SAMADHI

Somewhere between classic Italian prog and disappointing, brilliant compositions and throw away pop lives Samadhi. This is yet another super group like Il Volo that on paper should be amazing but in real life comes short of the bar. With members from Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno, Kaleidon, I Teoremi and L'uovo Di Colombo this has to be good, right? Well, sort of. Some of this is top notch stuff, very well recorded and clearly a lot of thought went into it. Musicianship is top flight, but you can tell that in 1974 they were trying to grab some larger attention than just an Italian prog audience. Overall there is an undercurrent of pop aspirations to their overt prog stylings. Much of this album reminds me of some of Starcastle's (and perhaps Flash) better moments, so this might not be a bad place for newcomers to RPI to dip in, with symphonic fans being especially rewarded. Too many of the reissues of Italian prog classics are poorly sourced, with many recent vinyl reissues coming from CD masters. I found this on a recent trip to Rome on vinyl in its 1991 Italian lp reissue. It uses the original stampers from the 1974 pressing, so those looking for a copy that is sonically identical to the first pressing, try to track this down. Overall, better than one might guess from reviews, the highlights outweigh the lowlights in the end. 3.5 stars