CALIFORNIA DREAMING

Smogmagica is Le Orme's seventh studio album. It was recorded in Los Angeles, California, in 1975 with a line up featuring, along with the historical members Aldo Tagliapietra (bass, vocals, acoustic guitar), Tony Pagliuca (keyboards) and Michi Dei Rossi (drums), a young, skilled musician with a solid rock-blues background, Tolo Marton (electric guitar, harmonica, vocals). With this album Le Orme tried to change slightly their sound following a more straightforward musical direction. The result might not be completely satisfying for old prog fans but, even if it represents a step back when compared to the band's previous masterpieces, this is still a good album with some magnificent tracks. Anyway, the wonderful album cover painted by Paul Whitehead and inspired by the music is a special asset and makes of this work a very special item in any progressive rock collection.

The opener “Los Angeles” begins by a frenzied guitar solo flying on a cloudy rhythmical carpet that melts in a quiet piano section with a short vocal part. The lyrics describe the feelings of a passenger on a plane landing in L.A., the “magical polluted” city of the title (it's very difficult to translate the word “Smogmagica” indeed!)... “I felt a void in me and a sensation of fear / While the darkness of the clouds was still around me / Then, suddenly, below me an ocean of lights / I had never seen before so many lights at the same time...”. Then the rhythm sets off again in a instrumental “crescendo” with some changes in rhythm and mood and a good interaction between the guitar and the other instruments. A great track!

“Amico di ieri” (Yesterday’s friend) is one of the most famous songs by Le Orme. It’s a melancholic acoustic ballad where a delicate melody sets a dreamy atmosphere. The lyrics tell about the autumn wind that blows to Los Angeles from his cradle in the desert, bringing with him the memories of the ancient pioneers who were driven to the sea and to a new reality by their dreams of freedom... “Autumn wind / Yesterday’s friend / Today nobody cares of you / Your rising voice / Takes away the sleep from resting people / It just soils the city...”. Well, in this case the lyrics represent also a way to tell about the contrast between past and present, dream and reality in a poetical way... This song has always been one of my favourites.

Unfortunately, the following “Ora o mai più” (Now or nevermore) is not as good as the previous tracks. It is a kind of prog’n’roll featuring lyrics about a man who drives like hell “collecting red lights” just to get in time to a meeting with his girlfriend. The song ends with the noise of a car crash! Good idea, but the result is not completely convincing...

Then comes “Laserium Floyd”, a good instrumental with a slow pace and a nocturnal atmosphere that could recall Pink Floyd’s echoes. It leads to “Primi passi” (First steps), a nice pop rock song about the need to look for new experiences that makes you jump on the first train running to seek your fortune far away, without waiting for useless promises... “Hello, new day that moves on by uncertain steps...”.

The following delicate, acoustic ballad “Immensa distesa” (Immense plain) is definitely better with Aldo Tagliapietra's soaring vocals that conjure up a dreamy mood... “You would like to follow me and move far away / But eventually you prefer the shelter of dreams...”. Remarkable the particular coda with a fine drum work running under the melody played by the acoustic guitar.

Le Orme in L.A., 1975

“Amanti di città” (City lovers), despite the good guitar work, in my opinion is the worst track of the lot, especially on account of the strange, unpleasant vocals. The lyrics are absolutely nothing special, just an ironic dialogue between two lovers in the city.

“L’uomo del pianino” (The street organ man) is an interesting experimental track, a kind of “country-prog” song with a beautiful short ragtime section... “Distant fogs of my home town / Make safer the old way... How many strange things I keep inside me...”. A good effort to cross the styles.

The instrumental “Laurel Canyon” is another good effort to blend the rock-blues influences of the guitarist with the prog vein of the other members of the band. This track was named after Laurel Canyon Boulevard in L.A., California, the place where the band set their headquarters during the recording sessions, and concludes an album with some ups and downs but that is really worth listening to.

