Trollheart

Hey guys! We just passed 4000 views on the thread, and coming up on 190 replies! That's not bad, for a thread which was considered in intensive care with little chance of survival just a few months ago! Well done all, say I! Proof that if we want to, a handful of people can make something like this work.

Now, before we all break up for Christmas and lose our interest in reviewing albums for a little while, let me suggest our final album for 2012. It's a weird one.

VERY weird.



Alphataurus --- Alphataurus --- 1973

Alphataurus were an Italian progressive rock band (they're mentioned as RPI too, but I don't know much about that) who recorded the one album, then split while recording their second in 1974. That album was released later, after they had split, but reports say it was unfinished. I don't know, as I've only heard this one. Oddly, the pages at ProgRockArchives show a new album released this year, but I have no idea what that's about.

Anyway, I'm sure everyone will need a link, as these are hardly the most prolific or famous prog rock band of the 70s, so here's one...
http://www.trollheart.com/alphataurus.rar

It's a short album, only 40 minutes long and with only 5 tracks. Some are instrumental but when there are vocals they're in Italian, just to make things that much more interesting!

I'll be intrigued to see what people think of it.
Oh, since the vocals are not in English, you can obviously leave blank any references to lyrics, themes etc (unless you speak Italian, in which case, knock yourself out, and enlighten the rest of us while you're at it!)

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

Interesting and a band and album I don't know. The Italian vocals shouldn't be too much of a problem as I'm almost a fluent Spanish speaker and can normally understand quite a bit of Italian.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

Alphataurus --- Alphataurus --- 1973


1. Le chamadere (Peccato d'Orgoglio)
2. Dopo l'Uragano
3. Croma
4. La mente vola
5. Ombra muta

Band:
Vocals ---Michele Bavaro
Guitar --- Guido Wasserman
Bass --- Alfonso Olive
Keyboards --- Pietro Pellegrini
Drums --- Giorgio Santanderea

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?

I thought the bassline initially drove the tune, and was very hypnotic. Then it broke down into a soft acoustic guitar piece, quite pastoral, followed by the first vocal, which I certainly liked. Thought it had a vague sense of Mexican about it, for some reason, as the vocal and music got harder. Very strong singer, even if I couldn't tell what he was singing about. Some great organ and synth work, touches of Santana and even Uriah Heep in there. And that's all in the first five minutes!
2. What did you think of the opening tracks?

Only five on the album, so let's concentrate on the opener, "Le chamadere (peccato d'Orgoglio)" --- I thought it was quite varied in styles and a good opener, progressive and psychedelic rock elements, and certainly highlights the expertise of the band.

3. What did you think of the later tracks?

Track two, "Dopo l''Uragano" gets much heavier, with more guitars as Guido Wasserman asserts himself more, and an almost doomy sort of feel to the track, touches of Sabbath and Purple. "Croma"'s a nice little instrumental quite in the mould of the later Alan Parsons Project. It's also the shortest track on the album, with the others coming in at nine minutes, five and twelve, working backwards. I love the keyboard work in the opening four minutes of "La mente vola", and then it only gets better.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?

I did like him, though I couldn't say I love him. Hard to be too objective when the singing is not in English, but I thought he had a strong, engaging and powerful voice.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?

Yes, very much so, especially the keyboard work, which I found quite fantastic. Very seventies (not surprising as it's an album from 1973) and very proggy. Kind of takes over though, and I wonder how the band would have sounded without Pietro Pellegrini on keys? He's certainly the musical focal point of the band.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?

It evolved a lot, so in that sense it got better as I listened.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?

N/a as I don't speak Italian so couldn't understand the lyrics.

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?

Excellent. Very powerful, quite spacey in places, and very much what you'd expect from a progressive rock band of the seventies, ie, banks and banks of keyboards and synths.

9. What did you think of the production?

Can't really say. It sounded fine to me.

10. How well do you already know the band/artist?

Not at all. This was the first and only release of theirs I listened to. I believe they made a second record but have not heard it personally. They're broken up now, apparently; in fact, they broke up soon after the recording of this.

11. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to?

Progressive rock, maybe with a hint of space/psychedelic in there too.

12. On repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?

About the same. It's not what I'd call a grower: you either like it or not first time round, and if you do, then you'll continue to enjoy it on repeated listens. If you don't like it first time though, I'd say it's unlikely you'd get into it on subsequent listens, though of course I could be wrong there.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?

I think overall I really rate "La mente volta" as the best track. It starts well with a big keyboard passage and then develops into a powerful, emotional mid-paced song. Great vocals and some fine guitar work, though like all of the tracks it's driven and hangs on Pellegrini's keyboard athletics. Nice bit of vibra or even xylophone in this too. Just great.

