PERDIO: RACCOLTA COMPLETA 1973-76

Perdio were unsurprisingly another case of a 70's Italian band with no recordings during their early lifetime.Found in 1972 and coming from Bergamo, they were led by former I Raminghi members Michele Capogrosso (drums, vocals) and Titta Colleoni (keyboards) along with bassist/vocalist Fulvio Monieri.Perdio had a good live activity but disbanded in 1974, failing to sign a contract with a label, returning for a brief reunion in 1976 with the fourth member being guitarist Diego Valtorta.Four of the 73' recordings along with two ones from the 76' line-up were captured and released in 1998 as ''Raccolta completa'' by Giallo Records, at a time when the band had returned alive and kicking after more than 20 years.

The album features two reworkings of the Madrugada classic track ''E'Triste il Vento'' (both Perdio and Madrugada members played in the short-lived band Terza Classe), the first by the 73' trio being close to Italian Classic Prog with a soft symphonic atmosphere, fantastic vocals and excellent keyboard work, the secong edition from 1976 being close to a psychedelic jam session with some spacey parts and far from the original track.The 1973 Perdio were actually a pretty good band, the other three cuts from that period are nice examples of their trully progressive sound, which was a mix of organ-driven Psychedelic Rock with CLEARLIGHT-like Space/Fusion-esque keyboard touches and smooth Symphonic Rock in the vein of GENESIS.The compositions are long, semi-structured, with plenty of instrumental parts and Colleoni's unique keyboard approach on the forefront, accompanied by a pounding rhythm section.In a blink of an eye the band switches from heavy organ grooves to classic Italian canzone and from synth-based trippy experiments to calm melodic passages.Some moments though are a bit excessive, however the majority of their length are well-executed Italian Prog with a tendency towards experimentation and improvisation.The other track from the 1976 line-up is actually an ultra-long jam, clocking at over 22 minutes, with guitars, organ and electric pianos being quite dominant, still this has some interesting psychedelic parts and of course the familiar Perdio energy, but it is definitely overstretched and hard-listening.

A great archival release for fans of Italian Prog and a pretty nice addition for the rest of the prog audience.Especially fans of more experimental prog forms with a good dose of Classic Prog stylings are more likely to appreciate it.Recommended.