Attached to the interesting book of the same name by Gianmaria Consiglio published in 2009 by Eclysse, Salerno (available only in Italian, 190 pages containing the history of the band, a deep musicological analysis ofthe album Ys and many black and white pictures), the CD Il Balletto di Bronzo e l’idea del delirio organizzato contains some post seventies live recordings and unreleased studio tracks of Il Balletto di Bronzo and Gianni Leone and can be considered an interesting document of the rebirth of the band after the split up in the seventies.
“Intro” features just background keyboard sounds and the voice of Gianni Leone resuming the history of the band, part of the reasons of the 1973 split up and how the idea of reforming the band was born... Then it’s the moment of “Technoage”, recorded during a concert in Tokyo on the 14th of September 2002, followed by an excerpt from “Deliquio viola” and the first part of “Napoli sotteranea”, taken from the DVD Live In Rome 2008, while the second part of “Napoli sotterranea” comes from a concert at the Villaggio Globale, Rome recorded on the 19th of November 2002.
Next comes a good (although fragmented) synthesis of the whole suite of Ys. “Introduzione” and “Secondo incontro” are excerpts from a Gianni Leone solo performance recoded at the Centrale del Tennis, Rome on the 29th of July 2003, “Primo incontro” is taken from the concert in Tokyo on the 14th of September 2002 and “Terzo incontro ed Epilogo” comes from a concert at the Alpheus, Rome on the 29th of November 2001.
Then “Nè ieri, né domani” comes from a live recording in Mexico City on the 9th of March 2003; “”Strano appuntamento” is an unreleased studio recording from 1987 while the last two tracks “Un’eccitazione nuova” and “Discoclub” are unreleased tracks taken from some 1985 studio sessions. To be honest, the unreleased pieces from the eighties are rather weak and closer to disco music than prog but the rest of the CD is worth listening to.
On the whole, along with the book this a good document of the band’s history and a precious item, highly recommended to fans and Italian prog collectors.
Il Balletto di Bronzo took form in Naples in the late sixties under the name I Battitori Selvaggi. The first line up featured Marco Cecioni (vocals, guitar), Michele Cupaiuolo (bass), Giancarlo Stinga (drums) and Lino Ajello (guitar). Their debut album, entitled Sirio 2222, was released in 1970 and sounds quite different from their best-known prog work Ys from 1972 since keyboards wizard and vocalist Gianni Leone joined only in 1971 along with bassist Vito Manzari, leading the band in a completely new musical direction...
On Sirio 2222 you can find many beat and psychedelic influences while the lyrics mainly deal with the counterculturals values of hippies and their way of life always on the road... The music is definitively guitar driven and you can listen to some echoes of Jimi Hendrix ("Un posto", "Girotondo"), Canned Heat ("Eh Eh Ah Ah"), Animals, Yardbirds or The Who ("Neve calda", "Ma ti aspetterò", "Ti risveglierai con me") mixed with a strong melodic flavour. The best moments on this album, in my opinion, are the romantic "Meditazione", an interesting effort to blend classical music with rock, and "Incantesimo", a "psychedelic enchantment" trying to blend blues with fairy tales imagery... Good also the long "Missione Sirio 2222" that tells in music and words the wreckage of a spaceship: a strange kind of "psychedelic suite" with peculiar oriental influences.
On the whole "Sirio 2222", although perhaps in some way naive and derivative, could be an interesting album for psychedelic rock lovers... Nonetheless I think it's not an essential one in a prog collection...
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In 2013, more than forty years after the release of Il Balletto di Bronzo’s debut album Sirio 2222 two members of original line up met again and started to work on a new project, just for the pleasure of playing music and develop new ideas, under the name Il Balletto di Bronzo di Lino Ajello & Marco Cecioni to differentiate it from the new incarnation of the band led by Gianni Leone and focused on Ys’ heritage and Gianni Leone’s solo works. Anyway, for this new project the aim of the musicians was not to play prog but songs in the hippie, psychedelic vein of Sirio 2222 although with an updated sound and taste...
The new album was released in 2016 on the independent label Suoni dal Sud - No Music No Life. It’s entitled Cuma 2016 DC and for the recording sessions Marco Cecioni (vocals, guitar) and Lino Ajello (lead guitar) gathered around them younger musicians and old friends such as Alessandro Stellano (bass, guitar, vocals), Francesco Del Prete (drums), Alfonso Mocerino (drums), Alessandro Crescenzo (keyboards), Adriana Salomone (backing vocals), Gianni Leone (vocals, keyboards) and Tony Guido (keyboards).
