SEARCHING FOR A LAND

This is the most underrated of all the excellent albums NT made in their glorious progressive era. It is not difficult to undrstand why. The album was a double vinyl set, very ambitious but also disjointed here and there. Had it been released as a single, with less lenghty tracks and a without a pair of songs that seem to be not so essential, maybe it would have been much better. Anyway I still regard it as a strong album in wich NT tried to include in their way of composing the best of what was coming out of England, showing they could easily reach those standards in their best moments. The first part is mainly acoustic, filled with dark atmospheres. The second is captured live, and it's in a more hard rock vein, with good hendrixian-esque guitar solos, but often in the same dark, fascinating mood. Anyone who doesn't put prog at the top of his musical preferences will probably hate this one, but for us progster, grown accostumed to "Works", "Tales from topographic Oceans" and stuff like this, SFAL, even if it's not a masterpiece, will be a winner.

This Italian progrock band has made a lot of albums, my favorite is this 2-LP (released on a 1-CD), what an exciting music! The tracks are very alternating: Bowie-like vocals in "Searching", warm twanging acoustic guitar in "Giga", splendid Mellotron waves in "In St. Peter's day", beautiful classical inspired pianoplay in "Once that I preayed" and raw and heavy rock with hints from Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple in "To Edith" (powerful Hammond and fiery electric guitar) and and "Lying here" (Ian Gillan-like vocals). Only few albums sounds so varied and captivating, this one deserve more attention!

The italian fans of New Trolls will want to kill me for this comment, but this album is the best of this group. This is his only album sung entirely in english, and I can say without error that is a gem of progressive rock, not only of Italy, but of the world. Pay attention fans of progressive, listen this album in calm with the lights off, and his piano melodies (in a "A Land To Live A Land To Die"), guitar solos ("in Searching") and voices transported to you in a fantasy place or inside of infinite space... For me, inside of 10 best albums of all times.

Album released in 1972 "Searching For A Land". CD1 is a studio work, and CD2 is a live work. In the studio work, abundant ideas and steady techniques are shown off without reserve centering on a romantic tune similar to the former work. As the Italian rock sung in English, the work group of this CD1 is one of the most complete albums. Moreover, enough wild performance is developed in a live board. It is a wonderful masterpiece.

This is a sad but beautiful album. Lyrically, it is a quest for nowhere, a search for a summits that they no longer believe in. The ubermench is caught as a victim of his own solitude, the enlightement though disapear slowly, leaving room for the appaerance of Postmodernisn and his well know Schyzophrenia. The music, in analogy with the lyrics, is fragmented, borowing from diverse influences, using well know chord changes. For instance, "Searching" starts the album with a very well known chord pattern : III-V . If the openig chords of the album recall in the mind of the active listener memories of other songs ( Cf Breath by Pink Floyd, among others), it is in the mystery of the chords sequence of " A land to Live" that best fits with the visual imagery conveyed by the lyrics. Obscure, sad and yet beautiful these are the barebone of the mystery, the mystery of the man contempling his own solitude in the contemporary theater.

After the successful album with Luis Bacalov, "Concerto grosso per I New Trolls", in 1972 I New Trolls released "Searching for a land" with a renewed line up featuring Vittorio De Scalzi (guitars, flute, keyboards, vocals), Nico Di Palo (guitars, vocals), Gianni Belleno (drums, percussion), Frank Laugelli (bass) and Maurizio Salvi (organ, piano). For this album New Trolls deliberately drew their inspiration from foreign bands such Colosseum, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin or Jethro Tull although trying to keep an original touch while blending hard rock with classical influences. It's a double album and it's maybe too heterogeneous and not always convincing but it has some very good moments. It was released for the international market and completely sung in English and Italian-Canadian bass player Frank Laugelli, who replaced Giorgio D'Adamo in the line up, wrote most of the lyrics signing them as Rhodes.