You can listen in streaming to the complete album HERE

RAG MEN AND BROKEN DOLLS

After the successful album “Collage”, Le Orme developed some ideas already present in their previous work and released another masterpiece, “Uomo di pezza” (Man of rags). This album features the same line-up (Aldo Tagliapietra, Antonio Pagliuca and Michi Dei Rossi) and the same producer (Gian Piero Reverberi) of the previous work and is reputed one of the most influential albums of the Italian prog scene. The wonderful art cover features a painting by Walter Mac Mazzieri titled “Garbo di neve” that perfectly describes the mood of this work. There’s a perfect symbiosis between the music and lyrics and all the tracks are in some way linked by a thread. This work was conceived almost as a concept album and it’s a kind of journey in the feminine universe. Every song tells the story of a woman but the mood is not at all light or romantic. Troubled stories of violence, broken dreams, fears and madness are told in a very poetical, bold way while the music underlines the poetical content of the lyrics...

Walter Mac Mazzieri: Garbo di neve

The opener “Una dolcezza nuova” (A new sweetness) begins with a church-like organ sound. The organ tries to evoke the dreams of a young girl, such as a romantic relationship and a happy marriage, but sometimes things go wrong and the first experience with love and sex can be a real trauma. The rhythm section carries away those dreams. Then comes a new beginning, with a delicate piano pattern and soaring vocals... “I pick up your glance and I hold it tight in my hands / There’s an old fear in your eyes / Now dreams of ash are burning inside you / When your fears melt away, you believe in me...”. A new relationship with the right man can lead to a new sweetness... “The storm is inside your heart / And you find a shelter in me... Your voice becomes a whisper / And you, you are shaking beside me... I pick up your glance and I hold it tight in my hands / There’s a new sweetness in your eyes / New for you...”.

“Gioco di bimba” (Little girl’s game) is a wonderful acoustic ballad about a broken charm... “She gets up in the night as if compelled by a spell / She silently walks with her eyes still closed / As if she would follow a magic song / And on the roundabout she comes back to her dreams...”. Well, despite the dreamy mood of the music this song is about a rape. A man tears apart the dreams of the young girl, then it’s too late for him to repent... “A stealthy shadow gets off the wall / In the little girl’s game a woman gets lost... In the morning a scream resounds in the middle of the street / A man of rags is invoking his tailor / In a lost voice he keeps on saying / I didn’t want to wake her up this way / I didn’t want to wake her up this way!”. In this case the tailor is a metaphor for God...

“La porta chiusa” (The closed door) is about a woman who lives locked in her house fearing an impending meeting with her destiny... “As every evening you are alone in the dark / Your innocence keeps you company...”. The woman has renounced the struggle for love but suddenly she hears someone knocking on her door, what’s up? She would like to open and she doesn’t know why. The music helps raise the tension... Well, it’s difficult to say whether it was just a scoundrel or love passing by... “You didn’t open the door, why? / It could be him...”.

“Breve immagine” (Short image) is a short, dreamy track describing an ideal woman through the eyes of a boy. She appears like a mirage, a light trick reflected in the water... “Over there, where the sky ends melting into the sea / There’s a young woman who is smiling to me... It’s an image that lasts just for a while / It’s an image that the sundown carries away...”.

 

“Figure di cartone” (Cardboard figures) tries to depict in music and words madness. It’s about a woman closed in her room and completely cut off from the real world. She has lost her youth as a flower cut off from its branch in springtime... “You live in your own strange world made of cardboard figures and rag dolls / You live closed between those four walls / You can’t remember who took you in / You don’t know anyone but who plays with you / You don’t have the anxieties of the future / Time is worthless for you / Tomorrow you will do again what you did yesterday / And in your dreams you talk with angels...”. Despite the subject matter in this track the music is not aggressive and there’s a feel of mercy and melancholic sweetness... “You hold tight to your chest the pillow / And on the white wall shadows draw the profile of a woman with her baby / And so you fall asleep, happy...”.

“Aspettando l’alba” (Waiting for sunrise) is about a summer night spent on a beach waiting for dawn. The sound of a guitar, songs soaring in the night, boys and girls on the sand around a bonfire... Nonetheless the music doesn’t express joy, there’s something wrong, a disquieting feeling in the air. There’s a girl with an empty, dazed face among so many smiling ones, so many eyes have become just one look... What happens next? Well, the lyrics don’t tell us but probably it was something so nasty that made even the wind angry... “A strong wind at dawn became angry with the sun / And the sea waves raged all over beach...”.

