In 1974, after Osanna's split up, former members Danilo Rustici (guitar, keyboards, vocals) and Elio D'Anna (sax, flute) teamed up with a drummer from Forlì, Enzo Vallicelli, and formed a new band called Uno. The only album they left to posterity was their eponymous work, recorded in London, in the same studios of Pink Floyd, and released on the Fonit Cetra label...
Osanna’s ghost here seem to be “hanging on a nail” (just to quote a verse from the lyrics of the album) while the members of the band are trying to overcome their past, but the result, in my opinion, is not convincing at all. I find that the song-writing is almost awkward in some points (for instance "Popular Girl" is a R & B track that suddenly turns into a "tarantella", but the passage from one part to another is too abrupt and it sounds unnatural to my ears) and too much derivative. There are many influences coming from The Beatles (like on the sweet, dreamy "Stay With Me" and on the first part of "Goodbye Friend") and heavy "echoes" coming from "the dark side of the moon" (like in "Uno nel tutto", after a first "R'n'R section, or in the "Goodbye Friend" finale), but the result is a kind of clumsy patchwork featuring rather weak vocals.
The best track (and, in my opinion, the only really good one on this album) is "I cani e la volpe" (The dogs and the fox), a melancholic ballad featuring lyrics telling of some boys who are trying to escape from a world that has gone mad and is full of violence. Here they are compared to a fox hunted by barking dogs that are screaming all their rage against the life... "Right Place" and "Uomo come gli altri" are not bad and closer to Osanna's sound but can’t “save the match”...
On the whole, an album that might be recommended only to Osanna's die-hard fans...
In 1974 the first album by Uno wasn’t successful and, consequently, the members of the band parted ways soon after it was released. Nonetheless not all of this experience was negative and so, after many years...
Uno nel Tutto, 2021
In 2021 drummer Enzo Vallicelli gathered around him a new line up under the name Uno nel Tutto, and featuring besides him also Enrico Gabrielli (winds, keyboards, vocals - from Calibro 35), Roberto Dellera (bass, lead vocals - from The Winstons) and Stefano Pilia (guitars - from Italian indie rock band Afterhours),. Teir aim was to revisit and perform Uno’s old repertoire for a concert at the Ravenna Festival. In my opinion, the new line up, based in Romagna, sound even better than the original one and successfully revitalized and improved the old stuff. I hope they’ll go on... Have a try! You can watch the complete concert HERE.
Minerva a Pezzi came to life in 2013 in Forlì from the meeting of four musicians inspired by bands with different styles such as Tool, King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Weather Report, Opeth, The Gathering, Pink Floyd, Karnivool, OSI, Radiohead, Genesis, Pantera, Massive Attack, Mars Volta, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, A Perfect Circle, Meshuggah, Zu, Porcupine Tree, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Gentle Giant and many others. In 2015 they self-released an interesting debut album entitled !φ (Not Phi) with a line up featuring Stefano Toni (lead guitar), Lorenzo Valentini (bass), Francesco Casadei Lelli (keyboards, synth, guitar) and Andrea Leoni (drums). According to the band, their music is inspired by urban confusion and by the contamination between different genres, they try to express the inner conflict between love and hate, wish and complaint, rational and irrational, order and chaos... Well, in my opinion, the dark, threatening art cover by Marco Sabbione in some way reflects the musical content of this instrumental work better than many words!
The nervous opener “Helpline” is an excellent piece that blends pulsing bass lines and fiery organ patterns, funky and classical music, dark, nocturnal atmospheres and evocative, dreamy passages. It could be the perfect score for a horror/thriller movie!
Minerva a Pezzi on stage
Next comes “Thassos” that features raw, heavy electric guitar riffs rising upon dark organ waves. Here there’s more chaos than melody while in the following “Flegma” a more relaxed, dreamy mood takes over. On “Cubo di Rubik” (Rubik’s Cube) tension rises again and here every now and again the music recalls the magic of Goblin’s deep colours. The nightmarish “Night’s Out” is in the same vein and alternates stormy dark clouds of sound to calmer passages.
The slow, dreamy “La giostra” (The carousel) and the long, mysterious “Ultimo giro” (Last lap) close an album that is worth listening to… Have a try! You can listen to the complete album HERE
Una Volta Eravamo In Sette are an Italian progressive rock band from Forlì that was formed in 2008. The line up features Francesco Agnoletti (keyboards, electric guitar, vocals), Riccardo Fiorini (vocals, flute), Mattia Massa (electric and acoustic guitar, vocals), Mattia Flamigni (drums) and Fabrizio Piani (bass). From the very beginning they started to work on original pieces inspired by The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Their debut work, La ballata del vecchio marinaio, was released in 2010 as a free legal download on the site jamendo.com and is an interesting and original mix of vintage and modern sounds featuring influences ranging from the Italian prog masters of the seventies to psychedelia, from classical music to tribal rhythms and many more. The musicians interpreted the poem with the music and their own words just giving you some hints of the events narrated by Coleridge... The rest is up to your imagination!
