The
second album by Mad Fellaz is entitled Mad Fellaz II and was
self-released in 2016 with a renewed line up featuring Paolo Busatto
(guitar), Marco Busatto (drums), Jason Nealy (guitar), Carlo
Passuello (bass), Enrico Brunelli (keyboards), Rudy Zilio (flute,
clarinet), Lorenzo Todesco (percussion) and Anna Farronato (vocals)
plus some guests such as Flavio Brun (sax), Alessandro Brunetta (sax)
and Sean Lucarello (trumpet). The artwork by Maria Todesco perfectly
fits the musical content, a magic brew of different influences
ranging from jazz to classical music, from Santana to Jethro Tull and
many more...
The
long opener “Hollow Shell” is a good mix of exoticism, jazz, folk
and psychedelia evoking a dream world where time passes by through
dangerous love affairs, ephemeral feelings and vain efforts to fill a
life that could be perceived as empty when you get lost in a constant
search for pleasure without the project to form a family or other
goals...
The
following “Blood Pressure” is a long suite divided into two parts
that starts softly. In the first part the mood is relaxed, then the
rhythm section begins to pump up the pressure, the tension rises and
the stroke is just behind the corner as your heart seems on the verge
of explosion trying to keep up the pace...
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| Mad Fellaz 2015 |
“Me
Gusta” is a nice instrumental track where fiery Latin rhythm
patterns are combined with hard rock, jazz and oriental flavours.
Then it’s the turn of “O.V.O. (Of Virtual Omniscience)”,
another long piece where you can find many changes in atmosphere and
mood taking you on winding, endless roads across oneiric realms...
Two
instrumental tracks close the album. “Moslem Sabbath”, as you can
guess from the title, combines hard rock and Middle-Eastern
influences. After a heavy start marked by powerful electric guitar
riffs and a sudden change in rhythm, it veers to more peaceful
passages and represents a very strange call for a day of rest and
prayer while the following “Meet The Gooroo” takes off like a
glider and tries to lead you towards an inspirational source
revealing the meaning of life...
On
the whole a very good work, even if the jazz trained vocals every now
and again could sound a bit out of place. Anyway, have a try and
judge for yourselves...
You
can listen to the complete album HERE
Mad
Fellaz: Mad Fellaz II (2016). Other opinions:
Michael
“Aussie-Byrd-Brother”: The addition of vocals (and English
ones at that) to much of what was a thrilling instrumental act is
going to be a difficult thing to accept for some earlier listeners of
Mad Fellaz, particularly when the group was doing so well already
with the kind of music they were offering on their debut. However, if
you pay proper attention, all the same instrumental skill and flair
of the first album is always present here, just that it's sometimes
in the background behind the vocals, or taking prominence in and out
around the voice. Perhaps the group might have considered releasing a
two-CD version of the album that included a purely instrumental mix
of the main album, or even adopting a different name for this
vocal-driven project… (read
the complete review HERE)
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