N.T. ATOMIC SYSTEM [AKA: UNA NOTTE SUL MONTE CALVO]

New Trolls Atomic System was formed by Vittorio De Scalzi as an offshoot of New Trolls, and renamed for contractual reasons. This album maintains the earlier band's tradition of fusing rock and classical music and even includes a reworking of Modest Mussorgsky's ''A Night on Bare Mountain''. UNA NOTTE SUL MONTE CALVO was originally released as a single and is included on the Vinyl Magic disc as a bonus track. Clearly it was an attempt to emulate the success ELP had with Mussorgsky's ''Pictures At An Exhibition''.

The ELP influence is evident throughout the album, particularly on LA NUOVA PREDICA DI PADRE O'BRIEN. In fact, if you were ever curious to hear how ELP would sound with Ian Anderson joining them on flute then this song could just fit the bill. Strange fruit indeed, especially when you add some Ennio Morricone inspired female backing vocals... it might be best just to listen to the MP3/stream to see what I mean. Lyrically, it would seem to draw on themes on the New Trolls' 1968 concept album where they collaborated with poet Riccardo Mannerini.

For me the standout track is the penultimate QUANDO L'ERBE VESTIVA LA TERRA, mainly thanks to its aching synthesizer lines and general air of melancholy during its first half. The heavy second part includes some piercing saxophone overblows so take care if, like me, you listen on headphones. Unfortunately the album goes from the sublime to the ridiculous on the closing track BUTTERFLY, an English-language pop song that totally kills the album's atmosphere. It's just plain bizarre if you ask me. I had actually forgotten about this song since I never listen to it (it's like a very poor Cat Stevens' song, a guy I like a lot by the way). I was going to give this album 4-stars, but I've knocked it down to 3 because this song simply doesn't fit on an otherwise fine prog album.