Marco Salzano

DeRank ™: 0,58 • DeAge™ : 6903 days

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  • Here since 2 september 2006
Area: Arbeit Macht Frei
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Area: Arbeit macht frei
3 feb 16
One of the peaks of originality in Italian prog, or rather Mediterranean. The late Stratos, a great master of voice, like few others (Leon Thomas, Tim Buckley).
Atomic Rooster: Death Walks Behind You
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Atomic Rooster: Death Walks Behind You
8 jan 15
Good old school hard rock from Atomic Rooster in their best trio lineup with Vincent Crane on organ, Paul Hammond on drums, and John Du Cann on guitar (excellent and abundant) and vocals (Chris Farlowe doesn't count). The title track is the epitome of dark, and "Sleeping for Years" is a classic underrated gem of hard rock.
  • BARRACUDA BLUE
    8 jan 15
    Beautiful album, enviable compositional and performance approach, I quite like Cann's voice as well, beautifully raw, without the emphasis of Farlowe and at times Proto-Punk, the singing style is fitting for this sound.
  • Marco Salzano
    8 jan 15
    As a singer, I prefer Farlowe, it's a matter of taste. But for the rest, I 100% agree. A fantastic band, if only Vincent Crane had been less moody, poor guy.
Audience: The House On The Hill
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Audience: The House on the Hill
3 feb 16
one of the overlooked groups of prog, unfairly overshadowed by the big names of the underground-progressive scene. A chimera with the head of VDGG and the body of Jethro Tull.
Ayreon: The Theory of Everything
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Ayreon: The Theory of Everything
3 feb 16
A rock opera with all the necessary elements but that requires a solid refreshing of high school physics concepts given all the underlying scientific theories. A great variety and quality of keyboards, old and new synths that interact with each other in a truly spectacular way (especially in Progressive Waves). And having the melodic Wakeman and the percussive Emerson together is a bit like seeing De Niro and Pacino acting in the same film.
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso: 750.000 anni fa, l' amore?
File Audio I have it ★★★★★
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso: 750.000 anni fa, l' amore?
8 dec 13
Nocenzi's superb piano playing and Di Giacomo's poignant interpretation give this authentic poetry in music the dignity of an operatic aria. Traditional and innovative at the same time.
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man: Out Of Season
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man: Out of Season
8 jan 15
Highly refined debut of the beautiful and talented (but criminally scarce in output) Beth Gibbons alongside bassist Paul Webb, who retrieves certain diluted post-rock atmospheres from the more experimental Talk Talk. The seductive Mysteries enchants with its folk purity while Tom the Model pays tribute to the "cold" soul of the great Nina Simone.
Big Big Train: English Electric, Part One
CD Audio I have it ★★★
Big Big Train: English Electric, Part One
3 feb 16
a sort of Genesis 2.0 technically evolved - the rhythmic section is truly excellent - with a crystalline production (that even Genesis would have envied for an album like Wind & Wuthering). However, sudden changes in tempo and mood are a bit too confusing and distracting for my tastes.
Blind Faith: Blind Faith
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Blind Faith: Blind Faith
23 dec 13
The star of Blind Faith shone briefly and left posterity with an uneven album, but in its finest moments, like in Presence of the Lord, Sea of Joy, and Can't Find My Way Home, it brings together the best of Cream, Family, and Traffic. There is also an electric version of the last track, but the beauty of this one, built on the fingerpicking of Winwood and Clapton's two acoustics with Baker working with brushes, remains unrivaled.
Blind Faith: Can't Find My Way Home
File Audio I have it ★★★★★
Blind Faith: Can't Find My Way Home
8 dec 13
The star of Blind Faith shone briefly and left behind an uneven album, but in its best moments, like this masterpiece by Winwood, it brings together the finest elements of Cream, Family, and Traffic. There is also an electric version of the piece, but the beauty of this one, built on the fingerpicking of Winwood's and Clapton's two acoustics with Baker working the brushes, remains unmatched. The version presented in the recent tour of the two musicians is also beautiful.
Blue Öyster Cult: On Your Feet on or Your Knees
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Blue Öyster Cult: On Your Feet on or Your Knees
8 jan 15
Standing or kneeling to listen to this monumental live recording that every devotee of the blue oyster cult must own. It has almost all the best from the legendary first hard rock phase (though some essential tracks from Secret Treaties are missing) and some excellent covers including the legendary Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf.