The opener good "Searching" begins with a nice acoustic guitar pattern and the lyrics in my opinion capture the spirit of the whole album that sometimes seems to lack a definite musical direction... "Travelling, wish I knew where I was going / Every place now looks the same / Nothing new seems to come my way / All my life I've been searching for something... But I'm happy to be free and to be able to weep / And I'm happy to be me...".

The second track "Percival" is introduced by a nice acoustic guitar arpeggio and features a distant and filtered vocal part that I don't like at all. It's a song about time passing by, sometimes you grow up and finally you realize that along the years you never found what you were looking for and now that you're old you have even forgotten what your goal was... "Percival is my name / My kingdom is wide...". Good acoustic guitar solo!

"In St. Peter's Day" is a beautiful acoustic ballad with a peaceful, dreamy atmosphere. The lyrics have religious references and the guitar and keyboards parts here are very good... "All the tears of the world have now been cried / I don't want to hear the screamin' of the crowd... For three times I heard the day bird cry / For three times your love I have denied now / I hear the beating of the hammers crucifying the soul off all summers...".

"Once That I Prayed" is introduced by piano and vocals and is another good track with a strong classical influence. The lyrics and music evoke a feeling of uncertainty and the need for freedom, an absolute freedom that could lead even to solitude... "Goin' on my way I was trying to pray / Something may change into my life / Nothing to say, nowhere to stay / No hand to hold to keep me warm...".

The sound of the organ introduces the rarefied, dilated "A Land To Live, A Land To Die", an instrumental track featuring a great organ work and an ethereal, dreamy atmosphere. The pace is slow, almost bluesy in some passages, and you can dream of a new promised land where to find peace and rest.

"Giga" is just a short, nice acoustic guitar track that leads to the following "To Edith", another dilated, dreamy track with an excellent keyboard work that closes the first part of the album. The lyrics are taken from a poem by Bertrand Russell... "Through the long years I sought peace / I found ecstasy, I found anguish, I found madness, I found loneliness, I found the solitary pain that gnaws the heart / But peace I did not find / Now, old & near my end, I have known you / And, knowing you, I have found both ecstasy & peace / I know rest, after so many lonely years / I know what life & love may be / Now, if I sleep I shall sleep fulfilled...".

The second part of "Searching For A Land" was recorded live and I think that is less interesting, with more hard rock and less classical influences. "Intro" is a long instrumental track where the members of the band showcase their great musicianship while the following "Bright Lights" is an uninspired hard rock track and in my opinion the weakest on the whole album.

Next comes "Muddy Madalein", a hard, bluesy track with a flute solo in "Jethro Tull style". The lyrics tell about a man who, while walking in the street with his child, is puzzled by the meeting with the prostitute who was his "first shot".

The long final track "Lying Here" begins with classical reminiscences (Gregorian chant, flute and organ passages) that after six minutes melt into hard rock with clear references to Deep Purple and ample room for drums and electric guitar solos.

Well, on the whole "Searching For A Land" might not be a masterpiece but I think that it is worth listening to and could be an excellent addition to any prog collection.

