WE ARE...

Eclectic Italian neo-space-fusion?

This is the 3rd album by Italian rockers Egoband and it features English language vocals. The band is categorized as Neo-prog but like many bands it's not quite an easy categorization. This band rocks hard and there elements of jazz rock and perhaps even more of space rock.

"Energy Goes On" is a short introduction leading into the title track "We Are." The song begins with synths and pleasant vocals before our band kicks in 90 seconds later. This is a flat out hard rock song and pretty underwhelming. Things improve very much with the 10-plus minute "What a man could be." This is a long space rocker that isn't so far from recent Porcupine Tree material. Persistent heavy drums drive a tripped out guitar and synth swirl until the 3 minute mark when the drums fall away. Then we get some poetic vocals amidst a foggy setting reminiscent of Djam Karet's "Ascension." This will lead us into the lead guitar solo section that goes for several minutes of jamming. "Lost Friends" is a brooding and sad solo Peter Gabriel style piano ballad that I enjoyed very much. "Where have you been" is a short, lovely instrumental with acoustic guitar and mellotron. "So Far Away" is a 10 minute suite with scorching rock and heavy organ not far from Deep Purple territory. Really bombastic stuff throughout with everyone just jamming to their heart's content, this is my pick for best track. Next is another long track called "Peace of Mind" which shifts gears to peaceful mellotron and acoustic guitar with some nice bass touches. The track is slow and spacey but building along the way with nice keyboard touches until it finally breaks free into a stratospheric ending. "Wrapped up in Sweat" is another heavy eclectic rocker with some Gentle Giant sound to it. Some good keyboards and drumming here in the first half and wailing guitars in the second half. "White Paper" is last and is an odd choice for a closer. Very strange, almost experimental with edgy music and abrasive vocals.

This is a hit and miss album with some very good moments and I think the good outweighs the bad. If you like Djam Karet or PT I think you will find a fair portion of this album quite appealing though be prepared for some rough patches. 5/10

Egoband is a classic lineup power prog from Pisa that had something going for it but petered out of sight rather quickly, perhaps unable to find its course as they skirt through neo, jazz-rock, hard-rock, space and groove without clearly deciding where to make a stand. Which is why this album in particular has received such hodge-podge reviews and frankly, it's a correct assessment. After a brief spacey intro, the title track is a bit hard to deal with, a rather pedestrian 6 1/2 minute heavy rock exercise with untimely drumming, an asinine sounding cowbell (?), lyrics poorly sung in accented English (ma perché ?) and the whole somewhat uneventful, even the moody mid-section does little to inspire any satisfaction. But the immediate follower, "What a Man Could Be" is superb space -groove prog with a hypnotic Hawkwind-like beat, an active reptilian bass and several sweeping then bubbling synth gushes, a brief narration in the center and a completely blissed-out squealing guitar rampage that deserves serious applause, a combination Holdsworth-Hillage but really closer to the fusion realm than meets the ear. Bassist Alfonso Capasso does his best Mike Howlett de Gong imitation while Alessandro Accordino coerces his organ (stop that innuendo) into the rippling Dave Stewart school of buzz-fuzz. This is a highly enjoyable ride. "Lost Friends" is metaphorical a piano/vocal duet that has a definite Gabriel feel, plushy and evocative ("as the fog clears away") but really just a brief and romantic interlude. The next 2 minute track blends mellotron and acoustic guitar (often a heavenly match) and the two certainly exude some celestial magic. The multi-hued suite "So Far Away" is a 10 minute Hammond-led prance into harder regions, riff-heavy with grueling guitar chops, sizzling fret leads, robust synths warbles, binary drum bashing that somehow disappoints and a driving bass rationale that keeps things aligned. The vocals are actually moderately decent here, as Accordino bellows with Black Sabbathian delight. Midway through, gentle piano twinkles mingle with harsh swaths of galloping sound, wah-wah infestations and hurling electronic slashes. The next piece and my favorite here, "Peace of Mind" gently caresses the soul, twirling bass ornamentations in the foreground, blowing gently over large swaths of sonic expanse, with massive doses of mellotron to encourage the depth and passion of the skilled arrangement. The upward crescendo-seeking synth foray is truly extraordinary, especially when the guitar parallels the theme sumptuously. This is another highpoint on the Egoband menu, an acutely impressive track. "Wrapped Up in Sweat" is back to the "raunch" dressing (yet no salad) with rabid playing on key and fret boards and a rather ordinary vocal too forced to be valuable , while the drums flail wildly and some Gentle Giant dissonance to confuse the issue. The sinister organ solo has a severely gruesome tone, the singing really sucks here something fierce and on the verge of annoying but the guitar solo has lots of subtle density to it, flush with blush feeling and charisma. "White Paper" is somehow out of place , veering into bizarre sonic territories , where dissonance meets urgent electronica , overwrought vocal hysterics and a certain lack of melody except for the majestic background orchestrations and the obvious synth slash a la Lucky Man that gores it. As usual, our "fettucini" finnforest was dead on in reviewing this partially successful ISP recording and I can only concur with his rating. A definite mixed bag. 3 personality strips