AD MAIORA !

Very nice first album from yet another impressive Italian band. The music is derivative of other groups, only in that it is a culmination of years of listening, observing and absorbing the progressive rock genre. Some slight ELP/Genesis influences for sure, but only in that the main stream of Italian prog comes from those fountains. And this is very romantically progressive Italian music at its best.

The overall recording is quite good, again especially for a freshman offering. The vocals (if I recall correctly) are sung in English, and although not very much vocals, quite good. In fact, if I had a complaint, I wish there was more singing. But, I fall into the minority, as I really like vocals in progland.

The keyboards are the highlight here, and they are (at least to my ears) all original, analogue keys. There might be a touch of Yamaha DX7, but for the most part, the Hammond, synth stuff seems quite "golden era" keyboards.

Possibly the only slight let down, is the song "Summertime" as it's the jazz standard, but even here we are offered a quite unique, totally proggy rendition of the classic piece. The rest of the music is all original, and all very well executed with real emotion.

The Italian prog scene continues to pour out quite impressive, original works of art, and this first gift from Ad Maiora is a wonderful example of the wonderful, continual expansion on the traditional progressive rock from such a rich landscape of art.