please search for GIANNI D'ERRICO Delvish as that's one of the best songs on this album and will give you an idea of the mood/atmosphere of this album.

I'm tempted to round up to 4.5 stars just because this album really deserves a listen to those who like 70's italian prog who have not heard of this guy.

I do consider this a "minor classic" of the italian 70's scene.