Maybe, after the huge European success of "Concerto Grosso", the New Trolls started feeling larger than life, and embarked on this ambitious project, a double album completely made of new stuff, with one of the two discs recorded live and completely sung in English. The album was released in a beautiful multi-fold cover and with the right promotion on the Italian state TV. The result was a colossal flop. This doesn't mean that, overall, "Searching for a Land" is a bad album, but it also displays the reasons for its flop very clearly and drammatically. First of all, the double- disc format really "dispersed" the compositive skills and energy of the band, which had always given its best in the classical "song" format (by the way, the Italian public then wasn't prepared for a double album, which was perceived as an unappealing economic effort); there are, indeed, moments in this double record which are pure fillers, and sometimes they make you want give up listening to it. "Searching", the opener track, could be a good hard rock/fusion crossover, but it is all built up on the tearing repetition of a chord pattern and it's way too long. "Once that I prayed" sounds pointless, poorly structured, almost improvised on spot. "To Edith" is really exasperating: it lets you wait for a climax that never comes and Di Palo's distorted vocals sound a strangled hen (sorry for this comparison, but I couldn't find a better one). On the live disc, "Intro" is a good show of each member's good qualities, but lacks in a real compositive effort, while "Muddy Madaleine" is a pure Deep Purple rip-off. Also the choice of English for the lyrics wasn't a lucky one: even if they had recruited a Canadian bass player (with Italian origin), the vocalists' pronunciation is sometimes annoying and many grammar errors can be found here and there. Finally, the live disc is FAKE: the band clearly recorded the tracks live, but with no public, whose clapping and acclamations are clumsily overdubbed. But "Searching for a Land" is also made of excellent tracks. The acoustical "Percival" features a stunning performance by Nico di Palo: very good vocals, impressive arpeggios and an acoustic guitar solo which you'll hardly forget. "In Saint Peter's Day" retains a part of the feeling of "Concerto Grosso": good orchestral arrangements (without an orchestra: it's Maurizio Salvi's good job on his Eminent) and De Scalzi's passionate and dramatic vocals build a real heart-moving song. "Giga" is an enjoyable short piece for two acoustic guitars, while "Bright Light" is a straight and remarkable hard rocker. The remaining two tracks are the best on this album. In the long "Lying Here" the band displays its skills and sources of inspiration: the classical, meditative organ-driven start, featuring the band's good vocal harmonies; the slow evolution to a hard psychedelic obsessive instrumental and then the sudden burst into a powerful hard/fusion piece with plenty of room for instrumental improvisation. But the very core of this album is "A Land to Live, a Land to Die": after the classical organ introduction, this songs continues under the direction of Nico di Palo as a sort of meeting point between the Pink Floyd and jazz rock, with Nico's beautiful voice and guitar in the forefront, then it evolves in a long, stunning hammond solo which leads you directly to the conclusion of the song. Had the New Trolls limited this album to these pieces (and made a single one instead of a double), maybe "Searching..." would have been another good success. On the contrary, it represented the beginning of a deep crisis in the relationships between the two leaders of the band, Nico di Palo and Vittorio de Scalzi, which would always affect the story of the band since then.

3.75 stars really!!!

After the impressive Concerto Grosso, TNT embarked on an ambitious project that would eventually become this album, a double vinyl with two distinct phases, the studio part mostly penned by guitarist De Scalzi, while the second part is recorded live and more the fruit of singer/guitarist Di Palo. Clearly the difference of style between the two main writers gave the album a schizophrenic feel. Sung in English with concept lyrics coming from newcomer Italo-Canadian Laugelli on bass, coming with a fold-out artwork and getting national promotion, the album was not as successful as hoped, due in no small parts to the afore-mentioned schizophrenia but also to its length as clearly TNT are a bit diluted at times.

Indeed the first disc is a rather uneven but generally endearing succession of tracks that have their own personality. Starting on a greet Searching (a superb and tense song that manages to catch our attention and rivet us to, our seat), the first disc is an uneven affair with a very odd and irritating Percival (the acoustic arpeggios are fine) where the muffled and filtered vocals can only ruffle your feathers wrong. Apparently the songs are based on a man's disillusions and his quest for uncharted territories, while not really doubting of its doomed fate. St Peter's Day is a religious-toned track that sounds like Bowie was at hand, but the track's folk rock really takes off with the "mellotron" (not sure it is one, but sounds a bit like it) layers. Once That I Prayed preyed a bit on classical composer with the piano intro, middle section and the outro, but overall the tracks is very enjoyable and its fragility is its main asset.

A Land To Live starts out like a Canterbury project, not least due to Salvi's fuzzed-out organ intro and the Wyatt-like singing before ceding in a long organ solo that Caravan's Sinclair would not disown. While Giga is mini track of acoustic guitars, the closing Edith is a pure delight, sharing the track's tension between the guitar lines and Salvi's synth and if the vocal do go back to the weird muffled Percival for a while, the track is one of the best from SFAL.

