HEAVY WINGS

Wilson Project took form in 2015 in Acqui Terme, a town in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont. After some years spent honing their skills and a good live activity on the local scene, in 2022 they released an interesting debut album, entitled Il viaggio da farsi, on the independent Ma.Ra.Cash Records label with a line up featuring Annalisa Ghiazza (vocals), Giovanni Giordano (guitar), Andrea Protopapa (keyboards, backing vocals), Stefano Rapetti (bass) and Mattia Pastorino (drums, backing vocals). Producer Marcello Chiaraluce helped the musicians during the recording sessions in the studio and contributed to the song-writing while Daniele Cavallero’s Za! Factory, a design firm from the near town of Valenza, took charge of the art work. The overall sound of the band draws on many influences ranging from Italian prog masters of the seventies such as PFM or BMS to contemporary, heavier acts and the music perfectly fits the subject matter the musicians have chosen to develop in this work. In fact, this is a concept album that tells a story about a woman who leaves planet Earth and goes to Mars, a kind of space odyssey inspired by the launch of Elon Musk’s Falcon Heavy... 

The short, spacey instrumental “Intro” sets the atmosphere and leads to “Non pensare vai” (Do not think, go) that describes in music and words the expectations and the doubts of the protagonist who is embarking on a spacecraft directed to Mars where she’ll start a new life. What she’s left behind is a broken relationship and some regrets, what lies ahead is the dream of better days to be reached on the wings of a heavy falcon...

“Come mi vuoi” (As you want me) deals with the nostalgia of real relationships and the choice of a virtual lover to replace them. The music and lyrics depict the protagonist trying to teach her new mechanical companion how to laugh with her and how to love. While she’s programming its artificial intelligence she goes through many errors but at last she seems to reach her goal...

Then it’s the turn of the bitter-sweet “Complice innocente” (Innocent accomplice) that describes the strange relationship between the protagonist and her new companion, a toy man docile and tireless... On “E’ stato un errore” (It was a mistake) the protagonist experiences doubts and regrets looking at the infinite space that surrounds her. She begins to realize that an aseptic, odourless virtual companion can’t really erase the deep sense of loneliness she feels in her silent Martian new home...

 

Wilson Project on stage, 2019

“Ingannando i miei sensi” (Deceiving my senses) describes in music and words the confusion of the protagonist whose memories come back and hit her senses almost leading her on the brink of madness... Imagination and reality almost melt together on “Quando cerchi di respirare” (When you try to breath). The protagonist, looking at the creature she shaped, keeps on thinking of her broken relationship and she almost fears her new virtual lover might let her down like her ex boy friend on Earth. She even think of keeping it closed in a glass box as it tries to breathe and behave like a human being...

The ethereal “Se solo avessi un’anima” (If only you had a soul) begins softly, then the music and lyrics depict the sense bewilderment of the protagonist in front of her new companion... What she misses more is the feeling of a real interaction in front of a creature without soul and heart, she would like to teach it to believe in God or to make it understand how important relationships with other human beings are. But something seems to go wrong... On “Un gioco” (A game) the machine in some way begins to feel human! It’s thunder, light and uproar but it tried to be good and what does it discover? It’s just a game. But it’s too late and it can’t stop what she has created, they’re both victims of a sterile world...

The last track, “Il viaggio da farsi” (The journey ahead) is open to various interpretations. The protagonist feels that her creature is just an extinguished fire, time is running out and hysteria prevails, the creature is about to die. The melancholic finale depicts the creature hanging in the room of her maker, swinging lightly. The protagonist, in her madness, feels a strong sense of guilt and becomes aware that there’s no way out to escape the spectre of silence and there’s no need of heavy suitcases nor ships for her next journey...