Brian Eno: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Brian Eno: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
8 jul 12
Intercultural patchwork where Byrne and Eno glue together various samples from the global village on a foundation of tribal disco (indignant radio listeners, exorcists, and televangelists). The tracks featuring the voices of Middle Eastern divas (Dunya Yusin and Samira Tewfik) also serve as a link to the possible music of Hassel and Eno. Don't miss the electric guitar imitation made by the synth in "Regiment." It remains an important trailblazer for all the digital plunderers who came after (e.g., Moby).
Camel: Stationary Traveller
CD Audio I have it ★★★
Camel: Stationary Traveller
6 feb 16
They're not exactly the best Camel. However, considering what Genesis and Yes were releasing at the same time, the Camel still "held their own" even with an album that's a bit lackluster like this one. That said, the title track is one of the best pieces, and Latimer's solo has its reasons.
Capsicum Red: Appunti per un'idea fissa
CD Audio I have it ★★★
Capsicum Red: Appunti per un'idea fissa
8 dec 13
More known for being the first group of Red Canzian and for being one of the leading bands of BLA BLA, the legendary label of early Battiato, who, if I'm not mistaken, also wrote a song for them. The musical quality is good, while the sound quality is really terrible.
Caravan: If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Caravan: If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
8 feb 16
Although Caravan reached their full maturity starting from In the Land of Grey and Pink, I have a soft spot for this album where their melodic fantasies still live in a middle ground between psychedelia and prog, always With An Ear To The Ground.
Caravan: Caravan
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Caravan: Caravan
23 jul 12
Sounds from Middle Earth, on the border between psychedelia (the dreamlike Magic Man, the sinister Cecil Rons) and prog (Where But For Caravan Would I?), following in the wake of the Floyd and early Soft Machine. But rather than sabotaging them, Caravan enhances the melodies by layering vocal harmonies over the sound of the organ, with a precise rhythm section and flute in Love Song With Flute. A Place of My Own and Hello Hello are two excellent singles. The Saharan flavor of Ride justifies the band's name.
  • BARRACUDA BLUE
    23 jul 12
    Disk that I adore, Hello Hello is actually part of the sessions for the second album but strangely they included it on the CD. For years I’ve been trying to find a vinyl in good condition at a decent price, even with the other cover, but the record is now going for medium to high prices.
  • Marco Salzano
    24 jul 12
    Yes, this album has a particular, unique atmosphere. Plus, as a debut, it’s quite mature. But the label it was released on was shut down, I think, the year after, so it wasn't reissued? Bad luck.
  • BARRACUDA BLUE
    24 jul 12
    The album was released on Verve, a label that was reactivated only in the late '80s by PolyGram; the transition to Decca and the subsequent two albums overshadowed the debut, which was released on CD in '96 by HTD with only the stereo version and a different booklet. Can you believe that this first CD pressing is rare as well...? HTD went bankrupt too...;-)
Chick Corea: Return To Forever
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Chick Corea: Return to Forever
14 jul 12
The first album for ECM by Chick Corea's group shifts away from Davis' Jazz Abstractions toward a more ethereal and melodic sound, slightly foreshadowing the fusion of Weather Report post-'76. Following him are the trusty Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell, and the Moreira couple (Airto and Flora Punim) who bring a joyful Brazilian scent (e.g., in the bossa What Game Shall We Play Today) that wonderfully blends with Corea's light yet caliente touch on the Fender (as in the flamenco ecstasy of La Fiesta).
Current 93: Of Ruine Or Some Blazing Starre
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Current 93: Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre
7 jul 12
A milestone of English dark folk, this long and winding concept is the culmination of the spiritual quest of the multifaceted David Tibet, who transcends the concept of death and renounces the false earthly world towards a new revelation of Christ (“This Shining Shining World”). Musically, it is also the apex of their mystical and visionary post-industrial madrigalism.