The second disc is a very different affair, (falsely) recorded live and showing the group's rougher and rawer's façade, but also suffers from an irritating recording flaw with the public mixed (or overdubbed) in way too loud. While the Intro track is a bit of a showcase for the instruments to strut their stuff, Bright Lights shows little promise with its hard blues-rock and all soloing are relatively uninspired. The Muddy Madalein is a pure rip-off from Purple's Black Knight with an incrusted Tull/Focus flute. From the "live" part, only the lengthy Lying Here is really enjoyable, and after a lengthy (6-mins) organ solo, the track finally takes off in Colosseum fashion (can almost hear Farlowe's howls), but ultimately the extended guitar extravaganza is a bit repetitive.

With this album, TNT was clearly over-stretching their talents on this double affair, it became clear that their main problems was their two guitarists pulling in different directions, creating a schizophrenia that would still allow the band to make another great record before breaking at the seams. Clearly in this chapter of influences, the winner is De Scalzi, who seems more inspired, while the more energetic Di Palo seems rather short on inspiration often ripping off other bands' works. Technically the first disc TNT's better work (yes, better than UT), easily reaching the four stars status, but the live album is anything but excellent and barely reaches the good level, hence its below four rating.

Searching for what, I'm not sure.

The Trolls continue their quest to be like their favorite British groups. This time I sense a bit of Zeppelin 3 and perhaps some T. Rex in the acoustic numbers on the front half. The front half is almost entirely acoustic music with guitar and piano accompanying the vocals, in English again, unfortunately. There are some nice moments sprinkled throughout but for the most part it is some pretty average material. The Trolls do not reach the heights of the foreign bands they emulate nor do they stack up well against the real Italian Symphonic giants. The second half of the album is live material that is rendered un-listenable by the ludicrous, annoying crowd noise that sounds completely manipulated, either added on or mixed too loud. If it is actual and natural, my apologies, but it sounds as genuine as an old sitcom laugh track. It's actually comical in places. The live material is really admired by some but it's more of the Purple/Tull/Zep wannabe stuff that just makes me long to hear the real thing. I think they are decent players but I also think they have an almost unbearably high "show-off" factor, they seem to constantly put forth solos that self-congratulate their prowess more than convey any kind of meaningful emotion to me as a listener. Showboating is the term I believe. The vocals are a juvenile attempt to out-Gillan Gillan and they are painful. Put the awful "crowd noise drops" on top of that and it really becomes more than I can bear. Harsh I suppose but it does not work for me..at all.

Searching for a new dimensions of dreams in the world of reality , one of my essentials since 1992 , this double album touches my feelings deeply whenever i have the chance to hear this wonderful flow of harmonies , amazing lyrics , perfect technics , and a talented musicians , if it is an italian progressive or a progressive imported from Mars , i simply adore there music , specially the first concerto & searching for a land . More then essentials to all proggers , find out how simple stunning music use to be made in the early 70's . 5.1 stars for , for Edith & st peter's day and 4.5 for the rest . At least i head the chance to give my opinion in these releases from New Trolls after 37 years ,,, So , thanks Progarchieves for giving this chance ....Tracks Toni

This double album from "The New Trolls" is quite disparate and shows little unity throughout over seventy minutes of music. The band was willing to conquer new markets and the album was sung in English (as Banco & PFM will do later on as well). I have little arguments for this: English or Italian is not the point. Only personality matters.

And the least I can say, is that one could have expected more from the band. The early Bowie inspired "In St. Peter's Day" is not too bad but totally unexpected. One of the few true song that has this charming "Italian" style is "Once That I Prayed", thanks to its wonderful piano play.

The tranquil and Canterbury oriented "A Land To Live?" is also elegant: vocals are on the soft side and the early stages of the song feature a fine guitar work which is taken over by a long (Hammond?) organ solo. A good heavy prog part.

The original first album closes on the long "To Edith": while the instrumental parts (the longest ones) are damned good, the vocal ones doen't sound real great. It seems that Di Palo wants to emulate Plant ("Your Time Is Gonna Come"). Mixed bag feeling I'm afraid.

