CELESTION

Right now i have on mind a phrase used in Ayreon`s The Human Equation which says "i am convinced now, they are essential"... the fact is , that since i received this album (you know who gave it to me, so many thanks) i have listened to it so many times, my first experience with Riccardo Zappa was his second album called "Chatka" and i reviewed it with 4 stars, at first i thought that Celestion was equal to Chatka, in fact i didn`t notice a hugh differente bewteen them (still thinking that there`s not a huge difference though) but i am convinced now, this album is essential , beautiful and yes, better than Chatka.

Again, like other italian albums that i love, here the only "bad" point, is the album`s short 34 minutes lenght, but actually, that doesn`t matter with such a beauty.

Out of that beautiful country called Italy, Riccardo Zappa made his debut effort in 1977, maybe a bit late talking about italian prog rock at it`s best (70-75), nonetheless this was another of those gems that were released in the late 70`s, but this time we are appreciating an album completely instrumental, with an acoustic guitar virtuoso as the main performer, so as you imagine, and despite the other musicians who fill the album and music very well, the sound of acoustic guitar takes the album all the way.

"Frammenti", the first and the most exquisite song, also the longest song here with over 10 minutes of amazing sound, which shows us at the begginning an excellent "progressive" introduction , the guitar starts with a low sound, but then louder and louder... then during the song we can clearly notice the virtuosisim and skill of this guitarist, when i say acoustic guitar i always remember Mahavishnu who is my personal guitar hero and maybe other guitarists, now i must take Riccardo Zappa as one of my favorites all time, with a classical style in his playing and in his sound. The song is always constant and with an excellent sound, at some point accompannied with synths.

"Tre e Quattro Quarti" is the following gem of this album, i cannot say anything but positive words, the sound is simply beautiful and what im sure is that this song is maybe the most recognizable when listening, i mean, it is the first song that i remember and when the first note is playing i know everything and "sing" it to myself, it has kind of happy sound and again very classical, but, around minute 3 it changes to a faster song with drums , bass and the marvelous sound of the acoustic guitar, yeah, it sounds very prog.

"Celestion" it has to exist, the self titled track with a soft piano begginning and with the guitar tending to sound more "electronic" during it, this is the second longest song here, and is again an excellent composition, as i mentioned you will notice besides the obvious guitar sound, the synths effects and some very well chosen percussion. Again, as the previous one it changes in the third minute to a faster and rocker song, which bass lines that i clearly remember, any symphonic and italian prog lover will enjoy this for sure.

"Sonata Mediterranea" as usual happens with me that the shortest song is my less favorite, this is not the exception, but be careful, that doesn`t mean that the song is not good, not at all, is excellent, very soft and calmed, such a beautiful classical sound.

"Mirage" wow, is the last track of this beautiful album, as i said in the introduction of my review, the album`s lenght is so short, and all those beautiful compositions make me want more, sadly this finish with Mirage, an excellent song to finish the album, nothing new that hasn`t been said before, but again i have to remark that is a great composition with an excellent sound and the sublime acoustic guitar playing, reminding me a bit to the first song, starting with keyboard and then the guitar which is memorable and simply beatiful, i know, i have repeated so much this words, but believe me i cannot describe it but like this, pretty nice percussion during it, and it finishes with another part of the album that i remember always when i talk about Riccardo Zappa.

I hope not to bore you with this review, im just putting what i feel, and please if you dont know it, at least give it a try, it`s ... lovely, amazing, BEAUTIFUL!

Masterpiece!

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