Goblin
Profondo rosso

The 1975 soundtrack album, "Profondo Rosso", launched the Goblin (a young Roman band previously known as Oliver that had narrowly missed releasing an album under the guidance, no less, of Eddie Offord) to the top of the Italian charts with that uniquely particular, enigmatic, and fascinating single. It so happened that Enrico Simonetti, father of the band's virtuoso keyboardist Claudio, introduced the boys to Dario Argento, who had just had a falling out with the great jazz musician Giorgio Gaslini and was looking for someone to complete the soundtrack for his upcoming cinematic masterpiece.

The album is indeed divided into two distinct parts, corresponding to the two sides: the first, exclusively composed by Goblin; the second, which contains four tracks more or less composed by Gaslini, two of which were played by Goblin (and presumably "finished", adapted, and arranged by them) and the other two orchestrally performed with a composition clearly not attributable to the group. Dario Argento refers to the theme of Tubular Bells and specifically commissions the band to create a main title with precise characteristics, which would adhere to the rules of engagement (7/4 time signature, obsessive circularity of the theme, drama) and prove to be effective and hugely popular with the pulsating and heavy rhythms of the electric bass, the piercing scale of the minimoog, and the majestic pipe organ.

Following the assertive "Profondo Rosso" comes "Death Dies" (it's uncertain whether it's an error or a play on words), the chase theme if ever there was one, a notable and unsettling funky rock on the lower piano keys with acid guitar inserts (led by the great drummer Agostino Marangolo), which gives way to the atmospheric "Mad Puppet", a masterpiece of looming threat and lurking danger, with sinister introduction and circular bass line "tainted" by electronics. On the second side, "Wild Session" hosts a beautiful saxophone and is effectively a session between dark atmospheric and jazz rock, quite free as it needed to be to result sinister and unsettling (the so-called "crime jazz" has always used dissonance); following, speaking of dissonance, is the off-kilter and Emerson-like "Deep Shadows", the most surprising track on the record, teetering between rock, odd time signatures, classical piano, wild freedom for all instruments, and a score that seems improvised right where it is most written... a non-singable, daring, stunningly played piece: after the title track, it is the best on the record. It closes with the famous childish chant of "School at Night", which no one can listen to in the dark or on a deserted street without trembling with fear, and the relaxed theme of "Gianna", highlighting the typical Argento interlude (of comedy or eros) necessary to prevent the cinematic viewer from being too overwhelmed.

The album sold incredibly well, a million copies in the first year alone: the instrumental debut of an unknown band, mind you, which would remain the best gem but not the only one in Goblin's discography. If you're not thoroughly familiar with this album, you really can't discuss Italian music: among the ten best Italian prog albums is certainly "Profondo Rosso".