The art cover and the drawings in the booklet by Marco Cecioni try to reflect the content of the album, a good mix of art pop and psychedelia, hard rock and melody. The track list unfold without fillers, the songwriting is good, some pieces are powerful and straightforward (like “Bivio acido”) some others more leaning to Italian canzone d’autore where artists such as Max Gazzé (in “Una meta” or “Figlio dei fiori”) or Zucchero (in “Big Mama”) could come to mind. I particularly enjoyed “Ordine disordine” that mixes hard rock and Mediterranean flavours, the dreamy “Pirati” and the new version of “Neve calda” from Sirio 2222... Also interesting “Vorrei essere un Deejay (Eivissa)”, a reflection about the new dancing habits of the youth and their sense of freedom. But, of course, if you are looking for another Ys I fear you will be highly disappointed.
On the whole, a good album but far from essential in a prog collection.
Il Balletto di Bronzo began life in Naples the late sixties under the name I Battitori Selvaggi. In 1970 they released a debut album in a psychedelic style, “Sirio 2222”. In 1972 they released what is considered their best album, “Ys”, with a renewed line-up featuring founder members Lino Ajello (guitar) and Gianchi Stinga (drums) along with Vito Manzari (bass) and Gianni Leone (vocals, organ, piano, mellotron, moog, spinetta and celesta). “Ys” is a concept album that was inspired by the legend of a mythical city built on the coast of Brittany and later swallowed up by the ocean. Anyway the lyrics interpret the legend in a very free way. Well, in my opinion the lyrics are not the strength of this work and here vocals are more like an instrument interacting with the band to stir emotions... There are many changes in rhythm, wonderful keyboards and guitar solos, powerful bass lines and drumming. You can find here many influences blended together in a very interesting, personal way, from classical to jazz, from avant-garde to hard rock... Actually, on the first listening you could find “Ys” a little bit boring. Foggy lyrics drawing dreadful images, gloomy vocals, anguish and fear intruding every now and again... There’s definitely a haunting, dark mood hanging over the whole album. If you’re looking for something relaxing probably it’s better to avoid it but if you’re more patient I’m sure that you’ll find that the music is rather good...
The opener “Introduzione” (Introduction) sets the atmosphere. Vocals soar like a dirge from silence, then dark organ chords come in. A supernatural voice tells the last survivor what the “true reality” is and then orders him to set off on a journey to tell everyone what he heard. The play begins... The voice pushes hard in the chest and the last man feels the pain of the things he understood, the pain of the things he experienced... “The poetry of a windy day / The last leaf of a dying tree / The first sunny day in April / A warm body, a hand close to him...”.
“Primo incontro” (First meeting) describes the first part of the journey and a strange meeting. The protagonist keeps on walking, he crosses plains and mountains and goes further and further without turning back. Finally he stumbles on another man... “A man is there with his face turned down / The ivy already covers his body / Black is the blood on the wounds of his torn ears...”. At this point, the mysterious voice compels the survivor to shout out everything he feels is dying inside him. The wind carries away the words and the protagonist becomes deaf...
“Secondo incontro” (Second meeting) starts with vocals “a cappella”. The protagonist is deaf now but he can still see under a clear sky. He can see women in the dark ready to betray or good men dying while evil and powerful ones are rejoicing. The survivor can’t stop and goes further until he meets another man with his arms outstretched on a cross. He gets closer, he can see that in the lightless eyes of the crucified man they nailed some thorns... “He felt the pain of those wounds / Then the light went out...”. Now the protagonist is deaf and blind!
“Terzo incontro” (Third meeting) and “Epilogo” (Epilogue) conclude the album. “Terzo incontro” begins with a powerful, dramatic instrumental part. With his arms stretched out the protagonist, blind and deaf now, tries to find his way until he meets a shape and touches it with his fingers. The mood becomes darker than ever... “With his hands he couldn’t sense anything but the cold of Death / His true word came out from his chest again / But his tired mouth remained motionless / The scream crushed him / It tore him apart / And the darkness around him / Then was inside him...”. And darkness was!
Il Balletto di Bronzo disbanded in 1973 after the release of a single that you can find as a bonus track on the CD version of “Ys”, “La tua casa comoda” (Your comfortable home). In the late nineties Gianni Leone reformed the band with a renewed line-up and recently I had the chance to attend one of their concerts... During the show Gianni Leone (the only original member in the present line-up) said that nowadays he finds progressive rock boring and that probably he wouldn’t release another album like “Ys”. Nevertheless they played the whole album. I didn’t find the performance completely convincing (I missed the guitar since now Il Balletto di Bronzo is a trio with only bass, drums and keyboards), but “Ys” is still the best known work of the band and I realized that almost all the public was there only to listen to it...
You can find a translation of this article into Japanese HERE
