IN ORBITA

1. "Fino al Limite" (6:32) NeoProg like so many others from the 1980s, 1990s, and 21st Century. The guitars are so dated (going back to GENESIS' Wind and Wuthering). Vocalist Simona Rigano has a very comforting if cotidian voice--reminding me in the second half (when it's doubled up) of ADIEMUS' Miriam Stockley. I like the presence of the woodwinds but find myself recoiling a bit to the reminders of classic RPI bands like MUSEO ROSENBACH or IL BALLETTO DI BRONZO. (8.75/10) 2. "In Cerca d'Ali" (5:51) opens with a soprano saxophone-led passage that sounds very much like 1980s Smooth Jazz song for the Adult Contemporary audiences. When Simona starts to sing in the second motif it shifts a little into something a bit more Italian lounge-like, but the Smooth Jazz motif reappears in the sections between her vocals--until, that is, 2:33 when the music moves into a more portentous motif for instrumental soli. Ominous electric guitar and soloing Prophet-5 synth give this s different mood. Even when Simona returns for singing the song retains this more proggy element of danger, but then at the five-minute mark the violin returns and the band kind of stumbles through a closing coda. (8.7/10)

3. "Verso un Nuovo Mondo" (8:59) pleasant and innocuous enough, nice guitar soloing--especially in the final 90 seconds--but there's really nothing very new or exciting here. (17.25/20)

4. "Kedr" (10:26) UNAKA PRONG! The opening two minutes of this song could definitely come straight off of one of the North Carolina band's first two albums: very funk jazzy. Then there is a clean break which is gradually filled with some spacious electric piano play over which Simona's reverbed voice gently sings. At the 3:00 mark we move into what could be a sedate RIVERSIDE or other Polish Heavy Prog electric guitar-dominated soundfield as Simona continues to sing. The rhythm tracks aren't very complex, but they make for a nice foundation on which Simona can sing and guitarist Tino Nastasi can wail. At 5:17 we stop in Kedr's children's garden to admire the flowers and butterflies before a CICCADA-like pastoral prog folk passage establishes itself. At 6:30 Simona rejoins to sing over the pastoral music. Man! Is this like CICCADA! Pretty but also dangerously close to being directly lifted from one of the Greek band's classic albums. In the second half of the eighth minute the music suddenly turns more insistent, CAMEL-like with some Andy Latimer electric guitar and Pete Bardens-like synth soloing going on at the same time. I like the solos but I like the drum play here even better: very creative and fitting without being over the top or too showy. If all of this band's songs were as diverse and unpredictable as this one this album would be a masterpiece! (19/20)

5. "Un Disegno Perfetto" (8:45) sounds like a RENAISSANCE for the opening minute. Soprano sax, not so much. The swinging instrumental weave beneath Simona's beautiful melodies work for me. In the third minute there is a stylistic shift into more 1980s Smooth Jazz to support Simona's voice and the sax and twangy guitar soli of the fourth minute. Then Simona returns to tie up loose ends for this motif so that the band, led by electric piano and drummer Natale Russo's tom play can usher in the next passage--which does present more of a return to the RENAISSANCE feel of the opening--especially when Simona's voice is beautifully double-up. Then, at the end of the fifth minute, there is a clear stop--as if another song is about to begin--which it does with those dated guitar arpeggi, militaristic snare play, and pastoral flute playing together--somewhat at odds with one another (though I never feel any discomforting tension: the flute and underlying keys and bass are too calming for that). As this pastoral section builds I am filled with quite the CICCADA feel (a melody from the debut album). (17.75/20)

6. "09.07 a.m." (1:24) I love the chamber feel to this--it sounds like a winds and strings presentation or overture. (5/5)

7. "Star on the Moon" (4:56) a pleasant song that sounds like a pop folk-rock song from the 1970s but leaves something to be desired in terms of being a progressive rock or even RPI song. Even Alan Parsons or Ambrosia wouldn't create something this saccharine and simple--maybe THE STARLAND VOCAL BAND. Very hypnotic melody lines. (8.5/10)

Total Time 47:53

B+/4.5 stars; a nice album that I would never consider top tier prog--or what Robert Fripp would call "musicians who can do nothing else"--because it is too imitative of others, but it is clean, clear, engaging, melodic, and well-performed (if a little dated in some of the instrumental sound choices).

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