Curved Air: Air conditioning
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Curved Air: Air Conditioning
19 jun 12
A noteworthy debut (with one of the first picture discs) from the English group featuring a new formula for progressive rock with original harmonic solutions (the mysterious Situations or Blind Man reminiscent of White Bird by It's a Beautiful Day) and unprecedented arrangements (see the mix of violin and wah-wah guitar in It Happened Today and Stretch). The instrumental Vivaldi is a classical reinterpretation in the style of the Nice, culminating in a series of dissonances and futuristic effects.
Curved Air: Second album
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Curved Air: Second Album
21 jun 12
Launched by the success of the single Back Street Luv (4th in the UK), this Second Album is evenly divided between Way and Monkman, with the former's tracks being more balanced and structured (whether they are romantic lieder like Jumbo or ethereal puppet dances like Puppets) and the latter's being more bizarre and irregular (the dark humor of Bright Summer Day '68) but also more ambitious and experimental (the stunning final Piece of Mind in which Kristina brilliantly recites some lines from Eliot).
Curved Air: Midnight Wire
CD Audio I have it ★★★
Curved Air: Midnight Wire
19 jun 12
Partially successful attempt by the new Curved Air with Way and Kristina (featuring a young Stewart Copeland on drums) to reinvent themselves in pop with a substantial and stylish album of high erotic content, but all in all, somewhat unoriginal. After duly paying tribute to Joplin in the gritty Woman On A One Night Stand, Kristina is nonetheless irresistible in the sultry Dance of Love, the light bossa Day Breaks My Heart, and the exhausting title track.
Darryl Way's Wolf: Canis Lupus
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Darryl Way's Wolf: Canis Lupus
8 jan 15
Excellent debut by the group formed by the virtuosic violinist Darryl Way, temporarily escaping the art rock eccentricities of Curved Air, alongside jazz guitarist John Etheridge and young drummer Ian Mosley (yes, the one from Marillion). Produced by Ian McDonald, to whom the poignant adagio for violin that closes the album (McDonald's Lament) is dedicated.
David Bowie: 1.Outside
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
David Bowie: 1.Outside
22 may 12
Dark and murky hyperThriller by Bowie-Eno. Schizophrenic and experimental. Underrated.
"There is no hell, there is no shame. It’s today that it happens, the damage is today; now, not tomorrow, it’s happening now. The cold winter bleeds on the beams of Babel. Revolution arrives in the strangest ways. It’s the dirty lesson of the heart, the filthy lesson of the heart that strikes deaf ears. What a fantastic abyss of death. Tell the others!"
  • iside
    22 may 12
    underestimated?
  • che!?
    23 may 12
    Since you were at it, you could have done a review for us.
  • Marco Salzano
    23 may 12
    @ iside: Back then, I remember several reviews that judged it too long and pretentious, as well as another attempt to follow the latest trend of the moment. Then, if you look at the album's wiki page, out of 7 "professional ratings" (NME, Q, Rolling Stone, Allmusic), 4 give 3 stars out of 5, one a 6/10, one a 7/10, and one a 3/4.
  • iside
    23 may 12
    Yeah, but the critics of rock'n'roll don't really get it :-))
David Bowie: Station To Station
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
David Bowie: Station to Station
25 jun 12
From L.A. to Berlin. In a paranoid trance state from cocaine, Bowie (now a gaunt Thin White Duke with a new unhealthy crooner voice) records (without even remembering how) one of his best albums. If the torrid Stay (featuring two monsters like Alomar and Slick) is the apotheosis of his white funk, and Wild is the Wind a tribute to Nina Simone, it's with the title track that Bowie begins to hybridize R&B with electronics, embarking on the Kraftwerkian Autobahn towards new occult sound magics.
David Bowie: Scary Monsters
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
David Bowie: Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
9 jul 12
Lodger part 2, equally inventive but, without Eno, a bit more conventional, complete with the longed-for hit single: the neotwist Ashes to Ashes, a funeral lullaby for junkie Major Tom with the hissing guitarchitecture of Chuck Hammer. It’s still the best Bowie of the ’80s, who doesn't mix with the "youngsters" of the new wave and anticipates a lot of '90s British pop (you can hear Blur’s Parklife in It’s No Game). A free hand to Fripp’s guitar to brutalize the robotic disco of Fashion.
