FELONA E SORONA

While the cover art has you expecting some stimulating music, you will find that such is not the case with Le Orme's masterpiece, Felona e Sorona. While the band possess a charming Italian sound with a plesant vocalist, their work lacks some musical depth. Ideas tend to be underdeveloped and instrumentals tend to be foregettable. One glaring exception is "L'Equilibrio," which in a mere 3 and 3- quarter minutes flows from a rockin' synth lead with impassioned vocals to another rockin' synth lead backed by a solid tom beat which unexpectedly moves into jazzy instrumental section and out into a melodic and climactic ending. It's hard not to sample that track and not buy the record (such was my mistake).

The band does have a nice balance to their sound. They have heavier passages among passages that approach pop territory, and it all feels natural. They have some good hooks, and the opening number gives them a lot of room to strut their stuff, which indeed they have. The problem is the album lacks development. All of the songs seem to end without closure, or without really expanding on any good ideas the band presented, and next thing you know you're on to the next song. However, while they may have stuff to strut, that opening number is actually overlong. It's almost 5 minutes longer than the next longest song on the record, but that time difference is mostly due to a large jam section in the second half. It has a couple of cool basslines, but the solos are unfortunately forgettable. To make matters worse, the production is semi-fuzzy and devoid of any punch.

Fans of the Italian prog rock sound will be swept up at the start of this one, but a closer look at this album will reveal incompletions, though it may not bother some. Obviously a multitude of prog fans love this disc, but for those not as easily taken with the Italian symphonic sound, ownership of the album may result in a dusty case and a pristine disc.