Genesis -...Calling All Stations...
hjhhjij
Curious how the most underrated, forgotten, and even scorned albums by Genesis—often dismissed by their own creators—are precisely the first and the last; from the very immature "From Genesis to Revelation" to "...Calling All Stations...", the circle has closed after 28 years (actually, after exactly thirty years starting from the first singles released in 1967). Phil Collins had removed himself from the picture after becoming an increasingly commercially essential and artistically detrimental figure for the band. This, on one hand, completely sinks the final attempt by Banks and Rutherford to "make it on their own" in the charts, while on the other hand allows the two, especially Tony, to conceive songs that are musically a bit more dignified and refined and less tragically bleak compared to the worst stuff scattered across the albums from 1981 onwards. It feels very much like a Banks solo album, with somewhat charmingly melancholic melodic ballads that are mostly insubstantial, along with a few tracks with a more defined and lively feel; some songs are too watered down, a few valid ones (like the title track or "The Dividing Line," for instance), and a couple of clunkers ("Congo"). But compared to the ups and downs of "We Can't Dance," this is more "balanced" in its quiet mediocrity. I want to give it a nod; it’s an album I like. Ah, and Ray Wilson has a nice voice; he's good, poor guy, in the wrong place at the wrong time. more
Genesis
bluesboy94
bluesboy94

Genesis | DeRank™: 1,30

The "pop turning point" taken in the 1980s makes them unforgivable and irredeemable. more
Elio e le Storie Tese -Elio Samaga Hukapan Kariyana Turu
hjhhjij
Re-listening today, it suffers from what I ultimately find to be the main limitation of the Elii: being a comedic-absurd group that hardly ever makes me laugh. So yes, as always and even in this their first album, there are a handful of cool songs, musically speaking, true gems, with a cultured collage of quotes and luxury musical inspirations that will become their trademark, crafted by great musicians. All very nice. In the best moments, even the comedic lyrics have their amusing insights, I won't deny that, but overall, especially in the for me utterly useless brief comedic sketches scattered between songs, their humor has more coarseness than genuinely funny sparks. Four or five excellent songs, but for me the Elii would have worked better in a less purely comedic vein, perhaps maintaining a strong grotesque-absurd and ironic streak, absolutely yes, but the obstacle of a musical band with lyrics entirely based on absurd comedy and parody—especially because they don’t really amuse me—remains insurmountable. more
Biglietto per l'Inferno -Il Tempo della Semina
hjhhjij
"The time of sowing," which opens the album of the same name, and "The father's song," which closes it, are the two great tracks left to us by Biglietto per l'Inferno in this second album "which was not," recorded in 1975 (produced by Finardi), later aborted and rescued, published only in the early '90s. These two pieces, the longest, represent the two different ways of interpreting the "prog-rock material" of Banfi, Canali & co (one is almost entirely instrumental, featuring a brief emphatic and grotesque recitation by Canali, which becomes a fluted pagan dance; the other wears their concrete outfit, with lyrics of explicit and sincere rawness, dominated by Canali’s sung-recitations, while the band bursts into rhythms filled with funky-rock acid groove, complemented by a great Banfi on synths). They are two excellent tracks that stand up to comparison with the previous album, even if they do not reach its best results ("Confessione" and "Amico suicida"). It's a shame that the central block of the album is decidedly less successful; mostly made up of 3-minute songs, it suffers from the lyrics (where social criticism becomes superficial and too naïve) and not only that: "Solo ma Vivo" (6 minutes of ballad) I really don’t like at all, "Mente-sola-mente" is a curious joke, a divertissement that really has too little to do with the rest. "Vivi, lotta, pensa" is more successful, a good piece, but overall in the central body of the album, I can save very little. more
Biglietto Per L'Inferno -Biglietto Per L'Inferno
hjhhjij
The black diamond of Italian progressive rock, one of my favorite albums in the local "scene." It’s not a perfect album; it’s perhaps the rawest and most abrasive work of the peninsular prog, recorded like a baboon's ass but with a visceral and concreteness that are rare in many albums by other bands, especially the "minor" contemporaries. I can't quite call it a Masterpiece, but I can't help but commend its genuine and visceral rawness, the dry style, and the direct way in which the cynical bleakness of the beautiful lyrics is expressed, with crude, strong, macabre imagery, devoid of the metaphors and (splendid) poetic artifices of Le Orme, for example; here, everything is expressed with disarming clarity. In this sense (considering the lyrics of "L'amico suicida" above all), at least in the prog scene in Italy, this album was, I believe, a unique case, and in 1974 there weren't that many examples like this; in fact, only about 12 people bought the album. It's also worth noting: it's one of the Italian prog albums with the best vocals; Canali has a beautiful voice and uses it in perfect harmony with the song's style, powerful, compelling, and gritty, giving meaning even to the most dramatic and emphatic moments, but in general aligning with the restless and harsh mood of the album. One track that is truly a small masterpiece: "Confessione," pure hard rock of the highest order, a splendid song. Then, amid moments of uneasy calm, hard-prog, and the macabre and desolate expanse of "L'amico suicida," the album never fails to please me. more
Lucio Battisti
moonshine8
moonshine8

