E TUTTO COMINCIÒ COSÌ ...

It's hard to believe how massively huge and widespread the Italian prog scene really was in the 1970s because only a few popular bands (PFM, Banco, Osanna, Le Orme, Area etc) captured most of the audiences that were seeking out some of the most demanding and sophisticated music that has ever been recorded. So many bands existed behind under their shadows and many even experienced minor success, others released a single album and then disappeared as quickly as they materialized and then others remain a complete mystery even in the modern era after decades of investigative research has reevaluated even the most obscure of acts.

SENSITIVA IMMAGINE ( Sensitive Image ) is one of those bands that is known to have formed in Bologna in 1975 and was considered a very entertaining live act with excellent symphonic prog compositions and a stage presence that made use of costumes in the vein of Osanna or Genesis. One unique feature of this band is that despite the widespread popularity of Italian prog in the 70s, virtually no bands emerged from the city of Bologna, but this one did and to make things even more mysterious it's completely unknown when the band released its one and only album titled E TUTTO COMINCIO COSI ( And It All Began Like This ).

The band's sole album was released as a self-produced cassette only in the beginning and was pretty much only sold at their live performances. The original cassette featured no credits and when a proper CD was finally released it only mentioned four performers when the band was proven to consist of Alfredo Olivieri (vocals), Massimo Buriani (guitar), Stefano Bertonazzi (keyboards), Andrea Pavinato (bass) and Franco Buriani (drums). The first CD reissue came in 1991 by the Japanese Melos label as the prog revival years were underway and has seen a few more reissues with bonus tracks over the years.

With a stronger influence from the English symphonic prog groups, SENSITIVA IMMAGINE sounded closer to Genesis than its own nation's symphonic prog bands however lyrics were in Talian and despite the English connections delivered a rather unique style that sounds like a precursor to the neo-prog bands of the 80s (especially Fish-era Marillion) in the keyboard department. The album starts off with extreme keyboard heft that crafts a bombastic atmospheric effect, the kind that many neo-prog bands would later use. The tracks are all excellently written and although the Genesis influences are the most apparent, the band does showcase some of the classic RPI techniques as well.

While an excellent release, it is bogged down by a couple of things. One is that the production could've been much better however the newer releases have done a decent if not perfect job of restoring some of the lost dynamics. Secondly lead vocalist Alfredo Olivieri sings in the classic operatic style that his fellow Italian prog vocalists did but he didn't quite have the range to match the greats in the biz, most likely the main factor why this band didn't find record label interest. Despite the late 70s finding prog decline many bands were still able to crank out an album or two (Locanda delle Fate, Gramigna, I Cocai). For an underground cassette-only release this is excellent and personally i prefer this much more than anything Genesis did itself. It's more dynamic and much more inventive and eschews an overly pastoral approach. Highly recommended for those going for the deep dive of Italian prog of the 70s.