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Italian Progressive Rock (Rock Progressivo Italiano)


Entre_Perpetuo
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I've just bought a few albums from the Italian prog movement of the early 70s, and I was wondering what other people think about this movement and what some of their favorite albums and artists are from it.

 

So far I've heard PFM's Per Un Amico, and Le Orme's Felona E Sorona

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I think this topic would be right up Cyclonus' alley

 

A few of my faves:

 

- Quella Vecchia Locanda - Il Tempo Della Gioia is classic

 

- Opus Avantra

 

- Metamorfosi

 

- Cherry Five - which is basically the band Goblin before they met Dario Argento

 

- Goblin

 

 

The music is consistently great, but IMHO, some of the vocals in a few of these bands are an acquired taste, ti say the least

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jljJ1m0CXAs

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQwa5QuNiaM&t=399s

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I think this topic would be right up Cyclonus' alley

 

A few of my faves:

 

- Quella Vecchia Locanda - Il Tempo Della Gioia is classic

 

- Opus Avantra

 

- Metamorfosi

 

- Cherry Five - which is basically the band Goblin before they met Dario Argento

 

- Goblin

 

 

The music is consistently great, but IMHO, some of the vocals in a few of these bands are an acquired taste, ti say the least

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE9lRbyui_E

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jljJ1m0CXAs

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQwa5QuNiaM&t=399s

 

Well I've barely heard of any of those so I'm gonna check out those videos now!

 

EDIT: oh, lol, those are full albums, I'll listen to the first song on each then

Edited by Entre_Perpetuo
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I think this topic would be right up Cyclonus' alley

 

A few of my faves:

 

- Quella Vecchia Locanda - Il Tempo Della Gioia is classic

 

- Opus Avantra

 

- Metamorfosi

 

- Cherry Five - which is basically the band Goblin before they met Dario Argento

 

- Goblin

 

 

The music is consistently great, but IMHO, some of the vocals in a few of these bands are an acquired taste, ti say the least

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE9lRbyui_E

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jljJ1m0CXAs

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQwa5QuNiaM&t=399s

 

Well I've barely heard of any of those so I'm gonna check out those videos now!

 

EDIT: oh, lol, those are full albums, I'll listen to the first song on each then

 

Dang it, I should've known better than to think I could tell when the first track would end, and I ended up listening to that whole first album, lol.

 

Very different from really anything else I've heard! I love the operatic qualities, and the willingness to forsake musical egoism in order to create excitement and mood and atmosphere, and to really evoke emotion! Awesome album Lucas!

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My fave would be the album Ys by Il Balletto di Bronzo. Try the track "Epilogo." That's the one that hooked me 19 years ago when I heard it on a mixtape. Obvious Keith Emerson influences are obvious.

 

Then do yourself a favor and try Locanda Delle Fate's Forse le lucciole non si amano più.

 

I'd link to the their respective YouTube videos here, but I always manage to fook up those links beyond repair.

 

 

Edit: I forgot to mention Museo Rosenbach's Zarathustra!

Edited by Chronos
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Oh boy, I have some to share. Per Un Amico is one of the best out there.

 

I love listening to very psychedelic and space like music, and these are great from Italy.

 

Maybe not beginning points for Italian prog, but worth listening to eventually 100%

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqNhh79or0

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqZZwrc-BNM

Edited by Bigbobby10
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My fave would be the album Ys by Il Balletto di Bronzo. Try the track "Epilogo." That's the one that hooked me 19 years ago when I heard it on a mixtape. Obvious Keith Emerson influences are obvious.

 

Then do yourself a favor and try Locanda Delle Fate's Forse le lucciole non si amano più.

 

I'd link to the their respective YouTube videos here, but I always manage to fook up those links beyond repair.

 

 

Edit: I forgot to mention Museo Rosenbach's Zarathustra!

 

Ys is one of the one's I bought actually! Haven't listened yet, but will soon, as well as the others.

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Oh boy, I have some to share. Per Un Amico is one of the best out there.

