VISION

Now here's a band with an amazing history. Starting as PHOENIX all the way back in 1981 in Brescia, Italy by three Lorandi brothers, this band stuck it out until 1998 but never released a single album or even a single for that matter. The band was influenced by the usual 70s progressive rock suspects but seems to have been most effected by the symphonic prog bands like Camel and Genesis. Not sure if the band toured or just wrote material that never saw the light of day.

Fast forward to 2007, singer and guitar play Claudio Lorani passes away and the remaining brothers decided to resurrect the band in 2011 as PHOENIX AGAIN. Since then this interesting band has remained somewhat obscure but has released five albums with the latest being this one titled VISION. A beautiful album cover always gets my attention which is what prompted me to sample this band out of the lengthy list of wonderful prog releases of 2022. And i'm very happy i did! I wasn't expecting something this intricately divine and that the musicians on board would be seasoned veterans with decades of experience under their belts.

VISION sounds like a modern day phenomenon of an exquisitely production oriented release only with its roots in the dreamy sounds of Camel's "The Snow Goose" or "Moonmadness" only without sounding too much like Camel or any other and for that matter. Once again the band features four Lorandi brothers with two guitars, a bass and percussion. There is a second percussionist and a keyboardist. The rich soundscapes also feature the occasional horn, trombone, trumpet and vocals in choral form. The music is primarily instrumental with groovy guitar hooks and jazzier rock sections.

This album features nine tracks at over 52 minutes of playing time. The tracks range from trippy mellow atmospheric sounding with retro Hammond and minimoog to full on upbeat rock guitar heft as well as more more processed guitar sounds. The mellotrons are on full retro mode and although the overall feel might insinuate what Camel should have released after "Moonmadness," the more adventurous time signature workouts and avant feel of some of the grooves harkens more to King Crimson around the "Red" album. Despite being from Italy, PHOENIX AGAIN sounds more inspired by English bands as there are no Italian lyrics in traditional prog form and none of the avant-garde excess of bands like Area, Il Balletto di Bronzo or PIcchio dal Pozzo.

This is very "airy" music for the most part with soft sensual atmospheres accompanied by rock that never gets too out of control however some ferocious keyboard attacks do give this album an edge. A lush pastoral backdrop is never far behind even when the guitars threaten to start a riot. Basically this album exists in some gray zone between neo-prog and Camel inspired symphonic prog but also showcases a lot of lighter breezy jazz-fusion bands not unlike Pat Metheny and the similarly inspired but just when it threatens to get too airy fairy the guitar pace picks up and jittery keyboard runs or ominous time signature deviations punctuate the routine.

While the tones and timbres may evoke certain artists of the past, the biggest surprise is how varied and perfectly constructed the composiitons on this one are. The musicians have been at this game for a long time now and it shows. A big surprise with this band and this album. Now i'll surely have to go back and hear what came before. Perhaps i would prefer a bit more of a robust drummer who filled the parts beyond the keeping the time bit but overall i cannot complain much about this fine release that feels like it connects some invisible dots between the mid-70s and the modern era. All in all an amazing album with one of my favorite album covers of the year!