David Bowie: Lodger
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
David Bowie: Lodger
25 jun 12
Built thanks to Brian Eno's Planned Accidents, it’s a Fantastic Voyage from Berlin to NYC (via Istanbul) more wavering than Low and Heroes but with some obscure new wave gems, like African Night Flight (a little ethno-funk jewel), JapRock Red Sails, and the pair Look Back In Anger-DJ that flirt with disco. There’s room for Belew’s incursions (especially in Boys Keep Swingin, with the others swapping instruments) and House (Byzantine violin in the reggae Yassassin).
David Bowie: Blackstar
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
David Bowie: Blackstar
11 feb 16
Now That's an Exit! Produced beautifully. Classic and experimental at the same time. Bowie had often flirted with jazz, but perhaps he had never succeeded so well. Donny McCaslin on sax is exceptional, but drummer Mark Guiliana is an absolute revelation. Favorite track: perhaps Dollar Days, a poignant old-style ballad that wouldn't be out of place on Hunky Dory.
  • parapoziponzipo
    12 feb 16
    Soon we will start reevaluating certified turds like heathen or hours and their disgusting companions, just because they kicked the bucket.. as hypocrisy from the wisdom of (NEVER) isn't bad, (bisexual-) "Confusion will be my epitaph...."
  • Psychopathia
    12 feb 16
    I liked this album, but in fact Heathen really sucked (the only song that was worth listening to was by the Pixies).
David Sylvian: Brilliant Trees
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
David Sylvian: Brilliant Trees / Words With the Shaman
30 jul 12
A high-class record this debut from monsieur Dandy Sylvian, quite distant from the icy funk of Japan (only Pulling Punchies—title borrowed from the Heads—recalls it). Already post-rock scenarios, between cold soul and minimal ambient, embrace the singer’s existential reflections. An album to be appreciated for its nuances, a rhythmic hint here (Red Guitar), a melodic progression there (Weathered Wall). Notable guests: Sakamoto, Czukay, Hassel, Wheeler.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Tarkus
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Tarkus
6 jul 12
Founded on the percussive sound of the Hammond and the screeching timbre of the Moog, the suite (futuristic yet childlike allegory of militarism) is one of the cornerstones of the trio. Amid violent and irregular martial sections (Eruption, Iconoclast,…) some lyrical and sorrowful glimpses open up (Stones of Years, Battlefield). It closes with the mocking march of Aquatarkus. The rest is good, with the solemn and baroque The Only Way (Lake's vocal peak) followed by the hypnotic and square Infinite Space.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery
7 jun 12
One of the great concept albums of progressive rock and the zenith of ELP. The centerpiece is the hallucinatory circus allegory of the fantastic "Karn Evil 9": a dazzling show of violence, human tragedies, sex, and rock’n’roll. The "brave new world" is the society of the spectacle, "The show that never ends!". The musical performance of the three musicians is breathtaking, and the interplay between keyboards, bass, and percussion reaches the stratospheric levels of the suite "Tarkus". A masterpiece!
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Trilogy
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Trilogy
7 jun 12
From the very cover, with the three heads in one body, it’s clear that this is the LP where the individual personalities of the trio harmonize best. The mysterious “The Endless Enigma” is a perfect minisuite. “From The Beginning,” a laid-back ballad with a Latin flavor from Lake, is rightly one of their most beloved pieces. “Hoedown” is a lively and sunny instrumental. “Trilogy” is beautiful as well, and how could it be otherwise when Lake sings a romantic melody with Emerson on the piano?
  • che!?
    7 jun 12
    but is it a definition or a review, while you were at it..
  • Marco Salzano
    7 jun 12
    Am I optimizing the space? :-)
  • Cogno
    17 jun 12
    exactly
Family: Family entertainment
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Family: Family Entertainment
8 jan 15
The second album by Family is less imaginative than the debut but much more cohesive, helping to define the new progressive song in that crucial year of 1969 with masterpiece tracks such as, for example, The Weaver's Answer and Observation From A Hill.
Family: Music in a Doll's House
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Family: Music in a Doll's House
23 apr 12
One of the most brilliant and eclectic albums in rock. Underrated like all the works of Family.
