Aurora
Lunare come from Livorno and began life in 1978 on the initiative of
a bunch of friends in love with the music of bands such as EL&P,
Yes, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme or
Area just to name but a few. In that period progressive rock was on
the wane but the band went against the tide and remained active on
the local scene until the end of the eighties. In those years they
hadn't the chance to release an album and it wasn't until 2006 that
Aurora Lunare could manage to self-release a double CD with their
non-professional old recordings to keep the memory of the band alive.
In 2007 a real reunion followed and after years of hard, passionate
work in 2013 the band finally released an official eponymous debut
album on the independent label Lizard Records with a line up
featuring Mauro Pini (vocals, keyboards), Luciano Tonetti (bass),
Marco Santinelli (drums) and Stefano Onorati (piano, keyboards,
electric guitar). During the recording sessions they were helped by
many guests such as Tolo Marton (guitar), Gianluca Milanese (flute),
Alessandro Corvaglia (guitar, vocals), Corrado Pezzini
(synth-vocals), Graziano Di Sacco (vocal effects), Nicola Santinelli
(classical guitar), Greta Merli (vocals) and Valentina Cantini
(violin) who contributed to add more colours to the musical palette
of the band. The result is excellent and I'm sure that Italian
progressive rock lovers will not be disappointed by this album. By
the way, in the booklet you'll find many pictures and some paintings
by Luciano Tonetti that describe the content of the music and
lyrics...
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| album cover |
The
beautiful opener "Evasione di un'idea" (Escape of an idea)
begins by a marching beat that seems coming out from the mists of the
past. In fact, according to the liner notes, the first part of this
track is taken from an old tape containing a live recording from 1980
but after a minute and a half the mist gives way to a brilliant
symphony of lights and shadows evoking the eternal struggle between
dreams and reality, youth and maturity. As a gust of wind blowing
away the cry of a man, an idea rises over the void that surrounds
you. It shouts, trying to erode heavy metaphorical stones and
negative memories and you can feel that soon a song of joy will break
through, one day or another...
The
following "Eroi invincibili... son solo i pensieri"
(Invincible heroes... They are just thoughts) is in the same mood and
begins by a piano solo pattern, then soaring melodic lines and
heartfelt vocals lead your through indescribable landscapes where you
can find lost temples and wide meadows burnt by the fire of a
thousand emotions. You have to walk the beaten tracks, crawling on
layers of madness and taking the risk of drowning in the sea of your
lost chances... A church like organ solo passage ends this track and
introduces the next one, the wonderful instrumental "Mondo
fantasmatico" (Phantasmatic world) where you can let your
imagination run free following the notes of a magic flute until you
get lost in time and space.
"Riflessi
indicativi" (Indicative reflexes) draws in music and words a
surreal tableau reflecting images of distant worlds in the morning
light. You can see black corals, crystal nets and strange buildings
all around you while your memories start to get blurred... Then comes
the dark, crazy experimentalism of "Corsa senza meta"
(Running without a goal), an instrumental digression where dreams
seem to turn into nightmares.
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| Aurora Lunare 2013 |
On
"Secondo dubbio" (Second doubt) the rhythm rises again and
the atmosphere is definitively brighter. The music and the hermetic
lyrics conjure up images of hope shining through an suffucating mist
and old memories from a tormented past. The following "Interlunio"
is a short instrumental track for organ and flute that leads to
another beautiful instrumental, the dreamy "Sfera onirica"
(Oneiric sphere). The final track, "All'infuori del tempo /
Ritorno al nulla" is a cover taken from Le Orme's masterpiece
Felona e Sorona and represents a tribute to one of Aurora
Lunare's most important sources of inspiration. It's enhanced by the
presence of former Le Orme's guitarist Tolo Marton and by the female
vocals of Greta Merli.
On
the whole, this is an excellent album where historic pieces from the
old repertoire of the band and some new tracks have been arranged and
performed with painstaking care and great musicianship for the
pleasure of the listener: a must-have for every Italianprog fan!
Aurora
Lunare: Aurora Lunare (2013). Other opinions:
Michael
"Aussie-Byrd-Brother": 'Aurora Lunare' is everything a
symphonic progressive rock fan could ask for, and with setting the
bar so high for a debut release, one has to wonder where the band can
can go from here. Not bad for a group already over thirty five years
into their career! Better late than never, and if this is what the
band could have achieved back in the vintage era of the 70's, they'd
possibly be being talked about as something very special from the
heyday of the RPI genre now... (read the complete review HERE)
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