What's available during the live part of this album is rather inconsistent. Basic hard to heavy rock with poor vocals ("Bright lights"), a self indulgent track as it was often the case in the early seventies ("Intro"), a Tull oriented "Black Night" under the name of "Muddy Madalein". Nothing extraordinary as you can see.

The long "Lying There" is probably the one that is more appealing to prog ears. Very much keyboard oriented for a long while. ELP is at hand before the "vocals" start. It is yet another painful moment I'm afraid?These yelling are quite unbearable and the audience "reactions" quite suspicious. The guitar solo is as good or as dull (it belongs to your taste) as it can be.

In all, this album is not what I consider as a masterpiece. Average corresponds more to my perception. Let's upgrade it to three stars since two and a half is not possible.

I found this a frustrating album to listen to overall. Originally released as a double album with the first album being mostly an acoustic studio record, while the second album is completely live with new tracks. Finnforest hits the nail on the head when he labels the live album as almost unlistenable because of the crowd noise. I swear the clapping is louder then the music at times. Very annoying. Frustrating as I mentioned earlier because I really enjoyed the first album a lot, only to get hit with this abrasive and agitating second album. Of course on the cd it's all on one or i'd just throw away the second disc.

"Searching" opens with intricate guitar as drums then vocals join in. Piano 2 1/2 minutes in takes the lead. Vocals are back late. Good song. "Percival" again features that intricate acoustic guitar. Bass, percussion and expressive vocals join in. Cool tune. "In St.Peter's Day" opens with acoustic guitar as piano and vocals join in. It kicks in briefly before 2 1/2 minutes then settles again as contrasts continue. "Once That I Prayed" opens with piano. Vocals before a minute. "A Land To Live A Land To Die" opens with organ that builds as piano joins in then vocals. Guitar after 1 1/2 minutes. A fuller sound before 3 minutes. Some distorted organ takes over with bass and drums. Nice. A spacey vibe 7 minutes in as sounds echo. "Giga" is a short tune with acoustic guitar melodies. "To Edith" opens with strummed guitar that soon becomes picked. Synths join in. Reserved vocals 1 1/2 minutes in. Drums follow and the vocals get theatrical at times. Electric guitar after 7 minutes.

I have to say if I was rating the first album by itself I would give it 4 stars. It just makes me feel so good it's hard to explain. And that's what makes this recording so frustrating for me because the next 4 live tracks ruin it for me. It's not that the LED ZEPPELIN-like music is bad (although I would give it a low 3 stars) ,but the in your face crowd noise kills it.

So 3 disappointing stars overall. I just received a message from Paolo who is from the same city as the NEW TROLLS(Genoa), anyway he has a book about 70's progressive rock from Genoa that says THE NEW TROLLS overdubbed the live crowd on the second album of "Searching For A Land". It's a fake live album in otherwords and it sure sounds like it.

I found this to be a rather enjoyable album. It certainly shows plainly the riff between Vittorio De Scalzi and Nico Di Palo which came to a head on their next effort, UT (causing them to split up and legal wrangling which caused De Palo faction to eventually be called Ibis and De Scalzi wondering if he could continue with the New Trolls name or not, using the N.T. Atomic System name in the process).

This is truly a split album, a studio album of mellow, largely acoustic prog rock, and a totally heavy live album that's totally in your face! The band brought in Frank Laugelli, and Marizio Salvi. "Searching" and "Percival" are great examples of the acoustic side of New Trolls. "In St. Peter's Day" is more classically-influenced and it shows with Maurizio Salvi giving what sounds like a Mellotron, but I believe it's an Eminent 310 (which he definitely used on their next album UT). "A Land to Live, A Land to Die" is a nice bluesy piece with synth and Hammond organ. There's a short acoustic guitar interlude which leads to "To Edith". This piece reminds me of Led Zeppelin circa Led Zeppelin II, even Di Palo is trying his best Robert Plant imitation, but as you notice he don't quite get those high notes as well as Plant.