Lucio Battisti | DeRank™: 0,00

I CAN SAY THAT FEW UNDERSTAND A GREAT COMPOSER ARTIST AND WORDS IF NOT WONDERFUL POEMS LIKE HE COULD WRITE MELODIES HARMONIES THE WORDS FITTED SO PERFECTLY HE LEFT GIULIO RAPETTI TO WRITE WHO COMPLETED HIM BUT OBVIOUSLY FAVORED BY THE HARMONIES OF LUCIO A GENIUS ..AND LUCIO BATTISTI AND FORTUNATELY HE IS ITALIAN EVEN PAUL FROM THE BEATLES WANTED TO PRODUCE HIM..........CAN YOU IMAGINE DAVID BOWIE COMING TO ITALY TO MEET HIM.................. more
Metamorfosi -Inferno
hjhhjij
hjhhjij

Metamorfosi — Inferno | DeRank™: 3,00

Between the incredibly courageous and the naive is the desire to develop a concept even based on the "Divina Commedia," not to mention the singing style of Jimmy Spitaleri (gorgeous voice, anyway, one of the most beautiful in the Italian scene), so emphatic and theatrical that it oscillates between the epic and the unintentional comedic. Despite everything, "Inferno" remains one of my favorite albums within the vast panorama of '70s Italian prog, musically inspired (dominated by the omnipresent keyboards of Olivieri, there is no guitarist on this record) and engaging, with good lyrics that introduce new and more "modern" types of sinners in the infernal circles ("Drug dealers," "Racists," etc.). Ambitious, perhaps even too much, but a great album; after years, it still hasn't worn me out. more
Alphataurus -Alphataurus
hjhhjij
hjhhjij

