1.
What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
Quite engaging as it appeared that the band knew what they wanted to achieve on their very first album. You can actually hear a lot of the band's better known influences in the first five minutes of the album but what is great about the album, is that the band very much had their own style, it would've been a shame if they hadn't because this band from the word go have an obvious talent.
2.
What did you think of the opening tracks?
Just focusing on the opening track, it quickly displayed the musical virtuosity of the band and distinctly ticked all the right boxes when it came to 'classic era' prog of the early 1973.
3.
What did you think of the later tracks?
A real mixed bag throughout on here you can hear elements of Yes, King Crimson, Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant. On the heavier side of things Led Zeppelin and especially the keyboard influence of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep.
4.
Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?
Had a typical strong dominant voice that was often associated with either Italian or Spanish vocalist from the 1970s and 1980s and he added some diversity at certain moments as well. His vocals were pushed high in the album mix and so you either loved or hated them as there was no escaping them, luckily I really liked him
5.
Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?
As Trollheart has said, Pietro Pellegrini on keys/synths was the stand-out musician here and his work on the keys quite exceptional, but it should be noted that Andrea Guizetti is also credited with the keys/synths as well, so not sure which was more dominant here.
6.
Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?
I listened to it just once, I guess on another listen it would get even more involving as there was a lot to take in here.
7.
What did you think of the lyrical content?
Understood about 30% of the lyrical content and seemed to be based around feelings of nostalgia and choosing the right path in life, might be wrong here as I had a bit of a hangover
8.
Did you like the instrumental parts?
As I've been going on about how good they are, I've already answered this question.
9.
What did you think of the production?
A very good production which has real clarity and doesn't take away the passion of the band in any way.
10.
How well do you already know the band/artist?
Never heard of them, my knowledge of Italian music of this era has largely been limited to just a couple of hard rock bands and to be fair they were good listens as well.
11.
What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to?
Progressive rock without any shadow of a doubt. They incorporated the elements of hard rock very well into their sound.
12.
On repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
N/A.
13.
What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
So many good tracks but "Domo l'Urugano" was superb and its hard rocking were right out of the Led Zeppelin music book, in fact Led Zeppelin would've proud to have called it their own. The instrumental "Croma" was great as well.
14.
And the one you liked least?
They were all accomplished tracks.
15.
Did the fact that this album is a debut allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated? (Note: if the album is or was NOT a debut, ignore this question or put "n/a")
Didn't sound exactly like a debut to me, mainly because a lot of prog rock debuts from bands of this era were often disjointed efforts, whilst the bands were trying to find their true sound in a complex genre. This though, was accomplished and could've passed for a second, third or fourth album whilst the band were still fresh with ideas.
16.
Are you now looking forward to hearing other albums by the band/artist?
Sadly they split up after this album and the next release I saw was so much more recent, and I guess the continuity would be long gone.
17.
Did you get, thematically, the idea behind the album if there was one?
See question 7.
18.
Did the album end well?
"Ombra Muta" is an accomplished track that musically shifts textures around the place and mixes crunching moments in with some nice sounding reflective sounding stuff.
19.
Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
I thought the lack of guitar presence (but there were still some great guitar moments) actually a feather in the cap for the band, I think the lack of guitar put a greater emphasis on the other instruments which often took the place of guitars to achieve the sound the band wanted, kind of reminded me of what Tom Scholz did with Boston on
Third Stage.
20.
Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
Solid all the way through.
Overall Album Rating: 8 out of 10.
PS. I saw a list of Italian progressive bands for the 1970s when I was checking out this band and there were over 100 bands on that list
