Entre_Perpetuo Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edhunter Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 I was partial to Pepe's White Clam myself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 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 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 (edited) 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 August 13, 2018 by Entre_Perpetuo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 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! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronos Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 (edited) 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 August 13, 2018 by Chronos 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbobby10 Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 (edited) 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 August 13, 2018 by Bigbobby10 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbobby10 Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 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! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J2112YYZ Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 There was an Italian prog movement in the early 70s? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianice Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 There was an Italian prog movement in the early 70s? Bada Boom, Bada Bing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J2112YYZ Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 There was an Italian prog movement in the early 70s? Bada Boom, Bada Bing. Oh ok, I've heard that before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 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/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New_World_Man Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 (edited) 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 August 14, 2018 by New_World_Man 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony R Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) 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. http://www.progarchives.com/subgenre.asp?style=28 Edited August 15, 2018 by Tony R 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 locanda delle fate's cool as well. late to the party and fairly derivative, but you can also say that about rush 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 There was an Italian prog movement in the early 70s? italians listened to and were influenced by popular music as much as anybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytserush Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted October 14, 2018 Author Share Posted October 14, 2018 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElfDude Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 I liked RDM a lot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 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! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ytserush Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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