Family: Fearless
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Family: Fearless
8 jan 15
The best of the last phase characterized by the addition of John Wetton, who brings to the group his aggressive approach to bass and also, from my point of view, his beautiful voice, a pleasant alternative to Chappo's powerful goat-like vibrato. Best track: Spanish tide.
Fleetwood Mac: Man of the World
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Fleetwood Mac: Man of the World
6 feb 16
The single that replicated the success of "Albatross" is a simple and heartfelt ballad (in the best blues tradition), with just a bit of rhythm in the very short bridge. And then the sweet tone of Peter Green's Les Paul can evoke any emotion with a simple phrase. Add an extraordinarily expressive and soulful voice, and what do you get? Wonderful music.
Franco Battiato:
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Franco Battiato: "Clic"
23 jun 12
Battiato avant-garde with the iconoclastic dadaist zapping of Ethika fon ethica (later widely abused in subsequent albums) and the relentless sequencer of Propiedad Prohibida (the legendary theme of TG2 Dossier) softened only by the genius insert of strings and oboe giving it the ethnic touch of Aries. In the gates of memory, distant pianos resurface, liquid keyboards, furious saxophones, cutting guitars, and disconnected percussion. The spiritual quest is not missing in No U Turn: "To know myself and…”
Franco Battiato: Come un Cammello in una Grondaia
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Franco Battiato: Come un cammello in una grondaia
19 jun 12
After Fisiognomica, it was inevitable to turn to orchestral music, abandoning all pop embellishments. And while the B-side is a rather dispensable collection of lieder, the A-side, with tracks like L'ombra della Luce (an extraordinary prayer in music) and Le sacre sinfonie del tempo, inaugurates his most mystical period, culminating in the extraordinary Concerto di Baghdad. Much more “earthly,” Povera Patria is a bitter invective against the moral decay of Italy (and it won't be the only one).
Franco Battiato: Gommalacca
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Franco Battiato: Gommalacca
22 jul 12
Borrowing some samples from Stereolab and surrounded by talented youth (Morgan, Ginevra di Marco,...), Battiato synthesizes electronic sounds for the new millennium, amidst additional shocks, mechanical ballets, chaste divas, and Antarctic expeditions. Indeed, Shackleton, along with the instrumentals from "Campi magnetici" two years later, represents a return to the more experimental profile of the early '70s, and the old fans were exactly waiting for this...
Franco Battiato: La Voce del Padrone
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Franco Battiato: La voce del padrone
19 jun 12
A sell-out but conscious. By further synthesizing pop arrangements (while also including a choir of madrigalists), Battiato constructs perfect hit singles. Like Brian Eno ten years earlier, he acts homeopathically with cut and paste, creating "intelligent" pop tracks as antidotes to the prevailing stupidity. The meditative aspect is preserved with Gli Uccelli and Segnali di Vita.
Frank Zappa: Zoot Allures
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Frank Zappa: Zoot Allures
23 jul 12
Excellent Zappa “easy-listening,” split between dark and gloomy slow blues (the orgasmic The Torture Never Stops, Find Her Finer -with Beefheart’s harmonica-, the title track, and Black Napkins -one of his purest solos-) and heavier pieces like Wind up Workin’…(which kicks off with an “ignorant” riff like the Ramones), Wonderful Wino (another heavy riff by Jeff Simmons), Disco Boy (“It’s Disco Love Tonight!”), and Miss Pinky (a tribute to $69.95 inflatable dolls).
Frank Zappa: You Are What You Is
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Frank Zappa: You Are What You Is
22 jul 12
The We're Only In It for The Money of the rampant Reagan-era eighties. Flavorful freaky songs in a continuous flow in a carousel of genres (country, reggae, ska, gospel, blues…) plus a remarkable instrumental (Sinister Footwear) featuring Steve Vai and Ed Mann. The targets: little yuppies grown free as the wind, aerobics Beautiful Guys, stupid groupies, devotees of plastic surgery, high cocaine addicts, pathetic whites posing as badass blacks, tele-prophets with heavenly bank accounts…
  • Psychopathia
    22 jul 12
    I agree. It's a great album. them or us will be outstanding! Even though for me the golden period is the '60s.
  • Marco Salzano
    22 jul 12
    Great that one too, always in the same line of fierce social criticism. For me, that Zappa really understood the '80s like few others.
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