On the whole, a very interesting concept and an excellent work.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/wilsonproject/ 

FLYING PAINTINGS

In 2008 Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno, one of the many one shot bands of the Italian progressive scene of the early seventies, came to life again on the initiative of singer and guitarist Luciano Regoli and in 2010 they released a new album on the independent label BTF, “Il pittore volante” (The flying painter). Along with Luciano Regoli the line-up on this work features the veterans Roberto Gardin (bass, guitar), Nanni Civitenga (bass, guitar, keyboards), Walter Martino (drums) and some prestigious guest musicians as Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli, Lino Vairetti, Nicola Di Staso, Maurizio Pariotti and Carl Verheyen to name just a few. Anyway “Il pittore volante” is mainly the brainchild of Luciano Regoli who wrote the music and lyrics and conceived it as a concept album inspired by a book of the same title, a kind of travelogue that he wrote and published some years ago and that he dedicated to the late Iginio Gonni, a painter and a friend, who died in 2003. The basic idea was that of an old painter who flies and looks at his life from above. In the booklet you can find not only the lyrics but also a picture for every piece painted by Luciano Regoli himself. As for the music, the overall sound is not stuck in the seventies and in this work you can perceive even metal influences along with a more typical Italian progressive style. Well, during the nineties Luciano Regoli had been a member of the prog metal band DGM and he doesn’t disown this experience...

The opener “Il cambiamento” (The change) tells of a spiritual metamorphosis. It starts softly with a mystical atmosphere, then hard guitar riffs and harmonica introduce the change... “It happened in those days / Something revolted inside me / Fast as a blizzard... Alone in that room I fell asleep / Dark dreams / Alone in that room I woke up in discomfort... Ah! I was changing and I didn’t want it / But I was coming to life again / Yes! I was coming to life again...”.

“Il vecchio” (The old man) begins with a piano solo introduction. It’s a tense, melancholic track depicting the meeting with an old friend who has just had a stroke... “They had cut off his hair / That old madman was trudging up the hill / Marked by the paralysis that had darkened his mind, his limbs, his fingers / I remember him just a few months before / Enormous, disdainful, with a magnificent beard...They had cut off his hair...”.

“Il fuoco” (The fire) features a duet with sweet, dreamy female vocals and an ethereal, suggestive nocturnal atmosphere. The lyrics and music depict fire as a metaphor of fear before a natural impending event, a fire burning false fairy tales, pains, fears, desires and thoughts... “The night was over there, in front of me / Some rocks were burning / Above me gentle wings were flying away / They were flying high, they moved the air with a dull noise / So I followed them, with the light behind my shoulders / Towards dark clouds...”.

“Eagle Mountain” is a long, complex track that tells about a journey through the desert in North America. A good acoustic guitar intro by Nicola Di Staso (former member of Libra and in the line-up of Daemonia) leads to new horizons and spectacular panoramas where two friends enjoy the quiet, strange atmosphere of the desert until, in the middle of a magnificent, silent landscape, they find an old truck. There’s a sudden change in mood. The truck stands still but the engine is running, the driver is naked and... dead! “He let us stare at him while the night was falling in us / The day after in a café people were whispering about him / But the air was clear / We went out / I switched the engine on...”.

“La mente” (The mind) features a dark, nervous mood. It’s a kind of dive into madness and the lyrics draw images that seem to come from a Stephen King novel. An enormous wasp trying to enter the room, an agoraphobic scene in the subway... “My God! What is happening to me? I’m alone, with my only enemy / I’m alone, with my ego...”.

“L’uomo nuovo” (The new man) is another beautiful track. It was arranged by Claudio Simonetti and it seems conceived as a thriller score. It is about fear, the fear that a man has to overcome to reach knowledge... “At the beginning of the tunnel, under the subway / That noise of water running, under the subway tunnel / I paid attention but I couldn’t understand the origin of that noise...”.

“Le anime” (The souls) features a slow pace and a haunting mood. It depicts a nocturnal landscape. It’s midnight on Elba Island and while the protagonist walks back home along a narrow street he can see the people that used to live there when he was a child and that now are nothing but shadows... “They can’t see me / But I recognize them all...”.

“Raoul” is set in Paris. It’s a complex piece that starts as a strange mix of hard rock and Italian melody (a particular blend between Aerosmith and Quartetto Cetra I dare say), then the rhythm calms down and the atmosphere becomes dramatic. The music and lyrics depict a drunken clochard that’s sleeping under cardboard... “What made him still appear as a man was just a name / That name tattooed on his wrist / Only that name, Raoul...”.

