OleEinar

@pixies, yes, I hadn’t read your comment when I posted. We understood each other anyway. @giona, << I don’t see how giving a high rating to a great album would make me lose credibility >>, but why do people come in and say, oh, the usual unknown progressive album and the usual 5 stars given randomly by the usual diehard prog fans? In this way, 5 stars become the norm, and real unmissable masterpieces get lost among good or very good works that would probably be quite happy just to be rated with 4 stars! Unfortunately, in these reviews, it’s always the same 4 or 5 of us, while for example, on the lesser-known prog pages of supersoul, which has a reputation for being rather objective and measured in its judgments, far more people come and take interest, even if the stars may only be 3. That’s all. And all with the utmost respect, of course.

Yes Giona, but I would never give Arzachel an 8.7 (let alone a 9.2), which for me is extremely high, even though I pushed myself to give a 5 in the comment section (if I had reviewed them, I would have thought twice). 8.7-9 should only be reserved for 4 or 5 albums in all of progressive music. In my opinion, this way of evaluating makes you lose credibility; it's fine to have personal tastes, but a bit of objectivity is needed, otherwise, it doesn't even make sense to review. If we were to play this or other albums for 5 to 10 random users, I can assure you it would be hard to reach an average of 3, believe me. @pixies77, don’t act too much like an alternative music snob because those bands are known by maybe a few hundred people here in Italy. Supersoul already explained the "minors" to you, but you could have figured it out by yourself; it wasn't difficult.

Minor prog records and their surroundings that I know of include 5: String Driven Thing, Arcadium, maybe Writing on the Wall, "In the Land" by Caravan, "Third" by Soft Machine (if we want to consider them minor), perhaps Khan, definitely High Tide, maybe Spirogyra and Comus, and perhaps Supersoul will add some others that I’ve forgotten or don’t know. But these are records of a different level compared to, for example, this one. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion; some consider Buon Vecchio Charlie deserving of a full 5 stars...

I mean, no 8.7 in tenths for this record is pure science fiction for me. 8.7 is given to a milestone of rock, certainly not to the tonton macoute.

Well, one listen isn't enough to judge; it seems like a good album to me, but this jazzy and "living room" prog makes me yawn quite a bit. Regarding the discussion about ratings, with all the immense respect I have for those like Giona and Elio who deal with recovering these outdated and neglected things, I completely disagree with you. This isn't just about you reviewing only the best things; the fact is that 90 percent of the "minor" albums that you and others have rated with 5 stars are, for me, deserving works but not deserving of 5 stars. And not just because they deserve 4.5 or 4.7 rounded up, but simply because they can't even be seen with binoculars at 5 stars; many I consider 4 or even low 4. For me, it's a problem of excessive enthusiasm and a bit of a lack of critical sense. And I say this as someone who loves progressive music and is usually quite generous with album ratings.

<< Check with the DeSearch engine that the album you want to review is not already present in the magical DeDatabase. If it is, you decide whether it’s still worth writing a review: maybe yes (you have more to say), but maybe also no. >> "This site is awesome because everyone contributes, sharing their musical knowledge and enriching each other. I'll tell you about an album you don't know, you’ll tell me about an album I don’t know: that's the only way to broaden our musical understanding. There are people here who treat the homepage like a public restroom, where they leave (numerous) review rants to let the world know (and poorly) that they like bands everyone knows inside out."

Damn, you're reviewing all the albums I've had in my wishlist for a while and can't get! Well, congratulations on the proposal. I'm just saying that I have the impression you might be exaggerating your judgments: is it possible that all these "minor" prog albums are all indiscriminately five stars? I know quite a few (not as many as you, for sure), most of them very valid, but five stars means masterpiece, and I can count those on the fingers of one, maybe two hands. In any case, I'll try to download it and give it a listen. The cover is beautiful anyway; among those created by Keef, I also remember "Asylum" by Cressida.

This is among the most beautiful you’ve written, Alessio. Terrible Nashmarkt; they took me there to eat on a day when I had vomited until three hours prior, just imagine.

By the way, azzuccio, you piqued my curiosity, I looked up something and, to my surprise, I must say I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Happy? ;-)

I only know the first two, which I consider excellent (I Want to Be a Machine, Hiroshima Mon Amour), even though new wave isn’t exactly my cup of tea. Great choice and good review, though the track by track might be a bit lengthy.