Alphataurus — Alphataurus | DeRank™: 0,00

First album (and for many, many years also the only one) of one of the many bands from the Italian progressive underground of the '70s, produced by Magma of De Scalzi (who also wrote the lyrics for them, which I’d rather skip over because, well...); it’s a good album, unfortunately hindered (not a little) especially by the Italian vocals, which are often the weak point of many Italian prog-rock groups (whether due to a lack of good voices, or—like in this case—due to the poor performance of the Italian language with progressive music and the unnecessarily emphatic and pompous style of singing), and here it’s really paradigmatic of those flaws, which is a shame because the singer, Michele Bavaro, actually had a nice voice. Only in "La mente vola" do things improve a bit from this point of view (and in fact it’s a beautiful piece), but for the rest it’s quite bothersome. Thus, the 3 minutes of the instrumental "Croma" end up being the most beautiful thing on the album, a small pearl of melodic delight from the organist Pietro Pellegrini, leader, keyboardist, and composer of Alphataurus. The rest of the tracks are pleasant pieces of hard-progressive strongly influenced by keyboards, valid but not imposing themselves beyond the crowd. The cover, however, is nice. more
Lucio Battisti -Umanamente uomo: il sogno
hjhhjij
Great album. The first by Battisti and Mogol with their Numero Uno, which indeed leaves behind the era of "greatest hits" albums where various songs appeared on multiple different records (although "Amore e non amore" had already distanced itself quite well from this characteristic). This album precedes what I consider Battisti's "golden trilogy," his artistic zenith (Canto Libero/Caro Angelo/Anima Latina) and is an excellent example of his artistic versatility and open-mindedness: it opens with a classic that is as classic as it can get in Italian music, one of Battisti's pop masterpieces ("I giardini di marzo" how beautiful it is) and closes with an instrumental (aside from the choruses singing "UO!") that is psych acidissimo with electric guitar ("Il fuoco" the great twist of Battisti, a beautiful psychoromtronic piece although maybe not his tea cup of tea). In between, there is another of his most beautiful songs ("E penso a te" deserving applause), other experiments and inventions (the title track without words, only whistled and hummed, a beautiful melody), a sketch worthy of Sandra and Raimondo transformed into a song with a refined divertissement ("Innocenti evasioni") and a folkish, fairy-tale-like, and delightful allegorical tune ("Il leone e la gallina"). If the first and third tracks are two masterpieces, everything, in short, is more than of good level (also beautiful "Comunque bella" with Battisti in the finale in the dual role of woman/man and "Sognando e risognando"). more
Lucio Battisti -Emozioni
hjhhjij
hjhhjij

Lucio Battisti — Emozioni | DeRank™: 6,00

This is the first album in which Battisti places songs that already reach excellence ("Emozioni," which is the peak and center of the album, is one of the most beautiful songs in his vast repertoire, but there are also "Anna" - featuring 4/5 of the future PFM as the backing band - and the white blues-rock of "Il tempo di morire") and then others that are not far behind (recovered from the first album "Non è Francesca" with its second acid and instrumental part, then the pop gem "Fiori rosa, fiori di pesco," for example, or a hidden gem like "Era"); these are songs that, in terms of ideas, interpretations, vocal use, and courage, push Italian pop music beyond its usual boundaries. However, because of this, there is a clear distinction between the most excellent songs and those where Battisti leans into his more "pop-national" side with the ultra-famous pop and/or beat songs ("Acqua azzurra," "Mi ritorni in mente," "Dieci ragazze"), where Battisti deserves credit for his sublime ability to create refrains that are timelessly immortal and deeply rooted, as well as enjoyable—the least appealing song by Battisti still holds a ten compared to Laura Pausini, right?—which objectively do not keep pace with the album's highest moments. Even "Emozioni" serves as a great training ground for young talents: Radius, Baldan Bembo, Demetrio Stratos (on the organ!), and so on, with arrangements by Reverberi. Battisti's first true great album. more
Black Sabbath
Starflame
Starflame

