INTROSPEZIONE - DONELLA DEL MONACO

Despite having one of the most wonderful set of female vocal cords I've heard - Donella Del Monaco leaves me very confused indeed. 'Introspezione' begins off classical, before abruptly morphing into prog with drums, bass and guitar. What really sets it apart from other prog albums is the fact that it deviates enormously into wayward operatic shennanigans with vocal screechings by Donella Del Monaco with glass shattering intensity.

She sounds like she should be singing in front of royalty in the Albert Hall, not stuck in front of a microphone singing mental stuff like this. The instrumentation is very avant garde in parts reminding me of classical composer 'Pendericki' . Before you can get your head around whats going on, things cut abruptly to 'Stockhausen' electronics experimentation before falling back into flute driven prog. This is real schizo stuff.

'Introspezione' chops and changes so often between genres, and so frequently that it's very difficult to form an overall opinion. This is one album that has no idea where it wants to be and is all the better for it. This is a real jellyfish mess of of sound in a style that is guaranteed to leave you scratching your head wondering what the hell you just bought. Believe me, it's much better and far more challenging than the cover looks. Bizarre, enjoyable - but a tough album!