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Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra CD (album) cover

ZARATHUSTRA

Museo Rosenbach

 

Rock Progressivo Italiano

4.33 | 1004 ratings

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russellk
Prog Reviewer
4 stars An excellent album, representative of the better pure progressive albums of the early seventies, but not, in my view, the best to come from Italy, nor is it quite in the top echelon of symphonic prog.

I'm reluctant to spend too long talking of the Italian-ness of the music. As with all countries, Italian prog comes in many colours, and this colour is somewhat darker than the gentle, melodic prog usually associated with Italy. As a non-Italian speaker I miss out on the lyrics, but they are infrequent enough for that not to be a significant disadvantage. Though I've always found Nietzsche interesting ...

Instead, I'll focus on the music. It definitely has a symphonic feel, even if the long opening track, divided into five movements, doesn't have one recurring theme. To me it is reminiscent of a more baroque style, a great deal of fussy ornamentation and a stop/start rhythm that gives the feeling of many disconnected sections joined together. This prevents me fully entering into the music, though I do greatly enjoy the third and fifth parts. Overall, I find this track comparable to a combination of CAMEL in the quieter moments and JETHRO TULL and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR in the more driving sections. Imagine HAMMILL'S voice over JOHN EVAN's keyboards and you've got the idea.

To me, the stronger tracks are the shorter offerings on Side 2. I particularly enjoy 'Della Natura', which demonstrates a musical tightness sometimes missing on the rest of the album. But nothing here brings my soul to attention.

I don't drink often from this particular well. Others have done this sort of thing better. Stronger songwriting, particularly with regard to the title track, might have seen this launch this group into a successful career. Imagine what they might have become! Certainly worth a listen, but perhaps not the masterpiece it's often made out to be.

russellk | 4/5 |

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