The Badge (the name
refers to a Cream’s piece) took shape in the early seventies in Bernate Ticino, a town located about 25 kilometres west of Milan. During the
seventies the band went through many changes in personnel and had a good
live activity on the local scene but never got the chance to properly
record an album and slowly faded into oblivion. In 2006 The Badge came
to life again but it wasn’t until 2014 that they finally released their
long awaited debut album entitled Le relazioni pericolose on the
independent Ma.Ra.Cash Records label with a line up featuring Angelo
Isaia (keyboards, vocals), Sergio Isaia (bass, guitar, vocals), Fiore
Colombo (guitars, bass, vocals) and Pino Atzori (drums). Although the
music sounds a bit too derivative and the vocal parts might not be
perfect I’m sure that Italian prog lovers will find this work
interesting enough. The beautiful artwork by Gigi Cavalli Cocchi depicts
its content and invites you to explore it...
The long, complex title track that opens the album, “Le relazioni
pericolose” (The dangerous liaisons), was inspired by the French
epistolary novel of the same title written by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos in 1782, and by Valmont, a 1989 romantic drama film
directed by Milos Forman based on the same novel. The music and
lyrics evoke the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de
Valmont, two evil doers who use seduction as a weapon to control and
exploit other people and enjoy their cruel, cynic games. It’s a
portrait of the French nobility just before the French Revolution
that here is rendered with a strong sarcastic tone and a musical
patchwork featuring original passages, many classical quotes and a
short tribute to the score of the film
composed
by Christopher Palmer. Eventually, love succumbs to pride and
vanity and all ends in tragedy with the image of a cold autumn wind
sweeping the falling leaves on Valmont’s grave...
“Anni '70” (Seventies) is a track that looks back with a strong
sense of nostalgia to a period when the musicians of the band where
younger and music was their only drug. Emotions, great expectations,
dreams that along the years were blotted out by reality, no computers
nor pay TV, the feeling that they could change the world. Anyway, the
music and lyrics underline how the members of band are still playing
together and why those memories can never die for them...
“Ancora un giorno dopo la fine” (One more day after the end)
starts by a keyboard intro evoking the come back from the dark of a
mysterious spectre. Then the rhythm rises and the music and lyrics
describe the spectre wandering all day long through the woods and
reflecting about the time he spent as a living being. Eventually, he
realizes that even a bitter life is better than the void and that the
strange silence surrounding him on Earth is better than an eternal
peace... The music every now and again could recall Deep Purple and
alternates hard rock rides to calmer classical inspired passages...
“Sotto il cielo d'Africa” (Under the Africa sky) begins by
jumping electric guitar riffs and rolling organ surges that later
alternate to more reflective sections. In the first part the lyrics
evoke troubles, wars, exploitation, poverty... Africa is described as
a paradise that was turn into hell! Then, after a short quote from
Dvorak’s New World there’s room for hope with the lyrics evoking
singing children, notes of peace and echoes of joy...
"Burokrat" draws in music and words the caustic portrait of a
heartless bureaucrat. This is a curious, dangerous kind of animal
that you might find behind the desk of a post office or, worse, in a
tax office!... Next comes “Dichiarazione” (Declaration) that
after a pulsing start that could recall PFM turns into a dreamy mood
evoking the balance between man and nature and sweet, clear
memories...
The Gothic closer “La leggenda del lago” (The legend of the lake)
begins by the sound of a storm and a dark church organ section that
conjure up the awakening of Ester, the lady of a mysterious lake.
Then the music and lyrics unfold her story. Many damned men got lost
in her arms, a dark figure walking in the night on the lake shores,
always looking for love and never satisfied. At dawn ghosts of fire
and processions of larvae escort her in her palace hidden into the
deep waters of the lake where she can avoid the sunlight...
On the whole, an interesting work that deserves a try.
You can listen to the complete album HERE
The Badge: Le relazioni pericolose (2014). Other opinions:
Michael “Aussie-Byrd-Brother”: Sometimes the classical moments are shamelessly crowd-pleasing, but it is not merely some gimmick - this is grand Italian prog in the most theatrical, swooning manner possible, and these elements will instantly be an attraction for fans of bands like the New Trolls. But it's actually when the band step away from the classical sounds that they display plenty of original ideas all their own, and they possess endless technical skill that delivers scorching instrumental interplay with a refreshingly rough sound and strong vocal melodies with attractive harmonies. Combined, they make the forty years that it took to get Le Relazioni Pericolose made well worth the wait!... (read the complete review HERE).
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