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Rating: It is incredible that among all the albums by Area reviewed on this site (including two rants by ...CAZ..., one against Agnelli and the other against punk) the first and best LP of their career is missing: the timeless Arbeit Macht Frei. I won't dwell on the meaning of "international POPular group," also because I wouldn't be able to explain it, but I will limit myself to commenting on the musical aspect of this masterpiece.
Area was formed at the end of 1972. The first lineup (which plays on this album) consisted of Victor Edouard Busnello (reeds), Giulio Capiozzo (percussion), Yan Patrick Erard Djivas (bass/double bass), Patrizio Fariselli (piano/electric piano), Gianpaolo Tofani (guitar/VCS 3), and the great Demetrio Stratos (voice, organ, percussion). It was precisely him who proved to be the added element of the lineup: his vocal range reached 7000 hertz and he was able to produce multiple sounds simultaneously (up to 4); for this reason, the voice is more of an instrument rather than an accompaniment to the music.
Area is characterized by a fusion of free-jazz, ethnic music, and hints of progressive, very experimental, both at the time and today. The lyrics, however, were very hermetic and politically meaningful. The album opens with one of the peaks of Area's career: "Luglio, Agosto, Settembre (nero)." Preceded by an Arabic voice, the song blends in 4 minutes all the group's influences with a text that reads: "Playing with the world by tearing it to pieces, children whom the sun has already made old". It is followed by the long title track with a drum solo at the beginning and another guitar solo in the middle section. "Consapevolezza" is a slower piece where Stratos's usual voice and the sax take the lead, with the other instruments forming a texture that often changes rhythm without making the piece too avant-garde. "Le labbra del tempo" leans more towards jazz-rock and is divided into two parts: the first 4 minutes in the typical Area style with the drums going wild and the piano extending into a long solo; the remaining 2 minutes are completely supported by the VCS 3 with Stratos reciting: "Dirty faces of fear hide in the darkness, lights off on the altars of a stupid humility" followed by a 12-second scream and a fast and very gratifying close. The instrumental "240 km da Smirne" follows with another beautiful sax solo and a bass solo. The album closes with the experimental "L'abbattimento dello Zeppelin" with Stratos reciting in a manner similar to his solo albums of just voice and the rest of the instruments following him in a mad rush towards infinity...
The year after, Busnello and Djivas will leave and Patrizio Fariselli will join. The group will continue to produce masterpieces until '78 when Stratos will leave the group and will die on June 13 the following year.
Tracklist
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