Rumblin' Orchestra
The King's New Garment

The Rumblin' Orchestra, after a couple of years of work, fortunately for them and for us, has come to follow up their already excellent debut CD, the Spartacus that we have already reviewed. This "The King's New Garment" features the same lineup as the previous work, namely Béla Ella on keyboards, Beatrix Ella on flute, Kitti Ella on cello, Attila Ella on trombone, Daniel Ella on oboe, Miklos Ella on violin, Jusztin Szabò on drums, percussion, and bass, as well as a large number of guests including Laszlo Hetsch on guitar, Gyorgy Demeter and Ildiko Szosznyak on vocals, Zoltan Gaal and Sandor Csavics on trumpet, Bela Gyenes on sax, and a choir composed of 8 elements. The CD, which features a lovely cover painting by Marco Bernard (from the Finnish fanzine Colossus), consists of 9 tracks, with lengths ranging from less than 2 minutes to over 18.

The beginning is represented by the mega suite that gives the entire CD its title and it already provides us precise indications on the musical journey we are about to embark on. The influences noted in the previous disc are all still present, from Emerson Lake and Palmer to After Crying, passing through classical music, but what is striking from this first track is the even more refined way in which the arrangements are made. The "classical" instruments are, in fact, utilized to the best of their expressive possibilities creating atmospheres of great pathos and contributing to creating arrangements that denote skill and good taste, which in the previous work perhaps were still embryonic. Also from a compositional point of view, things improve markedly compared to the previous CD. The virtuosic bursts of neoclassical notes and the bombastic instrumental breaks, which fortunately only occasionally appeared on "Spartacus" representing its weakest part, are indeed absent. In "The King's New Garment" the compositions are much more balanced and demonstrate greater personality, resulting significantly more original and enjoyable. The melodies are always delightful, and the virtuosity of the various instrumentalists is used to create a homogeneous whole in which one instrument rarely stands out over the others, but all contribute to creating compositions of significant artistic depth.

In conclusion, it is a truly extraordinary album that should not be missing from any respectable prog collection. Surely it will drive fans of After Crying mad with delight, and those who appreciate classical music and love progressive precisely because it is often tied to it (more or less directly). To the less adventurous, those tied hand and foot to the English new prog, so to speak, I can only suggest making an effort to open their musical-geographical horizons and give this Rumblin' Orchestra a chance or, still staying in Hungary, to the aforementioned After Crying, Solaris, East... In short, make your choice, choose whom you like, but in any case, this nation will reveal itself to you as a mine of unexpected and original progressive emotions. Who would have ever thought, eh?