IL PAESE DEI BALOCCHI

Frustrating? Beautiful? Underrecognized? Atmospheric and ambient? Essential? Yes to all of the above.

For prog fans, most of Italian prog flies under the radar. For some who are familiar, there are albums by PFM, Banco del Mutuo Succorso and le Orme that you may have heard. For folks who have some experience in Italian prog (or RPI), there are bands like Area, the New Trolls, Delirium, Osanna, Museo Rosenbach and il Balletto di Bronzo you may have encountered. But Il Paese dei Balocchi is a band that somehow escapes even the deeper dives into Italian prog, which is a shame and for those who have missed it-go out now and try to find it.

Recorded in the blizzard of releases that was the Italian prog-scape of 1972, it is easy to see how this was overlooked: an album cover of patchwork cloth with no band name, a recording that alternates between a patchwork of recognizable ELP-ish high energy prog, pastoral sleepy sections, rocking guitar refrains, full orchestra minus a band treatments, quasi 1970 Pink Floyd space rock outtakes from More...there's a lot going on here that many have missed.

This album is sometimes dismissed as 'background music' which gives it a somewhat second division reputation. I had this album a few years and wasn't really blown away, and actually would forget it was on sometimes it slipped so far into the recesses. But recently I ran across a 1972 vinyl Italian first pressing in great condition and gave it several closer listens-it drew me in to find things I had not heard before. I was wary, because I knew that the quiet parts of this album were so low in volume they would be overwhelmed by an continual crackling that many 50+ year old Italian pressings can have. But somehow I had lucked into a new old stock copy that had resurfaced in Italy in the late 80's, a couple of boxes found in a warehouse trickled into the market, and had sidestepped 17 years of potential abuse.

The album opens with a burst of what was the standard at the time- intricate instrumental prog workout, then after about a minute or so, quickly disappears into a string orchestra workout of the same theme. Those who are frustrated that the band shows so much potential and so quickly shuts it down, add me to the list.

The album then goes into areas one might not expect-full classical suites that evolve into gentle and low key instrumentals, church organ workouts (with an associated vocal piece that seemed to be recorded in an actual uncredited cathedral), hypnotic repeating guitar figures with an equally hypnotic Floyd instrumental background, some energetic Tull guitar rave ups, some more traditional seventies prog jams-you get the idea, this album is all over the place. Yet somehow, it hangs together as a coherent and widely varied journey (there is a theme running thought the album about going to Toyland to retreat and mirror the malaise of society's ills- fluency in Italian will help you here)

Frustrating for the glimpses of where they are capable of going but pull away too quickly. They had a second album written before circumstances prevented it being recorded. They acknowledged that their second effort would have been more a rock affair than this. Atmospheric is not a bad description of this album. Flickers of early Genesis, ELP, Procol Harum, Pink Floyd rub elbows with fully conceived classical pieces-all trimmed down to mere minutes each. It is a journey that no prog album of the era dared to go, to cover so many bases in so little time. Though that description makes this sound like a frenetic experience, the opposite is actually true, as this is a soothing but rewarding low key album. It can function as background music for your day, but also can stand up to a very close listen. Underrated is an understatement.

4.5 stars.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to zeuhl1
• Report this review (#3157611)
• Buy IL PAESE DEI BALOCCHI music online with PA partners
• Show all IL PAESE DEI BALOCCHI MP3/Stream
• Go to IL PAESE DEI BALOCCHI page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Il Paese dei Balocchi page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for IL PAESE DEI BALOCCHI related discussions