The opener “Overture” sets the atmosphere. The mood is dark and calm, then the rhythm slowly rises while Oriental influences add a touch of exoticism to a musical tableau where you can see a flock seagulls merrily dancing. The birds are flying over a ship and show the way while some threatening black clouds are gathering on the horizon and an impending sense of doom hangs on the sailors...
“Il matrimonio” (The marriage) depicts the beginning of the poem. The music is lively and tries to describe three men on their way to the church where the marriage of one of their relatives is going to be celebrated. Suddenly the music stops and the mood changes. An old sailor stops one of the three men... “Stop, stay a while with me / Listen to me now that you can...”. The voice of the singer now is the voice of the ancient mariner...
“Nella tempesta” (In the storm) opens with a thundering drum roll, then aggressive electric guitar riffs and raging organ waves come in. A “tyrannous and strong” storm drives the ship off course, towards south, to Antarctica... The music and lyrics take you on board... “I want to show where it goes / The ship chased by the storm... I still remember it / My ruin began then...”.
“E quanto è immenso l’oceano di ghiaccio” (And how vast is the ocean of ice) is a beautiful, complex track that tries to depict a desolated landscape of ice and solitude... After the storm the sun shines high over emerald green ice blocks. The sailors in dismal can see nothing but ice all around them and on the horizon there’s no shape of men nor beasts... “No shape nor beast...”.
“L’albatro” (The albatross) begins softly and marks the meeting with a strange bird, an albatross. The beautiful bird in some way speaks to the desperate men... “And now turn your gaze to me... Follow me, follow me...”. The sailors follow the flight of the bird and find a way out from their prison of ice but at a certain point one of the sailors, the ancient mariner, feels the sudden impulse to shoot the bird with his cross-bow. An aggressive electric guitar riff underlines the infernal action... “And the scream suffocates our breathing... Take me, kill me...”.
“Apologia” (Apology) starts in a frenzied way, then a surreal calm comes down... “I committed my infernal action, I killed the beast / First I was condemned, then I was celebrated as a hero / You’re guilty as well...”. Initially the other sailors got angry with the mariner since they believed that the albatross brought the south wind that led them out of Antarctica. However they changed their heart when the weather became warmer and the mist disappeared since they thought that it was the bird that brought the fog and mist. They made a mistake in supporting this crime as it aroused the wrath of the spirits who then started haunting the ship. The south wind now sends the ship into uncharted waters, where it is becalmed...
“Silenzio del mare” (Silence of the sea) is definitely closer to post rock than to vintage prog and perfectly depicts a long sad time in the sea where the crew has to wait for a breath of wind... “Day after day, day after day / As a painted ship in a windy sky / While our throats were drying...”. Time passed by and one day another ship appeared, a ghost ship! “A sail, a sail! / The sail was moving fast the bones of its crew as a spider-web does...”.
“Dadi d’ossa” (Dice of bone) is a powerful, dramatic instrumental featuring a good flute work, sharp electric guitar riffs and raging organ waves. It depicts a nightmare where the Grim Reaper and her companion Death-In-Life are casting dice... The winner will take the souls of the sailors!
“La collana dell’albatro (Danse Macabre)” (The necklace of the albatross) is another beautiful track featuring an eerie, hypnotic mood. All the other sailors are dead now and the mariner is alone. He still wears the dead albatross around his neck because of his crime but now he can see some dangerous water-snakes swimming in the sea around him and is charmed by the beauty of their colours. As he blesses them and begins to pray the albatross falls down from his neck as if the guilt was partially expiated... “The light splits the sky and sea / It’s high time to set off / It’s time to go on... A sun ray gives the crew a new life...”. Like magic the dead sailors come back to life and lead the ship near the coast before sinking forever into the water. The protagonist of the story survives...
The dreamy, ethereal “La ballata del vecchio marinaio” (The ballad of the ancient mariner) concludes the album and the story... “Judge this dream / Judge my act / What I committed is a crime / I relished my wishes... I bring my sentence as a sceptre...”. Now the listener has to guess the meaning of a nightmare on the borders of reality...
On the whole a very good album! And you can legally download it for free...
