Nuova Idea
In the Beginning

Often unjustly ignored, Nuova Idea represented one of the first true progressive groups in the history of "Italian Pop": born in 1969 under the name Plep, Nuova Idea took on their more famous name in 1970, beginning to produce numerous works under different names due to numerous contractual problems. This led to the release of albums under the name The Underground Set, including the self-titled album (1970, Radio Records), War In The Night Before (1971, Tickle), and Psycheground (1970, Lupus), the latter under the name The Psycheground Group; the real identity concealed behind these two mysterious groups would remain obscure for at least 40 years, as these works differ significantly from the albums produced by Nuova Idea, displaying a sound that is more psychedelic and less "progressive".

The historical core of Nuova Idea consisted of Marco Zoccheddu and Claudio Ghiglino on guitar, Giorgio Usai on keyboards and vocals, Enrico Casagni on bass and flute, and Paolo Siani on drums. This lineup successfully debuted at the Viareggio Pop Festival and then released their first album under the name "Nuova Idea", In The Beginning (1971, Ariston Records). The work in question, contextualized within the Italian musical period of those years, appears extremely innovative: PFM and Banco were yet to arrive, Le Orme were still dealing with the psychedelic excesses of the '60s, and The Trip represented an alternative too indebted to English rock to be considered "indigenous". Nuova Idea showed originality, energy, and technical skill, distinguishing themselves from the majority of groups of the time and almost paving the way for the future of Italian Pop... albeit halfway.

The core of the LP is indeed the long suite that covers the entire Side A, one of the first in Italy: Come, Come, Come... (Vieni, Vieni, Vieni) is based on Macbeth, a famous work by Shakespeare that finds, thanks to Nuova Idea, a convincing musical dimension. The long track is well-structured, both in terms of instrumental texture and "lyrics", which are well-sung and highly inspired. Side A of In The Beginning bodes well, given the obvious quality of the track and the musicians: with frantic drum solos and captivating riffs, all the ingredients to hope for a continuation of such a majestic album are there. But the cold shower is ready to submerge the listener.

Side B, although well-played, contains pieces significantly weaker compared to the initial long suite, both structurally and thematically: carefree love stories and sounds more indebted to late-beat than prog make the second half of In The Beginning diametrically opposed to the first, so much so that one believes they are facing another album. A real shame, which probably prevented the album from becoming a true classic of Italian Progressive Rock.

After the departure of Zoccheddu (who went on to form Osage Tribe), the band managed to partially redeem itself with Mr E. Jones (1972, Ariston Records), an LP more cohesive and coherent compared to the previous work, and with the group's masterpiece, Clowns (1973, Ariston Records), which would represent the qualitative peak of Nuova Idea, one of the most original Italian groups of the era: in 1971, perhaps only bands like Osanna, Rovescio della Medaglia, Delirium, and the already mentioned The Trip were able to best represent the genre that would later be defined as progressive; Banco, Le Orme, and PFM would become cornerstones of Italian prog only some time later... in the meantime, there were also Nuova Idea.