Black Sabbath | DeRank™: 0,00

They simply transcend the terms 'hard rock' or 'heavy metal.'
Still too relevant. more
Fabrizio De André -Fabrizio De André in concerto volume 1
hjhhjij
The meeting of De André's repertoire with the new guise gifted to him by PFM, arrangements that for Faber continue to be more "substantial" and "elaborate" ("Rimini" had already been indicative, but the signs had been there since the early '70s); which, in reality, is De André meeting again the musicians of "La Buona Novella" now grown up, missing only Pagani, but this will be remedied. I prefer the live performances from the "Anime Salve" period ('96-'98) and I find that overall PFM's contribution doesn't add anything particularly qualitative to the songs (De André is perfect just as he is, for me); obviously it’s always a nice feeling ("Amico Fragile" with Mussida’s solos, for instance). There are exceptions with a couple of outstanding performances: "Volta la carta" (a song I adore) and the best of the live "Il pescatore," where Faber and Forneria together are at their zenith. more
Premiata Forneria Marconi -Storia Di Un Minuto
hjhhjij
I never loved Forneria as much as other Italian bands in the prog scene, but it must be admitted that their debut album is truly a splendid work. "Storia di un Minuto" is an album with suspended, delicate atmospheres, in which it is pleasant to immerse oneself; it is extremely fascinating and represents one of the peaks of melodic sublimation in Italian "pop-rock-folk" music, with its substantial acoustic sections, the cornerstones of the album, painted like watercolors by an inspired Mussida, and a Padanian fog that sometimes clears into more dynamic and equally exhilarating electric sections. Then, like a true fantasist who enriches all the compositions with his touches of pure melodic class, the final stroke is always given by Mauro Pagani, the real "extra man" of PFM, on flute, violin, and piccollo. Even the absence of a true singer, a weak point in the subsequent albums before Lanzetti, here—with the delicate and fragile voices of Mussida and Pagani—becomes a strength in the delicate landscape presented in the album. It is Mussida and Pagani who dominate the composition and write the entire album together, while Premoli sprinkles immortal moog hits (who said "Impressioni di Settembre"?) and various keyboards. The masterpiece of the lot: "La carrozza di Hans," long acoustic reflections and reminiscences of early King Crimson (which Fripp had just nuclearized, by the way). more
Fabrizio De André -La Buona Novella
hjhhjij
Well, I listened to it again not long ago, and what can I say... One of the essential albums of singer-songwriter music and of Faber's discography. Just to avoid stating the obvious, especially about the intelligence in addressing these kinds of themes and the quality of the lyrics (duh!), it's also worth noting how this album served as quite a training ground for a bunch of remarkable people: the bare but captivating arrangements were played by "I Quelli" in full (of course, the future PFM) along with their future associate (theirs and, again years later, De André’s with those suggestions from the sea of Genoa...) Mauro Pagani on flute and piccolo, as the backing band; additionally, the violin in "La Buona Novella" is played by a young Angelo Branduardi, a few years before the start of his solo career, and Maurizio Fabrizio also participates as one of the guitarists. In short, quite a few people were honing their skills under Faber in one of the great masterpieces of Italian singer-songwriter music. more
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso -Garofano rosso
hjhhjij
Very beautiful album, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso in the version of film score composers for the homonymous film ("Il Garofano Rosso") by Faccini; the beautiful—sometimes even stunning—musics of Banco remain, in the end, the most memorable thing about the film, and the album is fortunately entirely autonomous and detachable from the movie, valuable as an instrumental album in itself, with refined, elegant compositions inspired by the usual exchanges, duets, and intersections between Gianni's piano and Vittorio Nocenzi's keyboards, accompanied by the guitar of Maltese (not the short one, the taller one), now the new guitarist of BMS in place of Todaro; the Nocenzi brothers nail some very beautiful recurring themes, and as far as I’m concerned, one does not feel the absence of Francesco Di Giacomo who sits on the bench and is credited with a supportive role in documentation and research for the creative process; almost to compensate for the absence of vocals, the arrangements are enriched by trumpet and French horn (Maltese), as well as by the clarinet that Gianni Nocenzi had already played here and there in previous albums. The "essence" of the whole album is probably the title track, which encapsulates all the best of these twelve instrumental compositions. more
Rovescio della Medaglia
nenne59
nenne59

Rovescio della Medaglia | DeRank™: 3,00

The Italian prog of the seventies is still admired and loved all over the world. A sign that in our country we have always been able to create music of sublime quality. Il Rovescio della Medaglia has been a worthy standard-bearer of our prog rock and even today amazes with this Contaminazione, a spectacular, modern album that only feels dated due to its understandably old-fashioned sound. But the content is simply exceptional and, despite everything, the sound, already considerable at more
Alphataurus
nenne59
nenne59

Alphataurus | DeRank™: 0,00

Great music of Italian progressive, "la mente vola" is a very beautiful track. more
Eric Clapton
ui
ui

Eric Clapton | DeRank™: 5,58

Brush of notes more
Camel
nenne59
nenne59

Camel | DeRank™: 0,00

Great progressive rock band from Canterbury, among my favorites along with Caravan. more