Jim Russell: The album is an enchanting mix of classic 70s prog spirit in an updated package. A concept album where you can feel the connection to the seafaring adventures, the story is told in large part instrumentally but there are occasional vocals and narration. The overall vibe is a mellow, often minimalist symphonic prog with a nod to the 70s RPI, and significant helpings of dreamy, low-key psych. Occasional tinges of hard rock, folk, and jazz come and go... This is an album which should please prog fans of many stripes and is a very promising debut. The music is very good. I'd be lying if I said a download was as satisfying to me as a physical CD release with nice artwork and packaging, but if you just want to hear some good music, check this out. Again, the band generously offer this for free so there is no reason not to have a listen and let them know what you think!(read the complete review HERE)
Torodd Fuglesteg: The songs are really varied in their expressions and this album is a pretty big mouthful. It is obvious that Una Volta Eravamo In Sette is a very talented band which I have already put high up on my "must follow" list... (read the complete review HERE)
Chris “Seventhsojourn”: “La Ballata del Vecchio Marinaio” is a concept album based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's chilling poem about an ancient mariner condemned to wander the earth and tell his strange tale whenever the impulse seizes him. The vivid imagery of the poem seems to lend itself to musical treatment and has inspired works by Iron Maiden and David Bedford among others. I would urge those who are unfamiliar with the poem to read it, as doing so will hopefully increase the listener's appreciation of the music. As with any concept album, the question for me is how well the idea works with the music. Well let me tell you, these guys pull the concept off big-time and you don't even need to understand Italian to get the gist of things... (read the complete review HERE)
South-East of Bologna, in the past the area called ROMAGNA, including the cities of FORLI', CESENA, RAVENNA, RIMINI and the Republic of San Marino, gave us bands such as Guercia and Foglie di Vetro. This area is best known for its discotheques and for its entertainment industry and in the seventies one of these discotheques, L’altro mondo, became famous for the jam sessions of many prog artists. Forlì is the birthplace of guitarist Riccardo Zappa(Official Website), an interesting artist that started his career in the seventies and who is still active today.
The current prog scene of Romagna features bands such as the excellent Una Volta Eravamo in Sette (MySpace) who in 2010 released a self produced debut concept album, La ballata del vecchio marinaio, inspired by the poetry of Samuel T. Coleridge, then there are Le Ore Devianti(MySpace), Il Vaso di Pandora (Facebook), Silver Linings (Facebook), the hard Buttered Bacon Biscuits(MySpace), Witchwood (Facebook.com) the psychedelic Kisses From Mars(MySpace), Pater Nembrot (Facebook), Desert Wizards (Facebook) and Tangerine Stoned (Facebook), the post rock projects Neil On Impression(MySpace) and Venezia(MySpace), the dark, heavy Witchfield (MySpace) and the prog folk Araba Fenice(MySpace).
And now let’s take the Via Aemilia heading north west and visit the other cities in the region. First we go to MODENA, the city of the famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti and of the painter Walter Mac Mazzieri, whose works appear on some famous prog album covers. Here we can find the hard, psychedelic Donkey Breeder(MySpace) and an intrumental prog-jazz project called Pocket Size Universe (Facebook). From Modena there also comes a popular folk rock band called Modena City Ramblers (MySpace). Although they can hardly be classified as a prog band, their committed “combat folk” has been very influential on the recent Italian prog-folk scene.
Then we go to REGGIO EMILIA, the birthplace of poet Ludovico Ariosto. This place is home to bands such as Mangala Vallis(Official Website), Trama Sonora(Official Website), Master Experience(MySpace), Arcanoise (MySpace), Anabasi Road (Facebook) and a folk rock project called Matelda(MySpace). Not far from Reggio Emilia there is the castle of Canossa. On the initiative of drummer and founder member of Mangala Vallis Gigi Cavalli Cocchi a prog rock opera, Canossa, was released in 2006 which was inspired by the character of Matilda of Canossa, featuring Mangala Vallis, Arcanoise, Master Experience, Trama Sonora and others. By the way, Gigi Cavalli Cocchi has recently teamed up with vocalist Bernardo Lanzetti and keyboardist Cristiano Roversi and now they are working on a new project called Cavalli Cocchi, Lanzetti & Roversi(Facebook).
The nearby town of Novellara gave us one of the most popular Italian pop-rock bands, I Nomadi (Official Website) who in the early seventies released (as almost everyone else in Italy in that period) some albums with soft prog influences that might be of interest to prog lovers. From Reggio Emilia to PARMA, the city of orchestra conductor Arturo Toscanini and of famous opera composer Giuseppe Verdi. In the seventies Parma gave us Rocky’s Filj and Acqua Fragile. Franz Dondi, bassist and founder member of Acqua Fragile is still active and is trying to keep the band alive with a renewed line-up under the name Acqua Fragile Project(MySpace). Other contemporary prog bands from this city are the very interesting Altare Thotemico (MySpace), Strato's (Facebook) and the emerging SlideA(MySpace) and Unreal City (MySpace).
We conclude our visit to Emilia-Romagna in PIACENZA. The current prog scene of this city features an interesting band, Wicked Minds(MySpace), who started in 1987 as a thrash metal act and only in 2000, after keyboardist Paolo “Apollo” Negri had joined with his Hammond, found a “new dimension” which is more hard-progressive oriented and the band has released some very interesting works. Other local bands that deserve mentioning are Ambigram (Facebook), Mindflower(MySpace), Art And Illusion(MySpace), David’s Lodgers (MySpace), Active Heed (Facebook), Nightcross (Facebook) and the experimental Pertegò(MySpace). I also recommend listening to an excellent band called Lagartija (Bandcamp) and the emerging Big Muff Project(MySpace).