The last track “Alienazione” (Alienation) is an instrumental that tries to express madness and estrangement. It starts with a dark burst of energy, then a disquieting feeling soars from wild rhythm patterns hanging on until the end...

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

You can listen in streaming to the complete album HERE

OF STONE AND WIND

Aldo Tagliapietra is the historic vocalist and bassist of Le Orme, a band that he contributed to found in 1966. In 2009 he went solo and, after a double unplugged live album, in 2012 he self released an interesting studio work with the help of some members of The Former Life, a very promising young prog band from Vittorio Veneto. On this album, titled “Nella pietra e nel vento” (In the stone and in the wind), the line up features, along with Aldo Tagliapietra (vocals, bass), Aligi Pasqualetto (piano, Minimoog, keyboards), Andrea De Nardi (organ, keyboards), Matteo Ballarin (electric and acoustic guitar) and Manuel Smaniotto (drums, percussion). There are no long, complex suites here but just ten beautiful ballads with a mild progressive rock vein that in some way recall the atmospheres and the melodic passages of some albums by Le Orme such as “Elementi” or “L'infinito” while the art work by Paul Whithead adds a touch of charm and mystery

 

Aldo Tagliapietra 2011

The opener title track is a melancholic piece about time passing by. It was inspired by some words in Latin carved in an ancient sundial, Felicibus brevis miseris hora longa. Time can cover with a magic veil memories and nostalgia even if it is too slow for those who have to wait, too fast for those who are scared, too long for those who feel pain, too short for those who are happy. The following “Silenzi” (Silences) brings a gust of optimism and the atmosphere is brighter. What will remain of us after our time will come to an end? Nothing can last forever except our souls and a smile which will shine in the silence of immensity.

“Il santo” (The saint) was inspired by the character of the Dalai Lama. It tells about a meeting with a smiling man born from a dream, with no home nor land but with a border-less love in his eyes.The delicate, sweet “La cosa più bella” (The most beautiful thing) is dedicated to Aldo Tagliapietra's grand-son Francesco Ian while the following “Un grande giardino” (A wide garden) is for all the children of an ancient mother called Life, flowers of light in a wide garden who need all our love to grow up.

“Sette passi” (Seven steps) is full of spirituality and was inspired by the character of Siddhartha. It evokes the morning wind and a peaceful, almost magic sense of freedom where flowers shine in the infinite. “C'è una vita” (There's a life) invites you to open your mind, look beyond appearances and search for the life that flows inside your heart... “There's no light without dark / There's no night without day / There's no sound without quiet / There's no peace without war / Inside every pain there's a hidden love / In every morning there's the evening...”. 

 

“Tra il bene e il male” (Between good and evil) features on bass the guest Claudio Galieti who was a member of Le Orme in the sixties. It's another track that draws some reflections about the meaning of life in a world divided between silence and noise. We have to walk on a tightrope hanging on the void, between joy and pain in the never ending game between good and evil.

“Dio lo sa” (God knows it) is full of positive energy, almost an ode to a merciful God who is aware of our weakness. For Him we're just angels living between dream and reality who keep on rolling down from a steep hill like stones, lost in the dark and looking for an ephemeral freedom that we can't find. 

 

The conclusive “Il sutra del cuore” (The sutra of the heart) in some way is linked with the title track and closes the circle. It invites you to open your mind to love without hypocrisy nor fear. You have to forget the evil ways and look for love without any compromise, you have to carve in the stone all the positive things and remember all the love you have received from the others. As for the bad memories, let the wind blow them away and keep on searching for the light of love, beyond the immensity.

All in all a very nice album!

More info:

http://www.aldotagliapietra.it/ 

PIANO VARIATIONS

Tony Pagliuca was Le Orme's keyboardist until 1990. In the early nineties he went solo following a personal artistic path and since then ha has released six albums so far. His last work, “Après Midi – Ormeggiando”, was recorded between 2007 and 2010 with the supervision of Le Orme's historic producer Gianpiero Reverberi and features twelve tracks from Le Orme's repertoire re-interpreted for piano solo. The album was finally self released in 2010 with an elegant packaging featuring an art cover taken from a painting by Walter Mac Mazzieri, Canzoniere notturno. Well, in my opinion the art cover depicts in a very effective way the mood of this charming work full of delicate nuances and evocative, nocturnal passages. 