“La spiaggia” (The beach) is set in Portugal. It’s an amazing short ballad featuring a swirling flute and a vocal style that could recall the Italian minstrel Angelo Branduardi. It tells of a strange meeting on a solitary beach on the Atlantic Ocean with a threatening sea that seems like dog on a chain, desperately barking because it couldn’t go any further, blocked by the high cliffs... “I felt as if I couldn’t breathe on the beach / The rocks behind me and the thundering sea in front of me / All night long with that dull noise...”. A good finale for an excellent album.

From Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

 

You can listen to the complete album HERE

 

La Nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno: Il pittore volante (2010). Other opinions:

Jim Russell: A well rounded album which perhaps could be accused of trying to put too many ingredients in one dish, but I'm sure that some of these ideas have been percolating for years and restraint/minimalist considerations were not among the goals of the project. Thank goodness for that, as musical extroversion is usually put to great effect by RPI bands! "Il Pittore Volante" offers great variety, superb musicianship, and gorgeous packaging/artwork. This is one of the most interesting releases of 2010 and should make some end of year lists... (read the complete review HERE)

 

HOLY TRIBE

Tribal Domestic is a studio album that was released by historic Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia in 2016 on the Cramps - Sony Music label with a line up featuring founder member and main composer Enzo Vita (guitar) along with John Macaluso (drums), Cristiano Micalizzi (drums), Gianluca Catalani (drums), Fernando Petry (bass), Nalle Pahlsson (bass), Rino Amato (keyboards), Vivien Lalu (synth), Chris Catena (vocals), Pino Ballarini (vocals), Jannes Stark (guitar) and the Orchestra Filarmonica Calabrese directed by Alexander Frey. This work mainly comes from the initiative of Enzo Vita, as can be guessed from the art cover where he’s portrayed in the forefront with is guitar ready for action while in the background you can see many gears and wheels turning to support him. It marks the return of Il Rovescio della Medaglia to the complex structures of the band’s heyday after the disappointing pop rock oriented 2011 album Microstorie...

The opener “Tribal Domestic Suite” is a long, complex piece divided into nine parts respectively subtitled “Le note degli idoli” (The idol’s notes), “Tributo agli dei” (Tribute to the gods), “Raduno dei vecchi” (Gathering of the old men), “L’ultimo dei sogni” (The last of dreams), “La notizia” (The news), “Il diario” (The diary), “Simbiosi” (Symbiosis), “La chiave inglese” (The wrench) and “Il crepuscolo delle illusioni” (The twilight of illusions). In my opinion, it’s an excellent piece, composed by Enzo Vita and arranged with the help of Rino Amato, where the guitarist and his group of rock musicians perfectly interact with the orchestra. The music flows without drops in tension as the lyrics, well interpreted by Chris Catena, conjure up images halfway between a confused stream of consciousness and divertissement. Shocking, alarming articles about a world where solidarity and freedom crumble provoking rash reactions, the sad reflections of a man on the brink of a personal crises leading to madness, the search for balance and the refuge in an inner-self able to create its own world, regret and bewilderment and finally the image of a man running barefoot in the evening without the tools to fix up his life...

“L’origine” (The origin) is another beautiful track where orchestra and rock instruments interact. The mysterious incipit sets the atmosphere, then the music and lyrics take us on inner journey to the origin of life. Birth is a big bang for everyone, it’s the moment of the perception of the whole, a truth we progressively forget giving names to things and identities to persons...

On the instrumental “Mutazione X” (Mutation X) Enzo Vita’s guitar is in the forefront and takes the listener on a fiery ride through the hard rocks of Sodom and Gomorrah and to the atmospheres of Il Rovescio della Medaglia 1971 debut album, La bibbia, although with an updated sound. Then it’s the turn “La sacra eternità” (The holy eternity) explicitly inspired by La bibbia, in particular by its last two tracks, “Il giudizio” (Judgement day) and Il diluvio (The flood). Here, introduced by a dark marching beat and a hint of liturgical choir, the music and lyrics describe the protagonist’s soul entering the afterlife where it joins the whole, beyond good and evil. It’s a place where there’s no one to judge, no measure or need to invent anything, here come those who have the dignity of looking straight in the face their own oblivion, beyond the sky and the sea, because the eternity is holy...

