PALEPOLITANA

Gosh. I was sort of expecting that after playing around in a wise way with their back catalogue for a number of years, very careful to keep it fresh and up with the times, Osanna (meaning Lino Vairetti) would have had t sink their teeth in their opera maestra. And what a gorgeous way to do that: a newly crafted, expanded version of Palepoli, which I consider the highest point of RPI (together with Banco's first three) and possibly up there in the olympus of progressive rock. A new Palepoli comes in guide of Palepolitana, a joyful chant to the city of Naples, with 'Santa Lucia' as my favourite prog song of 2015, all in between neapolitan folklore and serious rock music: a very good point made by a band that was brn almost 50 years ago and can still rock with energy and a point of excellence. And CD2 is Palepoli itself, bettered if possible, with readable lyrics, where the arcane meets the political, the contemporary issues of 1972's southern Italy the historical, the mythical the psychedelic. It's King Crimson meets Van der Graaf (thanks to Jaxxon indeed...) with a generous flavouring of italian tradition and jazzy chords all over again, and Oro Caldo, StanzaCitt' and Animale sending shivers down my spine as they did with the original issue, but with the additional high of a story that does not seem to end of even fade out! I'd love to see Palepolitana perfomed live (I read about 3,5 hours concerts!!), for the moment this double Cd does not leave my stereo. Long live Osanna, long live Lino Vairetti