 

The opener “Gioco di bimba” sets the atmosphere. From the very first notes you can realize that this is not just an unplugged album or the fruit of a nostalgia operation. The music respects the feeling of the original pieces but explores new melodic solutions drawing beautiful games of lights and shadows. 

 

The following “Aliante” is the only track recorded live and it's taken from a concert in Florence in November 2009. “Venerdì” is an instrumental piece originally released in 1981 and this “naked” version, purified from the sounds of the eighties, in my opinion adds new perspectives and colours with an excellent result...

Tony Pagliuca 2010

Just imagine to sit in a café in San Marco Square, in Venice, and let the music stir your fantasy, unveiling hidden melodies and unexpected rhythmical solutions... “Verità nascoste”, “Aspettando l'alba”, “Immagini”, “La fabbricante d'angeli”, “Era inverno”, “Se io lavoro”, “Cemento armato”, “Sguardo verso il cielo”, “Collage”. The music flows away as in a beautiful dream and if you like Le Orme's historic works I'm sure you'll enjoy all this new instrumental versions as well. Have a try!

More info:

http://www.tonypagliuca.com/

https://www.facebook.com/tony.pagliuca 

HIDDEN TRUTHS

“Verità nascoste” (Hidden truths), the eighth studio album by Le Orme, was recorded in London in October 1976 with a renewed the line up featuring Aldo Tagliapietra (bass, vocals), Michi Dei Rossi (drums), Toni Pagliuca (keyboards) and a new guitarist, Germano Serafin, who took the place of Tolo Marton. The album should had been produced by Vangelis but since there was no feeling between him and the band at length Le Orme chose to work without the help of an “external producer”. Eventually the final the result was not bad at all for an album released when the Halcyon days of progressive rock were gone, swept away by new fashions.

Le Orme 1976

The opener “Insieme al concerto” (Together at the concert) is a kind of mini suite about the feelings of the public before and after a concert: curiosity, happiness, the magic of the music hanging on after the show until dawn... “I’m walking towards the sun / I will keep in me such a sweet night until tomorrow / I will have to half-open my eyes / And let reality drive me away...”. A good track with an interesting instrumental middle section.

“In ottobre” (In October) is about the time the band spent in London during the recording sessions. Le Orme found that London had changed for the worse since their last visit and they were very disappointed by the different atmosphere, the different music, the different people and the different fashion... “Who carried away the people from Carnaby Street, from King’s Road, from Hyde Park, from Piccadilly Circus? / Music, where are you?”. Anyway the music here is dynamic and powerful and the new guitarist perfectly interacts with the rest of the band.

 “Verità nascoste” (Hidden truths) is an amazing acoustic ballad, dreamy and poetic... “I would like to gather your world / And set the great dreams free / And colour your drawings / With desperate white nights / And laugh like someone who is winning his life in a losing game...”. You can find here the seeds of Le Orme's 1979 masterpiece “Florian”, the music is clearly classical inspired and there’s a string quartet interacting with the band.

According to some old interviews with the band, “Vedi Amsterdam” (See Amsterdam) deals with the problem of drug addiction. The mood is dark, the music obsessive and even aggressive in some passages but the lyrics are no explicit and the impending sense of death is concealed behind a merciful veil like a “hidden truth”... “Mothers don’t know / Why their sons go away / They go back to Amsterdam / Just for another trip / I would like to burn my ticket / But the show goes on again / The point where the wind dies is sad / The blades form big crosses / And the wind comes back / The wheel’s still in spin / Obligatory holiday / Please stop someone in time!”.

 “Regina al Troubadour” (Queen at the Troubadour) is about a runaway girl who leaves her rich family and goes to London where she becomes the “Queen of the Troubadour Club”, losing herself among sex, drugs, dreams and false realities... “Queen at the Troubadour / Queen of the snow / Everybody is around you / Because you can’t say no...”. Well, the snow here is not made of water crystals but of white powder!

