Le Orme
Elementi

It is never easy to talk about Orme, considering that together with Premiata Forneria Marconi and Banco (del Mutuo Soccorso), they undoubtedly represent the artistic pinnacle of early '70s Italian progressive. Indeed, 1972 saw the release, in quick succession, of STORIA DI UN MINUTO (followed by the excellent PER UN AMICO later the same year) for PFM, BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO (succeeded less than six months later by that milestone, DARWIN!), and that refined blend of pop and progressive which is UOMO DI PEZZA. The previous year, the Venetian group released COLLAGE, innovative and pioneering but duly respectful towards English eminences like Genesis, Jethro Tull, or Emerson Lake & Palmer. With the refined concept-prog of FELONA E SORONA (1973) and the crystalline CONTRAPPUNTI (1974) – interspersed with concerts at the Teatro Brancaccio in Rome immortalized on IN CONCERTO (1974) – they reached the Americanization of SMOGMAGICA (1975) and a change of stylistic direction that would see the group tread paths towards greater commercialization with the subsequent VERITA' NASCOSTE (1976) and STORIA O LEGGENDA (1977), and concluding the decade with the acoustic FLORIAN (1979), firmly, albeit differently from how it began. It was precisely in 1980 that PICCOLA RAPSODIA DELL'APE (a successful attempt to blend classical and rock) emerged, followed by VENERDI' in 1982 (a refined example of light music adapted to the times, which even Sanremo could not embrace), only to resurface eight years later with the weak ORME, which marked the departure of the great keyboardist Tony Pagliuca and the entrance of the guest Michele Bon, who would showcase his all-rounded musical expertise in the subsequent ELEMENTI (2001).

The first work of the new millennium and what we could define as Le Orme with Michele Bon, presents us with music heavily based on a sound framework made up of enveloping keyboards and steady rhythm, where late-beat melodies from the golden era are daringly dusted off and re-proposed according to the usual prog standards. A musicality made of classical airs that unfold and retreat wisely, where the expansive tracks nourish from the source of good taste, revealing a balanced alternation between soft and more restless atmospheres, without ever clashing with the commendable rhythmic oddities that can be heard. A remarkable and abundant sound over which Aldo Tagliapietra's unmistakable vocal timbre stands out elegantly, sketching possibly familiar yet always touching and intense narrative pictures. We speak of compositions that project the listener onto an imaginary path, around which revolves a mosaic of intimate feelings whose striving for refinement never falters. From the introductory Danza del Vento to the concluding reprise of Risveglio, an album that unravels enveloping musical plots where a propensity for symphony is always alive, moving within a rich, interesting yet seamless fabric without ever giving the impression of spreading into predetermined structures. Symphonic pop with subtle charm without losing the right path, thunderous but always balanced, aggressive riffs and delicate moments, substantial and redundant, maintaining a coherent compositional thread that nonetheless adds nothing to the sum of the progressive verb.

With ELEMENTI, the second step in the trilogy that would conclude three years later with the moderate L'INFINITO, offers music that is always very laid-back where the quartet favors an instrumental approach very close to the golden times from the past, without depriving themselves of structures and complexities close to contemporaneity that always highlight a memorable originality.