WRONG FROM THE BEGINNING

"Wrong From The Beginning" is the one and only album for this obscure but very competent Symphonic prog group known as Rumple Stiltzken Comune. It is a strange beast to be sure with only 4 tracks; Flipping (7:19), Wrong from the Beginning (8:17), To Be Or Not To Be (8:21), The Closed Boy (9:57). All of the tracks sound similar to what you might hear from the late 70s prog movement, as this is a release from 1977. It was year of turmoil for many prog bands, so it is a shame that the band were producing their first album when many others were releasing their last. The music is a full symphonic sound as you might hear from Pink Floyd or early Genesis. There are swirling synths and shimmering organ motifs from Claudio Zaniolo. These provide a solid soundscape for soaring guitar breaks from Luciano Storari and innovative drumming of Luciano Storari. The bass is provided by Umbro Barbarossa as well as some melodic acoustic guitar, and this unit has a frontline vocalist who also plays synthesizer and twelve string guitar, the accomplished Mauro Marangoni.

Hailing from Switzerland, but adjacent to Italy, the band play tracks that are distinct with the flavour of Rock Progressive Italiano, while symphonic in structure. There are even space rock ambient passages occasionally featuring the beauty of Moog. Psychedelic nuances are echoed with soaring guitars and strange vocalisations. 'Closed Boy' for example, begins with a sparkling synth and builds to a time sig change reminiscent of King Crimson or Yes. The vocals did not impress me but the music is dreamy and melodic, a lot of creativity is on offer and there is even dissonance with some of the instruments competing against the time sig, wonderfully so, in fact.

The album has been reissued on CD in 2001 and remixed to present a full stereophonic sound. The 4 tracks have an improvised feel but are certainly structured specifically to present a cadence that surpasses any concept or specific lyric. The music is the main force at work and it is excellent for the most part with some lulls in quality. I found that particularly the vocals were not too easy to comprehend, perhaps understandably, and in my opinion a lot of the RPI works best when sung in the language of the artist's home country. The vocals often sound heavily accented. However, the music overcomes these blemishes. It is wonderful that the album is available online as it is incredibly hard to find. Listening to this was a nice way to begin the year for me, on a personal note.