| # | Artist | Song (click to play) | Album | Year | CD label |
| 1 | Maxophone | When We Were Young | Maxophone | 1975 | Mellow |
| When I put this CD on, I was not expecting much, mainly because this is not an album that you hear people talk about. Man, was I surprised! While certain parts of the music remind me slightly of other things, I cannot point to any over-riding influence. The vocals are excellent, sounding somewhat like Steve Winwood, from the days of old, or Jukka Gustavson of Wigwam. It was very difficult picking out a song from this album, as every song has something unique and great about it. I picked this song, though, because of the very atmospheric spacy ending which really hit it home to me, that this is a musical group of great depth. | |||||
| 2 | Pierrot Lunaire | Il re di Raipure | Pierrot Lunaire | 1974 | SiWan |
| First album of folk, classical, baroque, influenced music. Their 2nd album _Gudrun_ is a completely different animal. I cannot think of any comparisons for this album, as it is not the type of music that I am accustomed to listening to. Folk/rock/prog is still somewhat un-chartered territory for me. The first song of the album does remind me somewhat of early Jade Warrior, though. If you are looking to explore some folk/prog, this is a good one to check out. The songs have very nice memorable melodies and excellent playing. | |||||
| 3 | Banco del Mutuo Soccorso | Cento mani e cento occhi | Darwin! | 1972 | Dishi Ricordi/BMG |
| Banco's 2nd remarkable album of 1972. Music of extreme dynamics and emotion. There is a reason why many Italian bands are compared to Banco. | |||||
| 4 | Nova | Tailor Made | Blink | 1976 | Vinyl Magic |
| Fusiony prog with vocals. Features some fiery guitar, great sax, frenetic drumming augmented by Maurice Pert (of Brand X) on percussion. Alot of this album, especially during the instrumental excursions, reminds me of Kraan. The band is reported formed from ex-members of Osanna, Cervello, Uno, and Circus 2000. The following album _Vimana_ has guests Percy Jones, Phil Collins, and Narada Michael Walden. | |||||
| 5 | Quella Vecchia Locanda | Il Cieco | Quella Vecchia Locanda | 1972 | Vinyl Magic |
| This, QVL's first album, is much different than QVL's 2nd album, from which we heard a track on the first Italian prog show. But, it is just as excellent. This album does not contain so much of the classical and jazzy elements, but, contains a wide dynamic of rock music forms. Lots of flute and violin. The flute solo section of this song reminds me of a similar section in Golden Earring's "Big Tree, Blue Sea". | |||||
| 6 | Locanda Delle Fate | Vendesi Saggezza | Forse le Lucciole Non Si Amano Piu | 1977 | Polydor/Polygram |
| A remarkable album of refined progressive rock with influeces of Genesis, Banco, and Yes. I was put-off by the vocals at first, but, after many listens, they are not so bad. This is probably one of the best of the Italian prog cd's that I have listened to in the past few weeks. | |||||