Il Balletto Di Bronzo
YS

The year of release for this record is 1972, but it is certain that Gianni Leone, the eccentric Neapolitan musician, had this work in his head and fingers for some years already. And this, considering the quality and originality of the music in question, is quite extraordinary. Especially because the author was, at the time, just a little more than an adolescent.

Leone joined the band that in '70 had released the decent "Sirio 2222" and radically changed its sound and more. Hence, only one album "Ys" would be published for Polydor. The album's theme - a concept in this case as well - is inspired by a medieval French tale ("L'Histoire d'YS") and speaks of the last man left on earth, surrounded only by a kind of undead. The theme is disturbing, delirious. And certainly, it suits the music well: everything is apocalyptic, dark, excellently played by all the musicians, but where the superior class of the young Leone is evident.
The very first part of the first track, "Intro", is emblematic of the album's sound, organs, bells, slow and obsessive progressions. It all preludes to almost jazzy rhythms, but with eerie, distressing organ accompaniments and moog riffs. For the first time in Italy, all the potentials of "noises" - listen to what happens around the 5-minute mark - produced by synthesizers and their paradoxical expressiveness will appear. The piece proceeds without losing tension, but with effective variations, guitar solos, mellotron layers.

In "Primo Incontro", immediately the guitar and then the spinet (Leone will play almost all existing keyboard instruments, from the most ancient to the most modern) characterize the sound. In "Secondo Incontro" the music becomes increasingly hard, at times reminiscent of a certain hard rock of the period. The next piece, "Il Terzo Incontro", is almost an homage to Emerson, Lake & Palmer's "Pictures at an Exhibition", especially in the moog-voice duets. Then comes the "Epilogo", which opens with one of the canons of progressive music, with long unison riffs, with counterpoints between the different instruments, with mellotron layers that give way to Leone's keyed adventures, rightly considered a sort of Italian Keith Emerson.
Contractual obligations led Il Balletto di Bronzo to release the song (pop, but the style remains...) "La Tua Casa Comoda" on a 45 rpm record, included on the CD. The medium, moreover, has the advantage of not having the limitations of vinyl (one side doesn't have so much space...) and therefore no interruptions between one track and the next.

Throughout the album, the intertwining of the many and complex instrumental parts is almost perfect, the arrangements are never predictable or banal, the level of the musicians - but Leone a notch above the others - is excellent.
The usual limitation of many Italian prog records could be the vocal parts, but according to the writer, it's hard to imagine them differently. It's a record not for everyone, certainly not for every day. But those who find themselves listening to Il Balletto di Bronzo's "Ys" will understand they are facing a masterpiece.