IL TEMPIO DELLE CLESSIDRE

A vintage sound heavy on organs, snappy guitars and virtuoso piano leads the dance in the pleasing instrumental intro. Names like VDGG's Trisector, Anglagard and Wobbler come to mind. The first few minutes of Insolita Parte continue the instrumental setting and anticipation rises till we can finally enjoy the vocals of Stefano "Lupo" Galifi, the voice of Museo Rosenbach. What could possibly go wrong?

The man's voice has withstood the test of time quite well, but his ability to enlighten us with timeless melodies and sweeping passion has not remained intact. There are flashes of it but there's simply too much sentimental pop in the stew. On Insolita Parte the mainstream influences are still acceptable and it's one of the better pieces from the album, a nostalgia trip that works quite well.

The two following tracks however are an abomination. Boccadasse and Le Due Meta are permeated by horrid sugary Schlager pop melodies that you can hear on prime-time TV in any country. Julio Iglesias must be happy for his influence on prog. Someone should organize a Prog Idol 2010 with this sort of material. Il Tempio Delle Clessidre wouldn't win though. Moon Safari is far worse.

Luckily the band gets their act back together on La Stanza Nascosta, another pop ballad, but this time one with soul and beauty, the kind of ballads like only Prog could produce in the 70s. Well done.

An excellent instrumental follows with romantic piano and VDGG-light influences. In the second half it changes to a lighter part with wordless female vocals before it ends with the delightful 'musical box' theme. Also Faldistorum is largely instrumental, with the mellotron samples that bring Anglagard to mind.

L'Attesa is a nicely written short Prog track. The ideas are flowing freely and the song keeps surprising with each new bar of music. If parallels with Museo Rosenbach must be drawn then this track is a strong candidate. Also Il Centro Sottile must be Prog Walhalla for most fans of the more easy-going type of Prog but for me the vocal melodies get too mellow and emo. The modulation halfway in around the 5.45 mark and the return to the main theme 1 minute later is brilliant though. That's what we want to hear!

Antidoto Mentale is an unfortunate closer that reminds us how much the songwriting depends on Mediterranean pop. Julio Iglesias smiles once more.

Il Tempio Delle Clessidre have largely succeeded in teleporting the glorious RPI past to 2010. I'd say the band has the quality to produce a consistently excellent album but the old-school pop influences here make some of the material an indigestible listen.