LAST FORMULA

La grande casa is the fourth studio album by Formula 3 and was released in 1973 on the Numero Uno label with the historic line up featuring Tony Cicco (drums, percussion, vocals), Gabriele Lorenzi (piano, organ, Minimoog, synth, bass, vocals) and Alberto Radius (electric and acoustic guitar, bass, vocals). This time the album was produced by Mogol who took charge of the lyrics with results that, in my opinion, are not always up to the music composed by the band. For prog lovers this work might be considered a step backwards and a disappointing return to shorter, simpler pieces after its excellent predecessor but it’s not without interest and in some way it anticipates the sound of Il Volo, the band born from the ashes of Formula 3 with Alberto Radius and Gabriele Lorenzi...

The melancholic opener “Rapsodia di Radius” starts by an excellent acoustic guitar intro, then the music and lyrics conjure up the image of a world where there are many open spaces but there’s no room for love. It’s a world where rage and selfishness rule and where freedom gets drowned in a moot. Fear looms large and life is like rag a falling down between feet of lead while man seems incapable to look after himself and is like a dove that risks to die before taking off to the sky. Anyway, the beautiful, dreamy instrumental coda lets the light of hope shine through the clouds...

“La ciliegia non è di plastica” (The cherry is not of plastic) is a simple pop rock song about a beautiful, independent and veracious girl attracted by the sirens of advertisements and tabloid stories that make her insecure. The music and lyrics invite her to be more confident because she’s round, sound and tasty like a cherry and point out that her sense of freedom could be frightening for some men...

“Libertà per quest'uomo” (Freedom for this man) begins softly and with a dark mood, then the rhythm rises as the keyboards introduce the melody. After another calm instrumental passage the voices of a choir begin to soar repeating in a loop like a mantra “freedom, freedom for this man” and bringing a ray of light in the darkness...

The melancholic “La grande casa” (The big house) evokes in music and words a deep sense of solitude. A man is driving back home and his new house is big but empty. When he opens the door, all alone in the silence, he feels like a stranger, he can hear nothing but the sound of his steps echoing in the dark. This is not what he desired and now he dreams of someone to hug, someone who could tell him that he’s not alone any more...

The bittersweet “Cara Giovanna” (Dear Giovanna) begins by a romantic piano solo intro that gives way to an acoustic guitar arpeggio. Then the music and lyrics depict a man talking to a woman about their love story that is ending. According to the man, his partner conceives love as paper that she wants to burn, in her eyes he sees a strange light and the desire to search for new adventures. For him it’s hard to accept her choice...

The last track, “Bambina sbagliata” (Wrong baby), depicts another troubled love affair between a young man and a girl. The man seems disappointed and escapes from the charms of the girl who fails to bind him with her sweet, sugary ropes and whipping looks. For him the only solution is going away, forgetting, flying, running away...

On the whole, a good album but not essential in a prog collection.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Formula 3: La grande casa (1973). Other opinions:
Jim Russell: La Grande Casa is the underappreciated little brother of the previous Formula 3 album that gets all of the accolades. But this little kid is charming and should not be written off by those who appreciate early 70s acoustic rock albums. It is not typical of other Italian Symphonic genre releases in that it has an almost folksy hippie rock feel courtesy of generous acoustic guitar and vocal harmonies. The music has an intimate, romantic, communal vibe that occasionally reminds me of the Californian rock of the period though it doesn't give up its own identity either... (Read the complete review HERE)

DREAMING FORMULA

Sognando e risognando is the third album by Formula 3 and was released in 1972 on the Numero Uno label with a consolidated line up featuring Tony Cicco (drums, percussion, vocals), Gabriele Lorenzi (piano, organ, Minimoog, synth, bass, vocals) and Alberto Radius (electric and acoustic guitar, bass, vocals). It marks an evident change in the band’s musical direction that here turns from the song-oriented psychedelic rock of their first two albums to a full fledged progressive rock and more complex structures. As for the art cover, don’t be mislead: the provocative, macabre subject elaborated by Caesar Monti, Gianfranco Marabelli and Wanda Spinello does not represent the content of an album where horrific, gloomy atmospheres do not prevail at all...

