DIMENSIONE ONIRICA

1. The sound that is available on the majority is a poor quality, and are more related with boot sounds

2. The songs that have been re-discovered are usually no masterpieces

But with the apparition of the CD industry, it was a good idea money wise to resurrect both the official and the not-so official catalogue of thousands of bands. This has often lead the fans perplexed and money less.

So, what can we expect form these lost tapes?

The problem identified in my point Nr. 1, definitely. To sell this type of work which such a poor quality is a shame. On the other end, there are some very interesting tracks as well, and it would have been a pity not be able to listen to such a beauty as Eterna Ricerca.

Since only two members from the official release from '76 are featured, the lead vocals are left to the duties of Michele Carlone, and to be honest, his smooth timbre sounds marvellously well with this delicate music. Extensively organ oriented (two players share the bill) and somewhat ELP-ish during a good chunk, the delicate second part is a real enlighten for the ears.

There are even some moments during which the Heep is instantly recognized on this album. The heavy and frenetic organ intro of Volando Nel Sole is such a moment. The frenzy is also contagious to Alessandro Della Rocca who is playing a furious guitar solo (this won't be often the case). But as for the previous song, while the voice of Michele enters the scene, a sublime and melodic part is invading your ears. It is a memorable moment.

The rest of the song is a keyboards bravery which ends up into some sort of experimental closing that could have been avoided. The band will later convert it in a much shorter format in the form of Verso Il Sole on their CDM album.

This release should suit any ELP fans who might be curious of an Italian version of their beloved which on top also features some guitar breaks to add diversity to the music (Il Volto Sconosciuto Della Terra which will be titled E Verrà L' Uomo on their later release).

Still, there are here and there some flaws mainly due to its length (but this is another problem of this album). I guess that all the material of the band is featured on here, and Riflessione is nicely melodic but repetitive.

Most songs are on the long end on this work. Dimensione Onirica is divided into two parts (there was no real need for this). It is one of the very few tracks which has a certain jazz feeling (they will be much more influenced by this musical style in their official release). But it is really on the symphonic end of the scope, don't be worry. It is fully in style with the other good tracks here.

Another characteristic of these recordings, is that they are integrating some short classical input (but I'm not into classical to tell you which ones). This can only reinforce the ELP filiation of course. It is not too bad an idea actually, since they use this artifice with moderation.

The only minus point of this long track (over fourteen minutes in total), is that the band felt it necessary to include a drum solo in this studio recording (just like The Nice did with their Ars Longa Vita Brevis suite). The Nice and ELP: do you follow me?

At this time of the recording (which lasts for fifty minutes already) it starts to work a bit on my nerves. Some more variety would have been welcome, but the band is going with the same sort of borrowed music (Breve Esistenza). Fortunately the harmonious finale (which is close to Impressioni Di Settembre from PFM) saves the bill.

Corte O Morte could also easily have been skipped. It is a full jam-oriented track. When you add the poor boot quality recording with a non-existing song writing, an inevitable feeling of boredom is rising dramatically. Press next.

The closing number Quasimodo is a an early version of I Due Amanti which was also the closing track of their official album released in '76. CDM reverts again to better ideas. This song was one of the best of Corte Dei Miracoli and there is no reason to change my mind about this great piece of music.

If there would be one day someone willing to have a remastering of this work, then we would face a four star album. As such, three stars.

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