“Radiofelicità” (Radiohappiness) is one of my favourite tracks on this album. It's introduced by simple guitar chords that then give way to a more experimental sound. The lyrics are about the “peculiar feeling” between a man and his radio... “Don’t worry if I’m like that / Nothing can change me / I don’t run like you, desperate / Following the chances you can find / Don’t try to understand / If I spend my days listening to the world / Don’t look at me in surprise / There’s no room for you among my beautiful things / I have a friend locked inside my radio / And when I’m sad he makes me happy...”.

“I salmoni” (The salmons) is another good track “against the stream”, with the members of the band that seem to identify themselves with the salmons... “You know, we have to do so / Keep on going up, against the stream / Up the river, to reach the source / We have to do so / It’s an ancient desire that pushes us / And nothing can change our crazy idea / We could fall on the bank after a jump / We could hit the head against the rocks / We could be hooked in the back / But we have to keep on going / To arrive where the sky is closer / Because that is the place where our children will come to life...”.

The final track “Il gradino più stretto del cielo” (The most narrow step of the sky) features a good guitar work by Germano Serafin and alternates frenzied passages and calmer ones. The lyrics are about the risks of happiness... “Do not believe in happiness / She takes your mind away / On the most narrow step of the sky...”.

Well, on the whole “Verità nascoste” is not the best album by Le Orme and you can’t find here really outstanding tracks but the average quality of all the pieces is high and it's really worth listening to.

More info about the band:
http://www.leorme-officialfanclub.com/

GLANCES TOWARDS THE SKY

Le Orme began life in Venice in 1966 as a “beat” band. After two albums in a beat, psychedelic style and some line-up changes, in 1971 they released what many people think is the first Italian progressive rock album, “Collage”. The line-up here features Aldo Tagliapietra (vocals, bass, acoustic guitar), Antonio Pagliuca (Hammond organ, electric piano) and Michi Dei Rossi (drums, percussion). In studio they got the help of an expert producer, Gian Piero Reverberi, who helped shape their innovative sound blending British prog influences (Emerson Lake & Palmer and, most of all, Quatermass) with Italian melody and classical music. The result was an extremely successful album that is now considered a cornerstone of Italian progressive rock.

The opener title track is almost a “prog baroque” anthem inspired by Domenico Scarlatti’s  Sonata in E major, K 380. It starts with a powerful organ surge soon backed by a lively marching beat while the middle section is softer and has a strong classical flavour. Organ and rhythm sections then come back for the “grand finale”. It’s a magnificent track and it has become a kind of trademark of the band.

An acoustic guitar pattern introduces the next track, “Era inverno” (It was winter), which is about a troubled love between a young man and a prostitute... “Every night you get ready / Always beautiful and smiling / An actress who doesn’t change scene / The sadness of the moon / In the hands of the people / Who own you fake joy... I would like to tell you / I don’t care what people think / I still remember that evening / It was winter time and you were shaking / You were shining on the snow / I said: It’s the first time...”.

The claustrophobic “Cemento Armato” (Reinforced concrete) is about the need to run away from the smog and pollution you find in modern metropolitan areas. It begins almost as a desperate burst of pain, just vocals and piano... “Reinforced concrete, the big city / You can feel that life is going away / Near home you can’t breath / It’s always dark, we’re grieving / There are more hooters in the air than nightingale songs / It’s better to run away and never come back...”. The long instrumental section is complex and frenzied, you can almost feel the oppressive atmosphere of a busy, foggy city. Eventually the tension fades away... “Sweet awakening, the sun is with me / In the air you can hear the sound of a guitar / Home is far away / Everything melted / I can’t even remember yesterday friends / Reinforced concrete, the big city / You can feel that life is going away...”.

“Sguardo verso il cielo” (Glance towards the sky) is still one of the best pieces of the band’s repertoire. It’s a song of hope full of positive energy, almost a lay prayer... “The joy to sing, the wish to dream / The feel of reaching what you haven’t got / Here comes another day like yesterday / You have to wait for the morning to start again... The strength to smile, the strength to fight / The fault of being alive and not being able to change / Like a dead branch, neglected / Which tries in vain to blossom... The mask of a clown in the middle of a desert / A fire that goes out, a glance towards the sky / A glance towards the sky where the sun is a wonder / Where nothingness becomes the world / Where Your light shines...”.