The opener, “Sognando e risognando” (Dreaming and dreaming again), is a suite divided into four parts signed Battisti-Mogol. A different, shorter version of this piece was released in 1971 on Lucio Battisti’s album Umanamente uomo: il sogno but here the band deliver a new good arrangement adding some instrumental parts. It begins by an instrumental introduction subtitled “Fermo al semaforo” (Standing at the traffic lights) that sets a foggy atmosphere and a melancholic mood. Then, on the second part subtitled “Sognando” (Dreaming), the rhythm rises and soaring vocals without words begin to drive you far from the traffic jams and the daily grind of a big city. The third part, subtitled “La stalla con i buoi” (The stable with the oxen) depicts in music and words a beautiful, pastoral country landscape where you can live in harmony with nature and your sweetheart, surrounded by singing birds, rivers full of fishes and woods. You’d better hurry up and try to reach that place as soon as possible leaving behind the hectic city life. You can do it when the traffic lights turn to green... The short last part, subtitled “Risognando” (Dreaming again) ends the piece with a soft, peaceful mood.

The long, autumnal “L'ultima foglia” (The last leaf) is an instrumental suite composed by the band and divided into three parts. The first one, subtitled “L'albero” (The tree) begins by drum rolls and dark organ waves then the rhythm rises and the electric guitar draws some disquieting melodies conveying a nightmarish atmosphere... The second part, subtitled “Non mi ritrovo” (I’m not at ease) starts by a drum solo, then the pace accelerates bringing some echoes of Latin rock à la Santana while the last part, subtitled “Finale”, ends the suite with a slight Gothic flavour...

“Storia di un uomo e di una donna” (Story of a man and of a woman) is a relatively short piece signed Battisti-Mogol that deals with a tormented relationship between a man and a woman that is slowly coming to an end. It opens with a soft acoustic guitar pattern and a melancholic feeling with the voice of Alberto Radius depicting the waning enthusiasm, the desire to look for another love, the fear to suffer again the pain of a broken romance... But there’s still something left, a bit of love is still hanging in the air and some doubts rise, so the final curtain of this love story can wait another day!

The last track, “Aeternum”, is another suite divided into four parts and composed by the band with the help of Lucio Battisti. The first part, subtitled “Tema”, sets the atmosphere with a powerful incipit that after a minute gives way to a calmer passage where music and vocals describe a magic moment where time stands still and there’s no need to think of a distant world nor to worry about the past. You can breathe slowly looking at the nature that surrounds you as the wind sweeps away your troubles, you can feel eternal at least for while... The second part, subtitled “Caccia” (Hunt), is evocative and dreamy and leads to the complex “Interludio”, that begins by a piano solo pattern and is full of classical influences and sonic fireworks. Then the last part, subtitled “Finale”, ends the album with a softer, dreamy mood...

On the whole, a very good album!

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Formula 3: Sognando e risognando (1972). Other opinions:
Jim Russell: The album is neither a failure nor an overwhelming success but somewhere in between. Many different interesting parts and some clunkers are seemingly cut and pasted together in ways that are not convincing. It gets you pumped in a few spots but can't seem to completely pull one in for the kill, the various parts sounding lost and not unified. Good ideas seem squandered without the glue, without the good flow that makes for an intense listening session. But it can't be written off so easily as many feel the album works quite well despite... (read the complete review HERE)

SECOND FORMULA

The second eponymous album by Formula 3 was released in 1971 on the Numero Uno label with a confirmed line up featuring Tony Cicco (drums, percussion, vocals), Gabriele Lorenzi (keyboards, vocals) and Alberto Radius (guitars, vocals). As its predecessor, the album was produced by Lucio Battisti but this time all the songs were signed Battisti-Mogol and interpreted by the band whose creativity was in some way limited. The overall sound mainly draws on psychedelic rock and Italian melody but the result is a far cry from the "Italian prog" of other groups of the same period, with simpler structures, lighter lyrical content and less adventurous solutions... 

 

 

The long opener “Nessuno nessuno” (No one no one) is a good piece blending hard rock, psychedelia and Italian melody. The music and lyrics evoke a foggy motorway landscape... The protagonist is driving his car and the visibility is scarce, every now and again he can see the lights of other cars coming from behind and surpassing him, then vanishing into the white... He stops for fuel at a service station, pays and resume his journey through the Po Valley feeling lonely and sad... 

