LOGOS

Born in Genova in the mid 1960s, Giorgio Neri is a talented multi-instrumentalist and composer whose influences range from Orme and Osanna to Zeppelin and Yes, from Gong and Tangerine Dream to Vivaldi and Bach. He was once a member of the band Agarthi Sound Factory but decided that for an album this personal, it needed to be a solo work. While Neri plays almost everything on the album it does not sound like some of those one-man, one-dimensional album, but instead feels like a full band with a wide range of styles and variety. He described the album to me as a "personal spiritual journey" and that "Logos" is in its very essence, a prayer.

"Logos" has a most curious sound indeed, a combination of appreciations for the classic Italian prog scene mixed into a drive up spacey rock avenues. In fact the two influences are both well represented, there are long droning guitarscapes that will bring Ozric or Karet to mind mixed right in with the classic Italian symphonic sound on other songs. Neri proves himself adept at bringing these two different, wild horses into the same shed and the result is a unique experience. What can't be discounted here is the weight that the personal vision brings to this. Rather than having many writers in a band collaborating on songs, you have here a composer working through a most intimate approach, creating a concept album about his own way of understanding the spiritual universe. That means there is nowhere to hide, it's all one man pouring his heart out and Neri has done well. It opens with a sound collage of city sounds broken by the cry of a baby, the beginning of an existence in a hectic world--the second track is modern jamming space guitar noise with full band sound and drums of Roberto Maragliano. This rocking side of the album is explored in several tracks where the electric leads are up front and pushing the keyboard jamming. Djam Karet is what most comes to mind when I hear these songs which range from quiet, more ambient spaces in "Godinus 7a" to some more droning areas to the culmination in "L'ultima Danza" with its soaring electric leads. There are shorter little pieces and soundscapes which serve to link things together and give a concept feel, like the violence and then choirs in "Guerra" and the beautiful closing piece "Curtains" with mournful guitar emotion. My favorite parts of the album lie in the Italian prog portions of the work. "Seconda Navigazione/Addio" are both a real treat that reminds me of Jacula and make me wonder if Neri enjoys Bartoccetti. It is a somewhat spooky sounding spoken word followed by a great short piano piece. The highlight of the classic sound here is "Tuona il Cannone" which has a grand mystique and folkish feel, with beautiful piano, flute, mandolin, acoustic, and vocal. The only thing I didn't like of the album was a rather shrill high pitched effect in one or two tracks, I'm not sure if it was a synth or guitar effect but it drove me a little nuts. This however is a very minor complaint and certainly nothing that detracts from the experience of "Logos." Another special mention goes to "Le Braccia e le Ali" which is a dramatic instrumental, classical guitar and piano with fervent electric leads and great drumming. It's a wonderful album which comes in another gorgeous Black Widow tri-fold digipak, the cool space-scape painting covering all three panels when folded out flat. This album is recommended to space-rock fans with a crush on Italian progressive. 3 1/2 stars rounding up.

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