TIME OF CHANGE

Despite this being Italian symphonic music (and therefore highly elaborated and full of interesting little tempo changes and shifts), the ELP and Yes influences are far too strong to ignore. Specifically the keyboard arrangements scream ELP, while the vocal cadences are ones quite familiar to one Mr. Jon Anderson.

If you can get beyond that, this is a decent album. The opening twenty minute “Rhapsodia” takes up more than half the record and is little more than a tribute by the band to their various better-known contemporaries. Imagine maybe something like a little ‘Manticore’ mixed with ‘Heart of the Sunrise’ and stretched way out with various keyboard-driven sidetracks interspersed throughout. You get the idea.

After that the rest of the album is sort of an anti-climax. There’s what appears to be a King Crimson tribute with “Formula Nova”, the spacey and slightly psych “De Sensibus”, and an underdeveloped attempt at grand symphonic rock with the very ELP-ish “Corale”. The album closes with some great piano on the otherwise unexceptional “Ad Libitum”.

This is a short review for a short album. “Rhapsodia” is recommended as long as you understand the heavy debt the band owes to those they used as inspiration when writing and recording it. The rest is standard symph fare of the period, neither poor nor exceptional. I believe this was the Trip’s last album, and it could have been much worse so at least the band kept up their standards even at the end. Three stars for a decent record, and mildly recommended.

peace