 

“Tu sei bianca, sei rosa, mi perderò” (You are white, you are pink, I’ll get lost) is a straightforward rock blues piece with a nice organ work and lyrics about an irrepressible, haunting passion. A man is trying and trying again to get the woman he desires and who is driving him mad...

The melancholic “Vendo casa” (I’m selling my house) depicts a desperate man in a house that is a mess, a man who is crossing e period of deep crises on the account of a broken relationship while the following “Eppur mi son scordato di te” (And yet I’ve forgotten you) is a carefree song that was very successful as a single and that tells of a man cheating on a woman and when caught desperately tries to find a justification for what he defines just a game, a distraction...

The weak “Un papavero” (A poppy) depicts a beautiful, independent girl who takes each day as it comes and whose romances do not last long, like a flower, a beautiful poppy... Then comes “Il vento” (The wind) that tells of a man who wakes up early to steal out of his house and escape from a relationship that for him is over. He feels that when the wind begins to blow you can’t stop it, so he’s leaving his woman and his past behind him with a pinch of regret but determined to search for new adventures...

“Mi chiamo Antonio Tal dei Tali e lavoro ai mercati generali” (My name is Antonio So and So and I work at the general markets) ends the album with a rock blues flavour that every now and again could recall Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. It tells of a man who works hard at the general markets unloading boxes of fruits in the rain and when he comes back home finds out that his woman denies him any solace...

On the whole, a good collection of more or less simple rock songs but not essential in a prog collection.

FIRST FORMULA

Formula 3 were formed in Milan in 1969 with a line up featuring Tony Cicco (drums, percussion, vocals), Gabriele Lorenzi (keyboards, vocals) and Alberto Radius (guitars, vocals), three skilled musicians and appreciated session men. Dies irae, their debut album, was released in 1970 on the Numero Uno label, produced by Lucio Battisti. The overall sound draws on psychedelic and post beat influences and the songwriting is mainly in charge of the band’s mentors, Lucio Battisti for the music and Mogol for the lyrics. The psychedelic atmospheres of the album are in some way depicted by the colourful art cover...

 

 The opener, “Dies irae”, is a public domain song with a religious subject elaborated and re-shaped by band. Wild organ rides, electric guitar riffs in debt with Jimi Hendrix and spoken words in Latin in the background build up a quasi apocalyptical atmosphere... In my opinion, it's a good piece that blends psychedelic-rock with Gregorian chant and it's my favourite piece from this band. Unfortunately, the other tracks are not at the same level...

“Non è Francesca” (It’s not Francesca) is a cover of a best known Lucio Battisti’s song that tells of a man who sees his girlfriend passing by along the street with another man and can’t believe to his eyes. Here the song is re-arranged with a strong Latin rock flavour that every now and again could recall Santana, but I prefer by far the original Battisti's version...

“Perché... Perché ti amo” (Because... Because I love you) is a melodic song veined of psychedelic touches signed by Mogol and Edoardo Bennato, a declaration of love for a charming woman. Black or white, the protagonist loves her passionately... Is that woman just a metaphor for the music?
 

 

“Questo folle sentimento” (This crazy feeling) is a carefree pop rock song about a man falling in love at first sight with a girl amidst colourful lights and psychedelic sounds. This piece was commercially successful as a single and here is strangely divided into two parts, probably just because of the length of the original vinyl edition. The first part is just a short instrumental introduction that ends the first side of the LP while the second part opens the second side of the album with the vocal part...

“Walk Away Renee” is sung in English and is a cover of a love song signed by Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, and Tony Sansone, recorded in 1966 by American baroque pop band The Left Banke and already covered in 1967 by The Four Tops. This version features a darker mood and a good instrumental middle section with organ and guitar in the forefront...

“Se non è amore cos'è” (If it’s not love, what is it?) is a melodic, cheesy song signed by Elio Isola, Mogol and Sandro Colombini with a slow pace and romantic, consolatory lyrics telling of a young man under a starry sky who tries to stop the tears dropping from the clear eyes of his sweetheart...

“Sole giallo, sole nero” (Yellow sun, black sun) is a weak, silly love song signed Mogol-Battisti mixing simple Italian melody and psychedelic trips. In the long instrumental coda there’s room for a nice drum solo and some experimental solutions but, in my opinion, the result is not convincing at all...

On the whole, an interesting album that marks the passage from the sixties to the seventies on the Italian music scene but that is not essential for prog lovers...

You can listen to the complete album HERE