L'ULTIMO VIAGGIO

Nuova Era is to the RPI scene what the early neo-prog bands were to the UK's symphonic prog tradition: young upstarts putting out a prog rock album at a time when conventional wisdom had it that the style was past, and winning over audiences with their modern update of the classic sounds of the past. In this case, we see the influence of various giants of the RPI scene comparing to more than occasional glances at Emerson Lake and Palmer - I'm thinking particularly here of Walter Pini's keyboard work, which often has a Keith Emerson flavour about it.

Apparently this is a concept album about a drug addict having a bad trip, almost overdosing, and swearing off the junk for good, but if you didn't know Italian you'd never know it - the music is usually rather pretty and happy even when the concept demands a dark, foreboding atmosphere. Still, the music presented is a lot of fun, though the band are let down quite badly by the rather cheap production values - the mix often sounds a bit off, the sound's a bit flat and thin, and whilst at the album's better moments this does mean you can fool yourself into thinking this is a lost RPI classic from the 1970s, at other points it's evident that this is just a rather poorly produced album. It's a strong enough debut for the band, and worth a listen if you like the idea of ELP-influenced RPI updated for a new generation, but with improved sound quality it could have been so much more than just "good".