“L’apocalisse” (The apocalypse) is the only track featuring the vocals of Il Rovescio della Medaglia old singer Pino Ballarini. It’s an ironic piece that blends hard rock, classical influences and a touch of operetta evoking a daily, raging apocalypse in a world where media confusion rules. In a story containing many other stories, restlessness carries away the protagonist, on the wings of madness, towards a place where he can enjoy a panoramic view on his memories and regrets... Last comes the sparkling instrumental “Proclama II” (Proclamation II) that concludes the album with a lively beat and electric guitar fireworks.

On the whole, an excellent work that marks a rediscovered creativity for Enzo Vita and his new and old companions.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info: 

https://www.facebook.com/ilrovesciodellamedaglia/ 

UNEXPECTED CHANGES OF DIRECTION

Paths And Crossroads is the second album by Endless Season and was self-released in 2022 with a renewed line up featuring original members Lorenzo Di Prima (bass) and Paolo Busatto (guitar) along with Andrea Cecchetto (drums), Luca Ardini (sax) and Francesco Pollon (keyboards). According to the band, the title of the album refers to its particular brew of different genres and musical influences and reflects the idea behind the album’s music, which follows defined paths but at the same time crosses different instances and genres, with sudden and unexpected changes of direction. The colourful art work by Alcide Sartori tries to give an idea of the musical content... 

 

 

The opener “No Excuses” starts by an elaborated drum pattern, then the other instruments come in and the rhythm takes off. The music goes through many changes in atmosphere, there are some delicate, dreamy passages and there are frenzied rides across exotic territories but the wide and varied range of influences the band mixed together perfectly flow without weak moments in a coherent way...

“Paradox” is another good piece where you can find fiery funky rhythms and calmer parts with a soaring electric guitar that could recall Santana... The following “47” begins with a jazzy piano solo, then evolves into something different that every now and again reminds me of Area while a further calmer part with a beautiful acoustic guitar solo reminds me of Al Di Meola...

On “Moonlight Promenade” the delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio intro takes you through nocturnal landscapes of intense beauty where dreaming piano passages and soaring sax melodies fill the air... Then it’s the turn of “Do You Wanna Play With Me?” where the musicians seem to invite you to join them for a carefree and joyful jam session mixing jazz and blues...

 

For the lively “Squaring The Circle” the band shot a curious video where, with lightness and self-irony, they showcase all their musicianship and the fun they have playing together... 

 

Next comes “Exhalations” that opens with a disquieting, dark electric guitar arpeggio. Here the pace is slow and the atmosphere is that of a gathering storm. This piece is linked to “Deep Surface” that follows in the same vein and where the sax notes draw melancholic, jazzy melodic lines... After a pause, the short coda “Outro: Remembering” ends the album in an unexpected way with its poppish suggestions...

On the whole, a good album that deserves a try.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Endless Season: Paths And Crossroads (2022). Other opinions:
Basil Francis: So there you have it, six excellent slices of delightful fusion followed by a disappointing finale. I cannot think what made Endless Season decide to turn away from the promising style they so eagerly showcased in the first three-quarters of the album. You shouldn’t let the bad ending dissuade you from the charms of the rest of the album, however, because this is some of the most accessible fusion music I’ve heard that is still satisfyingly complex in its execution. If you suggest this for the playlist at your next gathering, no one can dismiss it as ‘ghastly prog music’; there are no excuses... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/endless.season.band 

ELECTRIC KARMA

Neon Karma are a kind of supergroup based in Milan that gathers four talented musicians such as Marco Sfogli (guitar), Lorenzo Feliciati (bass), Guido Block (vocals) and Roberto Gualdi (drums) all also involved in other bands and projects. Their first collaboration dates back to 2012 but it wasn’t until 2022 that they managed to self-release an eponymous debut album with their own original compositions. Their music, difficult to pigeonhole, crosses many styles and draws on many influences ranging from prog metal to AOR, from hard rock to touches of Mediterranean folklore...

The title of the opener, “The Frog”, refers to a famous German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812, The Frog Prince. It’s a good piece full of desperate energy where the music and lyrics evoke the thaumaturgic power of love. The protagonist is a man who’s going through a deep personal crises that somehow turned him into a frog, but this is no fairy tale and he’s not a prince. What he needs to get out of this situation is a kiss from a woman in love, a kiss to set him free from despair. After the short, dreamy middle section, the tension rises again and we don’t know if the protagonist succeeds...

