Il Balletto Di Bronzo
Il Re del Castello

Thanks to the very generous gift of a great friend of mine, I've been able to appreciate this splendid album by a band that, alas, doesn't have the fame it deserves. Il Balletto di Bronzo is one of those Italian bands that have fallen into oblivion (Osanna, Trip, Rovescio della Medaglia, who remembers them?) but before such an inconsiderate fate, they had, in their own small way, contributed something to the history of music. The band in question had released two albums: Sirio 2222 and the beautiful Ys (even for Polydor!) which is an authentic gem of Italian-rooted progressive. Unlike their more illustrious colleagues (Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Perigeo, New Trolls), the Bronzi had more avidly explored the paths of a decidedly harder prog, creating a remarkable synthesis of British-rooted hard rock and a romantic progressive typical of the bands in vogue at the time. The masterly result can be appreciated in Ys (1972), when they were appreciated by both the public and critics, garnering success.

However, the album I am going to talk about is a rare gem. First of all, it's a limited edition, released in 1990 on the famous magazine Raro!, and it gathers material discarded by the band between 1969 and 1970. The usual junk, you might think.

But no. The beautiful track Accidenti (a love gone wrong...) appears on the first side, a piece that begins with a madrigal and continues with solo guitar interludes (a simply grandiose Lino Ajello) with a dreamy and evocative melody. I admit that in the sung parts, it EXCESSIVELY reminds of "A Salty Dog" by Procol Harum and probably that is why it never ended up on an official album, but honestly, it does not detract from the beauty of the song. The next track is "Il Re del Castello", an instrumental. Always along the lines of the more energetic Procol Harum, Ajello gives a display of guitar mastery which the Italian prog scene, quite frankly, truly needed. Closing side A is the instrumental version of Neve Calda, a pearl of the Italian pop of times past, made heavier for the occasion and, in my opinion, even more evocative than the sung version.
Side B is unexpected, a real bijou for collectors: the versions recorded for the Spanish market of Bronzo's singles released until then. Not bad, right?

If you manage to find it, it's an album that will leave you amazed, not least because it is discarded material! And it makes you think... imagine how beautiful Ys could be!