 

I love listening to very psychedelic and space like music, and these are great from Italy.

 

Maybe not beginning points for Italian prog, but worth listening to eventually 100%

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqNhh79or0

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqZZwrc-BNM

 

Have listened to that Le Orme song twice now since I bought the album yesterday, totally awesome! Very sci-fi actually, which I dig.

 

Will check the others out as well.

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Oh boy, I have some to share. Per Un Amico is one of the best out there.

 

I love listening to very psychedelic and space like music, and these are great from Italy.

 

Maybe not beginning points for Italian prog, but worth listening to eventually 100%

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqNhh79or0

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqZZwrc-BNM

 

Have listened to that Le Orme song twice now since I bought the album yesterday, totally awesome! Very sci-fi actually, which I dig.

 

Will check the others out as well.

 

Yea i saw u posted the Le Orme album I didnt notice so I removed it, but yea let me know what you think!

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Oh boy, I have some to share. Per Un Amico is one of the best out there.

 

I love listening to very psychedelic and space like music, and these are great from Italy.

 

Maybe not beginning points for Italian prog, but worth listening to eventually 100%

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InqNhh79or0

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqZZwrc-BNM

 

Have listened to that Le Orme song twice now since I bought the album yesterday, totally awesome! Very sci-fi actually, which I dig.

 

Will check the others out as well.

 

Yea i saw u posted the Le Orme album I didnt notice so I removed it, but yea let me know what you think!

 

Of course!

 

Oh, and yes, Per Un Amico is just majestic. I'd put it above Selling England By The Pound personally, and anything I've heard from Jethro Tull or ELP.

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There was an Italian prog movement in the early 70s?

 

Big time ... and there is a bit of a revival happening, which is great

 

I think some of the Italian murder mystery / horror / crime drama movies of the late 60s thru the 70s helped launch the popularity because these films were using prog/synth heavy soundtracks ... The music in these movies definitely adds an extra dimension, as it was a welcome step away from the typical string heavy soundtracks that had become bland and passe at that point ..

 

Here's a pretty good, brief page and gives some samples of songs from back in the day up thru modern times

 

https://daily.bandcamp.com/2017/07/13/italian-psych-rock-list/

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I like PFM and Banco a lot. Banco's "..di terra" and PFM's "per un amico" are two of my all time personal favorites and among the best prog albums ever imo. I never got much into Le Orme only because I never heard much by them. They did sound good based on what i have heard and will have to explore further at some point. A few bands who put out one or two albums in the seventies(or later)are Biglietto Per Linferno, Il Baletto Di Bronzo, Museo Rosenbach, Semiramis, Cherry Five(later became Goblin),Celeste,Alphataurus, and Locanda Delle Fate as well as the New Trolls, Area and of course Goblin who did horror movie soundtracks including Dawn of the Dead. Actually the Italian prog scene is still going strong but other than having seen a few of them live I'm more or less out of the loop. Edited by New_World_Man
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PFM, Banco and Goblin are my favourites. PFM are genuinely one of the best “classic” Prog bands ever in terms of their first 3 or 4 albums before they turned pop. Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso have some great early albums too but the vocals are an acquired taste.

Goblin’s Argento film scores are tremendous.

 

GAQmL9.jpg

 

 

http://www.progarchives.com/subgenre.asp?style=28

Edited by Tony R
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Listening to Alphataurus right now, though I probably won't finish it as my friend is coming over for a Captain Beefheart listening party of sorts.

 

 

But man, this is golden. Best vocals I've heard out of Italian Prog so far.

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I like PFM and Banco a lot. Banco's "..di terra" and PFM's "per un amico" are two of my all time personal favorites and among the best prog albums ever imo. I never got much into Le Orme only because I never heard much by them. They did sound good based on what i have heard and will have to explore further at some point. A few bands who put out one or two albums in the seventies(or later)are Biglietto Per Linferno, Il Baletto Di Bronzo, Museo Rosenbach, Semiramis, Cherry Five(later became Goblin),Celeste,Alphataurus, and Locanda Delle Fate as well as the New Trolls, Area and of course Goblin who did horror movie soundtracks including Dawn of the Dead. Actually the Italian prog scene is still going strong but other than having seen a few of them live I'm more or less out of the loop.