“Rain” is a bitter-sweet ballad about a particularly painful relationship where love comes like pouring rain and makes you bleed... Then it’s the turn of “Megapolis” that starts with pulsing bass lines and a funky rhythm. It’s a good piece about urban alienation where the protagonist feels alone in the midst of millions of people, fed up with noises, smells and empty fashions. As the music gets more aggressive, he yells “no!” to conformism, fake colours, plastic sounds, pollution and deafening chatters. To break free you have to speak up...

“Run Into The Sun” deals with environmental issues and starts softly. The music and lyrics evoke dark omens for the future of humankind. Man seems incapable to learn his lessons, he can’t understand what makes the world so precious. The countdown to ruin runs faster and faster, soon the point of no return will be reached and the silent rays of death will dry out everyone. We’re recklessly running into the sun and eventually the heat will burn everything to the ground...

“Enemy Gate” is an almost completely instrumental piece. It starts by a nervous electric guitar riff while a voice in the background invites you to pay attention because you’re approaching the enemy gate. The following electric guitar solos bring some Middle eastern flavours, the atmosphere is tense, the rhythm section thundering and threatening...

Neon Karma 2022

 

“Lullaby” is a very melancholic ballad. This is not a lullaby for a little child who can’t sleep but for someone who will never wake up again and who is on his way for the afterlife. Everything is temporary and maybe death doesn’t mean the end of an emotional relationship. All around everything is so silent that you could even hear the sound of the snowflakes falling on the ground under the moonlight...

“Time Is Cruel” every now and again could recall Yes and is about time passing by. The protagonist seems to be crushed by his daily grind, for him every day is worse than the other. Maybe one day or another a beautiful day will come, but when? No clue, time is merciless and cruel...

The closer “The Cavern” is an excellent track veined of Gothic shades and open to multiple interpretations. The music and lyrics conjure up the image of a man inviting you to visit the beautiful, comfortable cavern where he lives alone, surrounded by bats that he calls friends. The cavern is a safe shelter for him, a den to hide from the world and heal his wounds. There you might even see that peculiar man cry...

On the whole, a good work that deserves a try.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/neonkarmamusic/ 

 

JOYFUL MEMORIES

Quella Vecchia Locanda’s second and last album “Il tempo della gioia” (The time of joy) was recorded in 1974 with a different line-up featuring veterans Giorgio Giorgi (vocals, flute), Massimo Roselli (piano, organ mellotron, moog, vocals), Patrick Traina (drums, percussion) and Raimondo Maria Cocco (electric and acoustic guitars, vocals) plus Claudio Filice (who replaced the American violinist Donald Lax) and Massimo Giorgi (who took the place of bassist Romualdo Coletta). The strong classical influences are still there but the overall sound is slightly different from the eponymous debut album and features a jazzier, darker atmosphere. The art cover is magnificent and tries to describe the content of this work where the music and words weave nightmares and dreams.

The intense, dreamy opener “Villa Doria Pamhili” begins with a beautiful piano pattern, then acoustic guitar and violin delicately come in and melodic vocals try to describe the feelings that you could experience going to a pop festival in the early seventies... A sweet harmony plays with nature, soaring and gliding on the grass while joy makes people vibrate...

“A forma di...” (In the shape of...) is a classically inspired short instrumental that could recall “Traccia” by Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. It starts softly, as if the music was coming from a distant place... Violin, counter-bass, flutes and harpsichord, then soaring vocals used as an instrument to colour some melodic lines... An amazing track!

The title track is more complex. It begins with a delicate, romantic melody. A sundown on the sea, a magic carpet ride towards new horizons... Then a sudden change in rhythm and mood brings in dark shadows... “It’s as if you were beating the time of joy / And never the time of pain / Your smile is already there... Suddenly the air is trembling / Fear has already taken you...”. Some vocal passages could recall the gloomy atmospheres of “Ys” by Il Balletto di Bronzo, while others recall Hans, PFM’s merchant of dreams, and his coach... A very particular dream full of colours and musical nuances...

“Un giorno, un amico” (A day, a friend) features jazzy touches and violin rides, delicate calm passages and fiery ones. It’s a long, complex track full of changes and colours. Take a deep breath and imagine running to the sun, just to find new sparks of life and old fears, hidden words and thoughts concealed in a secret jewel-case... 