Now I really think the live album is totally fantastic. I actually didn't find the audience cheering distracting, but I do get a kick that the cheering is perhaps the most overenthusiastic I have ever heard on an album (it also sounds like it was recorded in a small venue, not some arena or stadium). It is really raw, aggressive, and in your face! "Intro" is an instrumental jazzy piece. "Bright Lights" really cracks me up. I mean, how high pitched of vocals are Nico Di Palo trying to hit? Mariah Carey high? Not quite, but the song really cracks me up. I really love the in your face intensity, and that synth solo from Salvi. "Muddy Madalein" sounds remarkably like Deep Purple meeting Jethro Tull, as if Ian Anderson joined Purple Mk II. "Lying Here" is in more proggy territory, extended use of organ, with some Emerson-like Hammond organ, and some Hendrix-like tricks on guitar. I love the live half, it's '70s excess in all its glory (screaming high pitched vocals, extended solos, and all the hallmarks of '70s hard rock and heavy metal).

I own the original Cetra LP which comes with a flap that folds up on the top which houses both discs.

I can see how this album gets a bit ignored being sandwiched between Concerto Grosso per 1 and UT, which are both considered superior musically, and it could seem to many as uneven considering the length, but I enjoy the album and no matter how you feel of the whole album, it still has enough good to great material making it worth having.

Searching For a Land.

This is the title of the fourth album of the New Trolls, published in 1972.

A double album, with one part recorded in the studio and another part recorded live,probably in some Festival of new trends from numerous musical events of the genre in those years in Italy.

The first part (the first LP) is an impact of neoclassicism music between Venetian romanticism baroquisms with Italian Renaissance, blended with melancholy melodies, with some psychedelic atmospheres and acoustic parts and some jazz moment.

All this reflects the skill of the musicians; the poly instrumentalist 'Vittorio De Scalzi' just alternates with various instruments and with a particular and original way of singing.

The ability of the Maestro 'Maurizio Salvi' making extensive use of Hammond organ, Mellotron, Moog, Piano & Cembalo, makes the arrangement and the atmosphere in a classical way almost like a real orchestra.

Very good taste of guitar solos and guitar arrangements of 'Nico Di Palo' and his high tone voice, he gives a hard sound to the musical parties and fuzz moments.

Gianni Belleno full drums giving a solid sound and a full-bodied to the various passages with changes between different musical styles and the new entry in the band of 'Frank Laugelli' on bass instead of (Giorgio D'adamo) giving a good articulate present bass line.

The second part (the second LP) is the live album which is just completely different and the recipe is more hard & heavy, always with references to classical and Baroque music but the soul of hard rock is more visible on that formula.

Raspy powerful voices. hard & fuzz guitar with great solo parts, strong use of the flute, a powerful Hammond organ always present with solos and technical arrangements and good solid bass and the drums sounding hard with massive parts.

This brings the 'New Trolls' into the heavy progressive sounds, that they have never hidden and underestimated.

All this makes the second part of the album spectacular and unrepeatable to turn everything into a great album.

But does not convincing the criticism of those years and so the album wasn't understood in the right way.

The album sung entirely in English with the parentheses Hard Rock and these two points the Italian music critics of those years compare and classify 'Searching for a land' and the 'New Trolls' stylistically to the British groups and therefore this It was not considered an original album.

Although the style of 'the New Trolls' is that with extensive use of Venetian baroque classical music that are evident in the album, but all this does not convince the music critics put the album unnoticed to the large audience.

'Searching For a Land' is one album that in any case it had the right response and the high consideration over the years as a great album like many other masterpieces that gave the past to the future.

'Searching For a Land' is highly recommended to all lovers of Symphonic Progressive and Heavy Prog, an album to listen and a must-have.

Four and a half stars {****1/2}

Amazing the vinyl reissue from (Vinyl Magic Italy) that replicates with fidelity its beautiful gatefold cover with a folding flap top and the replica of the Italian records label company, everything just like the first edition of 1972.