VOLUME 1

I get the honor of yet another first stab at reviewing an oldie?! Don't mind if I do! The bio for Mr. De Andre lays claim that he is "possibly the most influential of Italian singer-songwriters"... Helluva claim, though I certainly, for one, have no way of combatting this haha. In context, a famed Italian vocalist, Mina, had covered a song penned by him in 1968, "La canzone di Marinella". This gave him certain repute for his writing at the time. His work was apparently inspired by a sort of Troubadour tradition--he is considered a Chanson artist (of a French Renaissance/late-Medieval vocal tradition)--as well as dabbling in Folk Rock. Solidifying his relation to Prog Rock was a series of concerts performed (mind you, 12 years later) in 1979, backed by the great Premiata Forneria Marconi!

Right from the get-go, what I can tell you is this is very Italian, very classic and just a tad Psychedelic [really, just from the start, just from the opener] to my stupid Millennial ass haha. Fabrizio has a very nice, warm voice. I think the problem, at this point in his discography, early in his career, is we aren't looking (much) at Rock and we definitely aren't looking at Prog. That's for sure.

The first track to really catch my attention is "Spiritual", which I suppose is supposed to sound like a Spiritual haha. It's very Italian. And therefore very white! hahaha! Interesting, very old-school instrumentation (organ, lightly brushed but quick drumming, and Trad Pop, if not earlier, group vocals). Interesting to my ears; again, that's for sure [what I mean is it's "relatively foreign to me"]. The next moment of note is the frankly lovely accordion on "Via del campo". The problem through much of this is that most tracks don't offer a whole lot to even speak on. Certainly won't appeal to folks looking for Rock, to reiterate, and is not progressive in the slightest. You've been warned, I guess.

If you want to know what everyone in America thinks Italian music sounds like, give "Bocca di rosa" a spin hahaha!

"La Morte" is low, slow and minimal, with very little in the way of guitar, a singularly-focused drum (like, one drum haha) and flute, this last bit is what should pierce the ear of us Proggers, but... nothing else. Similarly, the final track "Carlo Martello ritorno dalla battaglia di Poitiers" will appeal, only slightly, in its orchestral fanfare expression.

Barely a 2/5 star.