 

The last track “E’ accaduto una notte” (It happened one night) is dark and gloomy. It describes in music and words a nightmare. It begins with a choir setting a gothic atmosphere, then the music goes on quirkily while the lyrics depict a snake crawling through the rocks in the night, a car falling into the void, bad omens and vanishing hopes... “A roar bursts out / A flash of fire / That suffocates voices already extinguished...”.

From Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Quella Vecchia Locands: Il tempo della gioia (1974). Other opinions:

Jim Russell: This would have to be one of the top candidates to suggest to someone as an essential Italian album and one that covers most of the traits that make them special: creative songwriting fusing the rock, classical, and jazz genres; immaculate production with great attention to recording details; exceptional use of violins, flutes, and other classical elements; warm and passionate Italian vocals; and perhaps most importantly an unabashed willingness to project a most romantic style of music... (read the complete review HERE)

You can read an interview with some members of the band HERE

FROM RELIGION TO PHILOSOPHY

Io come io is the second album by Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia and was released in 1972 on the RCA label with a consolidated line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Stefano Urso (bass), Gino Campoli (drums) and Pino Ballarini (vocals, flute). It’s another concept album in a hard rock style that in some way confirms qualities and flaws of its predecessor, La bibbia. The music is full of energy but the overall sound quality reflects the hurried recording sessions and an approximative production. To explain the concept, the liner notes quote some lines from German philosopher Hegel... “In philosophy the determinations of knowledge are considered not unilaterally, only as determinations of things, but together with the knowledge to which they refer, at least together with things; i.e. they are taken not merely as objective determinations, but also as subjective determinations, or rather as determinate species of the mutual relation of subject and object...”. However, do not worry! Despite the ambitious liner notes and the subject matter (an introspective quest for Truth), the lyrics are not abstruse nor pretentious and Hegel’s thought here is filtered and interpreted very loosely and with a particular hippy style point of view...

The opener “Io” (I) starts by the sound of gong, then drums and electric guitar set a tense atmosphere. The music and lyrics evoke strange visions. Things and people, places and feelings come through the mist of time, something is coming closer. It’s the memory of a past experience, a shadow. It’s a man who once taught to the protagonist the secrets of life, he was old then but now he’s much younger than the protagonist himself. It’s like in a strange dream where the protagonist has to face the thought of life and death, he has yet to understand how beautiful life is and he trembles because he can’t understand what death really means... “You say that everything I said to you is true / But I’m scared when you say you don’t know how good it is to die!”...

“Fenomeno” (Phenomenon) is a long track divided into two parts respectively subtitled “Proiezione” (Projection) and “Rappresentazione” (Representation). It begins by a strummed acoustic guitar pattern broken by heavy electric guitar riffs and a choir that could recall Il Balletto di Bronzo’s Ys. The music and lyrics conjure up the image of the protagonist lost on a mysterious road, wandering in a thousand directions without a clue, desperately trying to understand what’s false or true. The world around him is empty, amorphous and lifeless, in the morning there’s no sun, in the evening there’s no moon. After a calm middle section, suddenly the rhythm rises. The protagonist can see a light and someone calls him, a door opens for him... “Time, space, now I no longer live / Am I the real me?”...

The cathartic “Non io” (Not I) opens the second side of the original LP. It begins with a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio and soaring flute notes, the atmosphere is peaceful and dreamy. The music and lyrics depicts the new awareness of the protagonist who can see his past days unfold behind him. Now he hates money and reflects about the true values of life such as the love of a mother for her children. Naked, barefoot, the protagonists wants to go where the sky ends and the sea begins in search for ideals that can’t fade away over time like beauty or richness... “I still want to go on my way, where the sky joins the sea / Leaving alone behind me that man who has no truth...”.

The last track, “Io come io” (I as I), is divided into two parts subtitled “Divenire” (Becoming) and “Logica” (Logic) and marks the achievement of the inner journey of the protagonist. He’s found the light and the light is burning in him like a sun that will never die. The positive energy of the long instrumental coda describes the power of Truth and self-awareness...

