I GRANDI SUCCESSI DEL ROCK PROGRESSIVO ITALIANO

Before I bought this compilation I had no idea such a thing as Italian prog existed. Actually, I was very doubful that Italy produced anything worth listening to since Vivaldi. Well, I'm glad to report that I was wrong. This compilation is altogether quite enjoyable and features some fantastic pieces. It is also well built together, which is something that I would have thought difficult for prog music. My preference goes for the rather pop tune of Tito Schipa Jr (Venditore di felicita), but more prog oriented stuff, often in the style of early ELP albums, are definitely worth a try.

Well, well, well. This a wonderful manifesto for the RPI team and a compilation that impressed me at the very first look to the (fabulous) track list!

No Banco, Le Orme or PFM here. And for this reason a must have for all who want to have a listen to the most obscure and unknown italian bands and artists of the seventies.

16 songs for 16 bands and artists covering the period 1971-1975, chronologically. There is not jazz rock here, neither RIO. Symphonic mainly with some classical inspired bands and sparse folk touches.

The cd opens with Osanna and their "Intruduzione". Then Delirium with the memorable "Dolce Acqua" New Trolls with "1st Tempo - Allegro".

From fourth song on, many surprises for the italian prog aficionados: Garybaldi and their first single "Marta Helmut". Then Il Paese dei Balocchi, Gli Alluminogeni with the wonderful sixties-like-symphonic with great acoustic and electric guitars "Scolopendra", the weird and exciting Raccomandata Ricevuta di Ritorno.

I Califfi with "Campane" (Bells) is one of the highest peaks of the compilation. I didn't heard that song before! Wonderful music with tons of keyboards, moog and synth withthe addition of bells and other spectacular colours. This is taken from "Fiore di Cemento", the only prog record ever released by the band in a whole-pop career.

Triade, Ricordi d'Infanzia and Tito Schipa jr with an extract taken from his "Orfeo 9", one of the first opera rock in Italy. Uno and Samadhi follow and then, Procession, Città Frontale and Bambibanda e Melodie, these last recently added to the site.

All in all, it's a hard work to describe every single track. The best thing to do is to recommend you to buy the compilation. An excellent one, this time, an useful one for sure!

Warning! The italian prog scene (classic from the seventies and modern) is way more big than what this compilation shows...

A cheap and easy review if I've ever had one...

A fabulous compiliation.. best I've seen so far. A gem is the unreleased song by I Garybaldi, which gets regular rotation.. at very loud volumes.

for the forum 5 stars.... great selection of songs and artists. If you are interested in getting into RPI, or wanting to explore past the big three.... Get this album. A mix of the whole range of RPI. Highly recommended. Bought two albums based on songs I hadn't heard.. and loved the albums.

that was easy...

Michael (aka micky)

"I grandi successi del Rock Progressivo Italiano" is an excellent compilation to discover the Progressive Rock catalog that Nuova Fonit Cetra offered in the 70's. And there are some of the biggest Italian Progressive bands of that decade (Osanna, Delirium, New Trolls, Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno, I Garybaldi or Uno) and other very interesting groups (on all the I Califfi and the extraordinary "Campane" in ELP or Goblin style but without the baroqueism of the English... But with a more Space Rock and Folk streak). In general one could read a certain derivation from English groups, which (as far as it is understood more generalizing) is typical of Italian POP and Rock music, but strong is the graft of the Italian tradition, which makes everything more passionate and colorful. It is also not easy to read, in several cases, where the Rock part ends and where the Progressive part begins, which transforms many songs (and bands) into something to be classified as progressive more for the complexity of their music and for historical period than for musical genre proposed. Luckily, here "1 ° Tempo: Allegro" (from "Concerto Grosso") was chosen to present the New Trolls, because, otherwise, they would have been forced to present them either as a Hard Rock band (due to Nico di Palo) or as a Symphonic Rock band (due to Vittorio de Scalzi). With this I hope to have made it clear what Progressive Rock was in Italy at the time (even if bands like Banco Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme or PFM were totally devoted to an English-style Progressive).

In conclusion, here are 16 bands with 16 excellent/ good/ honest songs and it is a good/ excellent introduction to a certain kind of understanding of Progressive Rock and what represented in Italy a musical genre that in countries like South Korea or Japan is considered true art.