 

PFM and Banco would be my favorites as well...likely because of the similarities with Emerson Lake and Palmer.

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My current ranking of the few RPI records I've heard so far, not counting the one I listened to on here once months ago because I can't remember how much I liked it.

 

1. Per Un Amico - PFM

The label "symphonic prog" often gets represented by Close To The Edge, or Selling England By The Pound, but this album is easily as definitive an example of the symphonic approach, and from 1972! Everything here is gorgeous, whether powerful or pastoral. And perhaps more importantly, the immaculate production has been applied to inarguably excellent, catchy, eye-opening songs. 5 songs of prog perfection, one of the best ever made.

 

2. Ys - Il Balletto Di Bronzo

 

From my roughly 1.5 / 2 listens, this is a tornado of catchy, head banging, calculated mayhem. It rarely lets up or lets go, and will have me coming back for more very soon.

 

3. Contamination - RDM

 

An outlandishly literal fusion of classical and hard prog, telling the story of a real musician who believed he was Bach's son or something and fell physically in love with music and went insane. Crazy story fits the inspired, playful, surprising journeys of the music.

 

4. Felona E Sorona - Le Orme

 

In the same vein of aural pleasure as Per Un Amico, but without as many players. Keys, drums, and bass dominate here. Vocals guide you through a tale of people from two entirely different worlds falling in love (I think?), and a few passages contain other instruments to keep things interesting. The instrumental work is top notch, the vocals are peaceful and melancholic at once, and the whole vibe is symphonic prog from outer space, but the gentler kind of outer space, like ELO. Excellent all around, if a tad soft at times.

 

5. L'Isola Di Niente - PFM

 

More varied than its predecessor (choral a capella sections, a foray into jazz fusion, etc.), the results aren't as immediate, but perhaps just as good. It stays here at five until I can make some more sense of it, but so far the experiments work out fantastically.

 

6. Alphataurus - Alphataurus

 

My first thought, they took their name from ELP's Aquatarkus! Perhaps they did, and perhaps ELP was a major inspiration for this one (ish) album wonder as they were for many RPI groups, but this album takes things somewhere different. This is great hard prog, as though FBN Rush had been far more mature, but with a more operatic vocalist. Touches of blues, photo-metal, great melodies, this is a solid record if I ever saw one. Probably the best vocals of any of these to be honest.

 

7. Palepoli - Osanna

 

So I'm listening to this one right now and realizing it's a huge disservice to label it as my least favorite. It could easily be top 3! But then any of these could! Basically this record reminds me of VDGG Pawn Hearts if it were more straightforward and rocked out more often than it weirded out (not to say this doesn't have some strange passages). At only 3 songs (two sidelong length pieces with a short reprieve in-between), this is one of those kind of prog records you know you'll want to hear just looking at the song lengths. The music gets pretty far out in places, backwards tape loops, sharp transitions, influences coming from all across the Mediterranean (the band was from Napoli I believe). Weird stuff, but excellent nonetheless.

 

so yeah, all of these are by far excellent prog records. I could see myself ranking any one of them over, say, Wind And Wuthering, or Going For The One, or Thick As A Brick given enough time to become acquainted with them.

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Got a couple more classic RPI albums recently. Celeste and Maxophone. Both of these are magnificent so far! Very much in the vein of PFM, but one stays folky throughout (and gorgeously so) while the other gets jazzier quite often. Man, Italy was a gold mine!
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Got a couple more classic RPI albums recently. Celeste and Maxophone. Both of these are magnificent so far! Very much in the vein of PFM, but one stays folky throughout (and gorgeously so) while the other gets jazzier quite often. Man, Italy was a gold mine!

 

It really was. A lot of great music came out of that time period from those guys.

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