SPLEEN

A progressive rock band with strong hints of fusion in their music, though it's a more melodic approach to fusion than technical. An uptempo album with lots of focus on keyboards, the album is always good but never really great, the best song (IMHO) is Il sogno di Sigfrido that has some real good moments. The music is good but when the singing starts on mosts songs it gets a bit boring and the bands creativity ends. It's in the instrumental parts they shine, unfortionately the songs are too short to develope. My rating would be around 2-3 so in real 2.5 but I will set 2 as their follow up album Inca is a real step forward.

Syndone were found in 1990 in Torino, following an idea of keyboardist Nik Comoglio.He recruited bassist Fulvio Serra and drummer Paolo Sburlati, while the trio was signed by Vinyl Magic.The contract was followed by Syndone's debut ''Spleen'' in 1992, produced by the leader of the label Beppe Crovella.It was a concept work around a depressive and sensitive young man, struggling to find his way through the harsh modern society and its difficulties.

Musically ''Spleen'' relies on the powerful rhythm section and the varied keyboard work of Comoglio, presenting a strong E.L.P. influence, but sounding quite accesible overall, incorporating elements from Jazz, Funk and even Classical Music.Most of the tracks have catchy vocal parts but also fiery instrumental themes with synths and piano on the forefront, unusual breaks from energetic grooves to jazzy improvisations and even plenty of cool jams.A few of them are sounding a bit dull, mostly because of the vocal parts or some thin keyboard sounds, but I recognize that this is part of the concept.The mix of these influences usually works quite well, the dynamics are always there, the rhythms will make you tapping your foot and the instrumental moments are quite bombastic.A couple of ballads thrown in are also well-crafted and soften things a bit when appropriate.The result is very far from depressive unlike our hero, ''Spleen'' as a whole is a pleasant debut with a positive energy.

Good Prog/Fusion/Art Rock with tremendous doses of energy and keyboard runs.Recommended for fans of powerful and rich music adventures with a fair amount of memorable material.