On the whole, an interesting concept and a good work.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Il Rovescio della Medaglia: Io come io (1972). Other opinions:
Tarcisio Moura: There are some hints of good ideas here and there, and the general notion that the musicians might be good at their instruments. The main problem is that of the production: it is so bad is hard to tell what´s really wrong here. I heard this CD as many times I could stand, just to believe it was even released with such a poor sound. Hard to tell if they would come up with something really interesting had they got a better studio or producer or both, but certainly it could not be worse... (read the complete review HERE).

 

In 2020 vocalist Pino Ballarini announced the release of a new work entitled Io=Io 2020 featuring the re-recording of the whole album from 1972 with some new tracks to complete the concept and some re-recorded tracks from Il Rovescio della Medaglia’s albums La Bibbia and Contaminazione. So far, all we know is the cover, the line up, the track list and there’s a video promo. Not the album yet... I’m looking forward to listen to it!

 

More info: 

https://www.facebook.com/PinoBallariniOfficial 

AFTER THE STORM

Delirium during the early Seventies released three very interesting albums before split up. After many years of silence and thanks to Pino Di Santo’s initiative, in 2003 the band came back to life with a new line-up featuring veterans Pino Di Santo (drums), Ettore Vigo (keyboards) and Martin Grice (flute and sax) along with two new members, Fabio Chighini (bass) and Roberto Solinas (guitars). They rearranged the old stuff for some live performances and in 2006 they recorded a live album, “Vibrazioni Notturne”. In 2009 they finally released a brand new album with original material for the independent label Black Widow, “Il nome del vento” (The name of the wind), a concept album featuring lyrics by Mauro La Luce. Some guest musicians and a string quartet helped enrich the sound and the result is excellent.

The album opens with the reprise of “Dio del silenzio” (God of the Silence), a short, amazing acoustic ballad from “Delirium III: Viaggio negli arcipelaghi del tempo”. From the sound of a storm delicately soar flute and vocals... “In a moment of eternity / I’m the blaze without mercy / My body is made of nothing but wind / Bright is the moon in sapphire waters...”.

The opener is just a short intro leading to the beautiful, intense title track, sung by another of Delirium’s original members, Mimmo Di Martino and featuring the female vocals of Sophya Baccini. “What is the name of the wind which is drying me? / I don’t know...”. The lyrics are hermetic, they don’t tell a story but suggest evocative images... Everyone could pass through a metaphorical storm in their life that can provoke a dramatic change making you feel as a castaway carried away by the sea, towards shipwreck....

“Verso il naufragio” (Towards shipwreck), is an instrumental where George Martin’s “Theme One” is revisited and incorporated in an original track featuring perfectly balanced sax and piano passages... Next comes the calm, dreamy “L’acquario delle stelle” (The aquarium of the stars). It was originally written by Martin Grice to celebrate the birth of his first grandson to whom it is dedicated. After the shipwreck an atoll rises from the blue sea where you can land and shelter yourself surrounded by harmony... It’s your island where no one can stop your dreams and your brain loses itself. Then, one day you stand up again in the sand with a new dream: to change!

“Luci lontane” (Distant lights) begins with piano and vocals and a touching sax in the background... Rafts set off towards the unknown, even without golden sails but they set out and sail on towards distant lights... Well, when you feel lost, when you feel as if you were sailing without a compass, when you feel useless like a prophet without prophecies... Heed you heart and don’t lose hope! “Only the baby that’s in my soul / Has got in his hands my future / Truth can blossom again and erase the face of falsity / Giving life to dignity and smashing down dishonesty...”. “Profeta senza profezie” (Prophet without prophecies) is sung by former Museo Rosenbach’s singer Stefano “Lupo” Galifi and it’s definitely more bluesy and optimistic...

“Ogni storia” (Every story) opens with the cry of a baby, then a bass line and a sax lead you “on the dark side of your mood”... “Children like to end every story / Saying it was just a dream... / Or was it reality? / You know that the saddest lies / Are the ones we tell ourselves / Don’t dive into the dark!”. The beautiful voice of Sophya Baccini here contributes to building the right atmosphere.

“Note di tempesta” (Notes of storm) is an excellent jazz rock instrumental introduced by strings and leading to the long, complex “Dopo il vento” (After the wind). When the wind has blown nothing is as before, even inside your soul... “The storm has saved only what it is really worthwhile / Only your truth / Don’t waste it, ever! / Let the light lead you from now on....”. Evocative echoes of Brazil are perfectly blended with jazz and symphonic rock...