14. And the one you liked least?

I don't think there was one. Out of five, what are the chances? No, I think they were all pretty good.

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")

For a debut, and as it turned out, last album before they split, sort of, it's a pretty impressive effort. I can't help wondering what Alphataurus might have achieved had they stayed together and continued making music.

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing other albums by the band/artist?

They only have the one other. I'd listen to it, sure, but I'm not putting it at the top of my list. Then again, it's not at the bottom either...

17. Did you get, thematically, the idea behind the album if there was one?

See question 7.

18. Did the album end well?
Yes, very well. "Ombra muta" veers between soft blues ballad and total psychedelic workout. Slows down the action nicely while at the same time throwing in some great keyboard solos and keeping things fresh. Also Wasserman gets to finally kick out the stays and show us what he could do on the guitar; shame he wasn't cut loose earlier.


19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?

Perhaps more use of the guitar, which I feel was pretty much a bit-player for most of the album. Also I'd like to have had an idea what the lyrics were about, but that's my fault for not knowing Italian I guess.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?

Hard to say really when you don't understand the lyrics, but I don't think it wandered off on any tangents and there weren't any songs that I feel didn't fit in to the overall body and structure of the album.

Overall Album Rating: 7 out of 10.

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Unknown Soldier

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

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

Good review US: glad to see you think in the same basic terms as me on this one.

Can the rest of you get any reviews on "Alphataurus" in by let's say Monday, as we're now into 2013 and need to move on to the next album. I think that's either US or BE's choice?

Thanks guys!

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Trollheart

OK guys I think we've all had time to get over the Xmas slump. It's now one week into the new year, so any reviews of "Alphataurus" need to be posted today, otherwise we move on.

Unknown Soldier, the next choice is yours...

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Anteater

1.What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?

Oh hai Italian prog! It's not bad at all really: the production has a lot of clarity for an early 70's record, and it doesn't sound like most of the other RPI albums coming out around '73 either.

2. What did you think of the opening tracks?

'Peccato D'Orgoglio' is fairly interesting, with a great middle section that lets the band show off a bit in the virtuosity department. 'Dopo L'Uragano' wasn't as interesting: comes off as one of those honky tonk ELP-inspired jams that never really goes anywhere.

3. What did you think of the later tracks?

A real hodgepodge of what you'd expect out an early 70's progressive rock record: I love all the synths in 'La Mente Vola' in particular!

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?

Strong voice, and as others pointed out he's got a great range on top of that. The fact I don't know Italian at all doesn't really detract from his vocal quality: might not have been a bad idea to try getting him to sing in English to reach a larger international audience though.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?

It appealed to me, but on the whole its not cohesive or interesting enough from start to finish to measure up to any of the classic progressive rock records of the era, so I'd say the appeal was somewhat limited.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?

Better to one degree or another.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?

Mama mia!

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?

Yep.

9. What did you think of the production?

Probably the best aspect of the album overall. Reminds me a lot of Gentle Giant's debut on that note, especially in how the drums are mixed.

10. How well do you already know the band/artist?

I already knew of them as a 2nd tier RPI band long before I listened to this album the first time.

11. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to?

Rock Progresivo Italiano, of course.

12. On repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?

Meh.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?

Probably 'La Mente Vola'. Very spacey, very fun!

14. And the one you liked least?

N/A

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")

The production and general flow of the album is good enough to where I wouldn't normally see it as a debut: the professionalism is actually fairly unusual and really says a lot about the people involved.

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing other albums by the band/artist?

Since there really wasn't any direct follow up, probably not.

17. Did you get, thematically, the idea behind the album if there was one?

N/A.

18. Did the album end well?

As others have pointed out, 'Ombra Muta' was a fairly nice closer with a bit of crunch in the right areas to leave a solid impression.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?

Even more keyboard emphasis would have been interesting, but besides the suggestion of recruiting in a sax/horn/flute player for some flavor, I don't have any major improvement suggestions that might have helped a whole lot.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?

More miss than hit: it's not melodically cohesive as a whole, which is an important feature for me in progressive rock. These guys aren't quite there for me, and kind of a representative from my point of view of why there's no real record in the RPI canon of music that measures up to Yes's Close To The Edge or the classic Genesis stuff. Different strokes for different folks I suppose. :P

Overall Album Rating: 7 out of 10.

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Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

Anteater's Daily Tune Roulette

Goofle

I need to get into more prog. Shall be checking this out.

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Trollheart

Welcome Goofle to our little club! Feel free to post your thoughts when you've listened to the album. Or not.

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Goofle

Certainly will do...



Bo Hansson - Sagan Om Ringen

Really like this album. Prog and psyche mixed in with each other to great effect to create a divine musical landscape that suits the title (Lord of the Rings). Need to give it another listen though.

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