Museo Rosenbach's only album, Zarathustra, is another one of the clearly essential Italian albums. Firmly entrenched on the heavier end of the Italian spectrum, this is perhaps one of the defining "heavy-prog" albums. The music is dark, completely glorious and develops with bombastic classical grandeur, with surging guitars, blazing Hammond leads and of course the omnipresent Mellotron. The band competently moves through occasional quiet moments with nice flute and Mellotron before ripping into massive metallic bowel-shaking riffs. The vocalist has a nice bluesy, throaty voice that lends itself excellently to the proceedings. Museo Rosenbach manages to weave in a gorgeous melodic web with their brute force, pulling everything together in moments of shuddering climax.
The first five tracks make up the lengthy title suite, which
stands as one of the most solidly composed side-long epics in the
progressive rock tradition, leaving little if any breathing room between
consecutive mindblowing passages. The rest of the album is just as good:
addictive, melodic pieces with a dark aggressive undercurrent.
Zarathustra is one of the truly essential heavy Italian classics.
Melancholy, thy name is mellotron. And so it is that Zarathustra opens in this manner. A dire voice leads to a crashing guitar riff, and Museo Rosenbach has begun the journey to one of the finest albums ever made. Created in the fertile turf of 1973 Italy, Museo Rosenbach were either inspired by or were the inspiration for countless other bands, each vying for the public's attention. The most creative musical scene in the annals of rock music to ever surface had a new champion. Heavy riffing guitar, bass, drums and various percussion are the instruments of choice. However, the standouts have to be Pit Corradi's amazing mellotron and Hammond organ work coupled with the brilliant vocals of Stefano Galifi. There are no weak moments to be found, each composition winds its way through the corridors of the listener's assumed over-active imagination. Whether it's the side-long title track or one of the three shorter songs found on Side 2 (especially "Della Natura"), rest assured the attentive listener will be rewarded lavishly with each spin, a new twist or turn will become apparent. This discovery can go on for years. Certainly one of the all timers, a strong contender for greatest album ever. The perfect musical companion.
Certainly, the reader of this review is still not contemplating whether
to buy Museo Rosenbach, but when and what format. No self-respecting Italian
album was released without an eye-catching package, and Museo Rosenbach were
no exception. So vinyl collectors should either try to score the
hyper-expensive, original, textured gatefold (on Dischi Ricordi) or go for
slightly less expensive gatefold options like the Japanese press on Seven
Seas or the Italian repress on Contempo. None are easy to find, but all
worth the search. Of course, the readily available CD should suffice until
then.