“Evasione Totale” (Total breakthrough) is a long instrumental where the members of the band can showcase their musicianship. It begins softly and the atmosphere is dark and spacey. After a chaotic, improvised middle section a church-like organ pattern and pulsing bass lines bring back a sense of order for the finale.

“Immagini” (Images) is a short organ driven piece. The lyrics suggest evocative images with a psychedelic touch... Well try to imagine a stream on the moon, a garden in the middle of the sun, a cypress in the desert, violet lawns, a moving statue and people talking around... But there’s something missing! “A wonderful sun, a wonderful day / Many stars in the night / Some smiles on the lips, some lips on the lips / But she isn’t there, she isn’t there...”.

“Morte di un fiore” (Death of a flower) begins with acoustic guitar and vocals, then organ and piano bring a melancholic, elegiac feeling. The lyrics describe the death of a young prostitute in a poetical way... “They wrote that for you the music was over between four and five in the morning / As the water of the stream running toward the sea / In a pale morning your last short time ran away / And the wind that kissed you was your only companion...”.

Well, “Collage” is a great album featuring many evergreens of the band and they still perform in concert “Collage” and “Sguardo verso il cielo” in medley as a “gran-finale”. This excellent, successful album paved the way for many other prog bands as Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Osanna...

 

 From  Rock Progressivo Italiano: an introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

 

You can listen to the complete album  HERE

AN INTERESTING METAMORPHOSIS

What happened to Le Orme? At the end of 2009 one of founder members, the bassist and vocalist Aldo Tagliapietra left the band. In 2010 the old keyboardist, Tony Pagliuca, released an album featuring old pieces from the band’s repertoire rearranged for piano solo, the excellent Après Midi - Ormeggiando. Then, he teamed up again with Aldo and with another former member of the band, Tolo Marton, for some live exhibitions and new projects while the other members, Michi Dei Rossi and Michele Bon decided to go on under the name Le Orme looking for new blood to complete the line-up. In short, from the band’s family tree sprouted some new branches and I think it’s pointless looking for the “true and authentic” Le Orme now. People grow up and change during their life, the members of a band can leave and come back but what really matters is the music and its capability to stir emotions. Is it good or bad? Did the musicians lose their inspiration? Are they playing just by rote now? Did the soul of the band vanish into the dark?

 

Fabio Trentini - Michele Bon - Michi Dei Rossi - Davide "Jimmy" Spitaleri

In April 2011 we got a first answer when Le Orme’s branch featuring historic drummer Michi Dei Rossi, after a live recording in 2010, the official bootleg Progfiles, released a new work with original pieces, La via della seta. Along with Michi Dei Rossi (drums, tubular bells, Glockenspiel, cymbals, Bhayan) there’s still Michele Bon (Hammond C3, piano, synth, keyboards, back vocals), who has been a member of the band for more than twenty years. The new line-up features also Fabio Trentini (bass, bass pedals, acoustic guitars, dulcimer, electric sitar, back vocals), the veteran Jimmy Spitaleri (vocalist of the historic Roman band Metamorfosi) and two young, skilled musicians such as William Dotto (electric guitar) and Federico Gava (piano, synth, keyboards). Well, I had the chance to attend one of their concerts and I have to say that this “metamorphosis” of Le Orme is very good...

 

 

The new album “La via della Seta” is conceived as a long suite. All the tracks are linked together and the music flows without interruptions drawing an imaginary journey along the Silk Road where you can meet the ghosts of merchants, pilgrims, missionaries, soldiers, nomads and cruel Barbarians exploring mysterious cities and civilizations. To be honest the lyrics written by Maurizio Monti are not completely convincing, stylistically they draw on old melodramma canons and are a little naives but the music recalls the best moments of the band. There is more room for guitars and the interaction between piano and keyboards is excellent while the powerful, brilliant rhythm section adds beautiful touches of colour. 