“Cuore sacro” (Sacred heart) is introduced by flute, then sudden changes in atmosphere alternate to celebrate the sacredness of the heart that defeated the storm... The final track “L’aurora boreale” (Aurora borealis) is a beautiful instrumental that closes an amazing album. At the end of the track you can recognize the theme of “Dio del silenzio” that opened the album inviting you to listen to this work again and again...

From the book Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Delirium: Il nome del vento (2009). Other opinions:
Jim Russell: The album "Il Nome del Vento" (which if my awful translations skills are accurate would be "The Name of the Wind") is a skillfully blended and thoroughly fulfilling combination of sophisticated symphonic progressive rock and jazz-rock excursion. I have heard many attempts by today's decent high-profile bands at capturing something this ambitious, and even when the results are mostly good there can be some sections that make me wince a bit for reasons of either poor composition or iffy production/performance. You will find none of these kinds of bush league mistakes on Il Nome, this album is flawlessly executed. Carefully considered compositions, painstakingly perfect production, and immaculate performance from top to bottom... (read the complete review HERE)

LIVE VIBRATIONS

Delirium had been an excellent band of the early seventies Italianprog scene. After many years of silence and thanks to Pino Di Santo’s initiative, in 2003 the band came to life again with a line up featuring, along with Di Santo on drums, the veterans Ettore Vigo (keyboards) and Martin Grice (flute, sax) along with two new members, Fabio Chighini (bass) and Roberto Solinas (guitars). A live album, entitled Vibrazioni notturne, was recorded in 2006 by this new incarnation of the band and it captures a performance in Trento. Anyway, this work is not a process of self-celebration or self-imitation; it seems more like a new starting point...

“Opening” is just a short introduction to the instrumental “Villaggio” from Delirum’s second album... Delirium are surprisingly fresh here and they seem to be perfectly fit, alive and kicking. The sound is definitely up to date and the band re-elaborate their old pieces giving them a new life... There’s ample room for electric guitar (an instrument that they didn't use at all on their first two albums of the early seventies, Dolce acqua and Lo scemo e il villaggio) and the interaction with the other instruments perfectly works while the music keeps on swinging and blending rock, jazz and a touch of folk...

The frenzied “Movimento I: Egoismo” and the bittersweet “Preludio: Paura” come from their debut album and the members of the band show that they’re able to perform excellent vocal parts even without the contribute of Ivano Fossati, their first singer (who is now a very successful singer-songwriter). Next comes “Culto disarmonico”, an instrumental jazz-rock piece that begins with a drum solo where the band members once again show off their excellent musicianship...
 

“E’ l’ora” is a pleasant surprise. The song was written by Lavezzi-Mogol and its original version was released only as a single. In my opinion it was just a weak pop one but here the band managed to transform it into a kind of Delirium’s “Impressioni di settembre” delivering what is a really improved version. Well, Mogol’s lyrics are not so inspired like those he wrote for PFM but the result is not bad at all... Next comes “Dolce acqua: speranza”, a classic from old Delirum's repertoire with another excellent new arrangement.

The following “Gioia, dolore, risentimento” is another surprise... The structure of the piece has been almost completely rebuilt exalting its “mystical mood” and it is very different from the original version on their second album: the band cut off the “tarantella parts” and the result is definitely good. In my opinion, this new version is far better than the original one... Then there’s a tribute to Jethro Tull that, in my opinion, is just a useless interlude before three more great songs: “Notte a Bagdad”, a new song inspired by the troubles in Iraq, “Johnny Sayre: perdono”, inspired by an Edgar Lee Masters’ poem and taken from the band’s debut album, and Delirum’s anthem “Jesahel”, their most famous song, originally released as a single.

The last track is a tribute to Joe Cocker and the Beatles, but in my opinion it’s just a useless filler... On this album you can’t find any track from their third album “Viaggio negli arcipelaghi del tempo” and at length this live album almost leaves you wanting to shout: “I want more! Encore!”. My overall impression is that “Vibrazioni notturne” is just an excellent appetizer for the next studio album of the band... Welcome back Delirium!

You can listen to the complete album HERE