SUONARE SUONARE

By the time Suonare Suonare was released it became clear that the band was trying to find some way to survive in the music market and that was not an easy task for a band labeled as ´prog´ (remember this was 1980 and being prog was not cool anymore). Their earlier effort, Passpartú, was already shifting towards a more pop/folk direction. Unfortunately Suonare Suonare was even popier as a whole, although not without some merits (the title track and Maestro De La Voce are very good tunes). With Bernardo Lanzetti gone, drummer Franz DiCioccio assumes the lead vocals, but that´s not the problem. In fact, he performs this job very well.

The main issue with this album is that the band can´t seem to make up their minds if they´re going folk or jump into the pop wagon headfirst. The result is an hybrid, some tracks being more folkish, some very commercial. Needless to say, there is very little prog in here. Not a bad record, but clearly very very away from the great symphonic band that once released such masterpieces like Photos Of Ghosts and The World Became The World. Some instrumental breaks sometimes show how skillful musicians they really are. Unfortunately the songwriting here is not up to their fantastic musicianship, to say the least.

If you like traditional italian music and pop stuff of the early 80´s, you´ll probably enjoy this album. Other than those I can only recommend this album for fans and collectors. 2 stars..