The opener “L’alba di Eurasia” (The dawn of Eurasia) sets the atmosphere. It’s a short instrumental introduction where you can hear the destiny knocking on your door and an amazing guitar work. It leads to another beautiful instrumental track, “Il romanzo di Alessandro” (The story of Alexander), inspired by the life of Alexander the Great, well portrayed in Valerio Massimo Manfredi’s novels as Child of a Dream, Sands of Ammon and Ends of the Earth...

Next comes “Verso Sud” (Heading South). It’s about the need to look for new ways to escape the violence of barbarians in love with war and features a delicate piano pattern and soaring melodic vocals... “We’ll need one day a new road...”. The dreamy instrumental “Mondi che si cercano” (Worlds that are looking one after each other) tries to evoke a new road leading to new dreams and a better future, then follows a short reprise of the previous track “Verso Sud (Ripresa)”. “Now a man makes up his mind / He comes to understand / Then a woman awakes and proudly comes forward...”.

The next track “Una donna” (A woman) was inspired by the work of the archaeologist Jeannine Davis-Kimball... The warrior women known to ancient Greek authors as Amazons were long thought to be creatures of myth. Now 50 ancient burial mounds near the town of Pokrovka, Russia, near the Kazakhstan border, have yielded skeletons of women buried with weapons, suggesting the Greek tales may have had some basis in fact. Nomads known as the Sauromatians buried their dead here beginning ca. 600 B.C.; according to Herodotus the Sauromatians were descendants of the Amazons and the Scythians, who lived north of the Sea of Azov [1]. The lyrics evoke a strange meeting between a warrior woman coming out from her grave and a traveling man... “I see a woman who is waiting for me / She comes out from her space to sing...”. Who is the mysterious man? Maybe Marco Polo, to whom is dedicated the following track, the short instrumental “29457, l’asteroide di Marco Polo” (29457, the asteroid of Marco Polo). The title refers to an asteroid that was discovered in 1997 by Italian astronomer Vittorio Goretti who gave it the name of the Venetian adventurer.

Next comes “Serinde”, a beautiful instrumental track that starts softly introducing exotic atmospheres, then the rhythm rises and you can dream of routes leading towards the far East... By the way, the term Serindia combines Seres (China) and India to refer to the part of Asia also known as Sinkiang, Chinese Turkestan or High Asia... It leads to “Incontro dei popoli” (Meeting of people), an intense and melodic ballad featuring heartfelt vocals and acoustic guitar... “I ask for a meeting / People joining together / A new dream for this world will maybe begin...New stories of peace / New communities / Another universe...”. This track is closely linked to the following “La prima melodia” (The first melody), where the lyrics tell about a melody which can brighten the routes of the travelers inviting people of every age to join and celebrate their friendship and their land... “Once upon a time there was a sound passing by / Along our old route...”.

The instrumental “Xi’an – Venezia – Roma” is another excellent track where the musicians try to blend classical influences and exotic flavours. It leads to the conclusive title track, where Jimmy Spitaleri’s powerful, operatic vocals soar drawing beautiful melodic lines (every now and again this track reminds me of Andrea Bocelli’s Con te partirò). A bright, joyful marching beat leads to the “finale” of an album that is really worth listening to... “On the Silk Road / We can live again that past... I feel a new strong energy that will push me forward...”.

Well, in my opinion this is a very good starting point for the band after the metamorphosis...

Le Orme: La via della seta (2011). Other opinions:

Paul Fowler: It has to be said I’m more pleased with this album than I could have ever hoped to be, the song writing is top notch, the instrumental sections beautifully played and generally captivating. On top of that the rich production is the icing on the cake. Whilst not as great as their classic seventies output and let’s face it, what band from that era can match those golden years today, La Via Della Seta is an album every Le Orme fan will want in their collection... (read the complete review HERE).

Henri Strik: The music that comes along with this concept recalls the best moments of Le Orme. There’s even more room for the guitars and the interaction between the piano and the keyboards is excellent while the powerful, brilliant rhythm section adds so much more to the compositions. These compositions are never dull or boring... (read the complete review HERE).

More info:

http://www.leorme.info/

http://leorme-officialfanclub.com/
http://www.facebook.com/La-Via-Della-Seta

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[1] Quote from J. DAVIS-KIMBALL, Warrior Women of Eurasia, on the site www.archaeology.org