ANTOLOGIA

One-shot early-70's Italian band from Palermo, Sicily, originally consisting of Michele Seffer on guitars/bass/vocals, Gianni Garofalo on guitars/flutes and Pippo Cataldo on drums/vocals.After a single in a Heavy Rock mood Garofalo was replaced by Angelo Giordano and the style had softened as listened on their second single.The only album of the group was released in 1973 by RCA under the title ''Antologia''.

The album contains 10 very short tunes, clocking at less than 30 minutes long, split between soft and mainly instrumental arrangements and more rockin' tunes.The smoother tracks have a lovely and romantic Symphonic/Folk atmosphere with a great sense of melody, based on Seffer's soft acoustic guitars and Giordano's elegant flutes.Most of them contain nice background synths, but it is not known who is responsible for this work.From the vocal tracks, a pair of them have a typical Italian ballad atmosphere, close to the singer/songwriter style, the rest are decent Heavy Rock/Prog, similar to IBIS or NEW TROLLS, with interesting electric guitar work, still flute appears in groovy drives along with a very tight rhythm section, far from outstanding tracks but still quite enjoyable.

After the album the band had expanded to a four-piece group, as a new bassist joined Era Di Acquario, while Cataldo was replaced by Claudio Rego.However the band split up without releasing a reputedly already written second album, with Seffer joining Il Volo for a short time, just before they dissolved as well.Sadly he passed away sometime in 2006.

Several CD reissues followed the original LP release so the album is rather easy to be found and it is sure to please all fans of Classic Italian Prog and light Progressive Rock.Recommended.