CRISI

Early Italian prog rarity

Expoit were a threesome from Rome who released this very rare title "Crisi" on a small label called CGO. The album had a very small pressing and original went for big dollars among collectors over the years. Thankfully the fine folks at Mellow reissued this in 1994 as MMP-189. The available information on these guys is scarce but I will share what I was able to find. Apparently they were a "ghost" group of studio cats who played on material for others but didn't like playing live in public. This, their only album, is hailed by Italianprog as being "ELP and Orme" influenced while the Barotto's wonderful "Italian Pop" book mentions The Trip and also Garybaldi as additional reference points. What I find notable about "Crisi" is contrasts in the style and performance, and the time frame. Notice this album was released in 1972 so this is an early entry on the scene, right there with some of the initial heavy hitters before the peak in '73. The side-long title suite, while more on the conventional side in terms of sounds, was anything but in the attacking performance. They employ only keys, bass, drums, and a few vocals. No guitars, no flute, no orchestration, and no period weirdness. But they take those minimal conventional weapons and they attack with their performance to great satisfaction. While far from the greatest compositional masterpiece I've ever heard, I really loved the Crisi sound which is simple yet muscular, laid-back yet loaded with attitude. The bit about them being studio cats who didn't care for the stage makes sense after hearing them. These guys enjoy ripping it up, and likely just decided to lay it down on tape noticing the Italian scene starting to explode around them. Last, I just love the cover art which again speaks to the character of the music. Simple but creative line drawings: three depicting our characters as street musicians playing for a dime, and one inside showing a drink later at the pub. That's it, nothing else. Exploit's unique early sound is captured for the annals of Italian music and yet they remain the mystery which I'm guessing that they might just enjoy.

The Crisi suite! Part 1 "Speranza" features a dramatic opening with organ and huge bass sound in a sort of boom-boom march. Then it loosens up with the drumming getting really tasty, lots of wild fills and jazzy play. At 2 minutes the piano joins the organ and they play off each other in different channels with the rhythm section tight. Halfway through the vocals come in and sadly they are in English (though they sing both English and Italian later.) The quality of the vocals is not the greatest but they are certainly decent enough. After a verse they let tear with fast jazzy passages of bass and organ, and they just keep shifting things subtlety to keep them interesting. There are a few slower parts where a certain dreaminess pervades the track and I enjoy that feeling. Part 2 "Crisi" starts with a frisky as hell keyboard opening leading into the vocal portion that is in Italian and much the better for it. I have trouble deciding who this guy sounds like but he does a nice job. Between the verses we have more great competitive workouts between the agile bass, crisp drum work and keys. Part 3 "Pazzia" is a bit of a change-up opening with a drum solo. For 90 seconds Aldo Pignanelli takes his crack at music history as he lets rip with a tight and controlled drum solo, in particular I like the sound of his snare. After that the others return and drive things to another raucous state before they lay back for another vocal, slipping back to English again in this third act. Side 2 of this album consists of six conventional pop/rock singles. The are the kind of songs you will hear added as bonus tracks at the end of many classic Italian CD reissues. You know the kind of song.they want to entice your wallet so they throw on a couple early or post peak singles at the end as "bonus" tracks. In this case, since Exploit made only one-half of a magnum opus, those singles have been used to fill up side 2. There's nothing particularly wrong with them, they're nice to listen to featuring the same quality performances and some nice typical Italian pop. It's just that the material here is predictable 3 minute track with verse and chorus. Some guitar and female harmonies are present on side 2.

So, despite this really being half an album from the progger standpoint, I do recommend Exploit to Italian fans for sure, and even to others who might appreciate an organ-heavy, somewhat jazzy 20 minute jam with great drums and bass. Four solid stars for the Crisi-suite but side two drags the overall rating down to a 3.

Forgotten Gem

The year is 1972, Prog Rock is still in diapers specially in ITALY, where most of the people was so impressed with GENESIS, that became their first main influence, but at the same time an unknown power trio called EXPLOIT was releasing their first and only album called "Crrisi", a release that I discovered recently when getting information for an article and immediately loved.

Being a keyboard, bass and drum trio, it's most likely to believe that ELP must have had some influence in them, and when you listen this album for the first time the supposition becomes more than obvious (At least in side "A"), but as in most Italian Symphonic bands, they mix this influence with their own unique melodic sound that softens the rigid and strong sound of ELP.

The keyboardist Carlo Crivelli (who also sings), is a real virtuoso with the organ and unlike Keith Emerson, he adds some hints of late Psychedelia to make the combo richer. It's also quite interesting that he sings some tracks in Italian and others in English with a strong accent, but the important issue is that the guy has an excellent range that is somewhere between Jim Morrison and Aldo Tagliapietra singing of course much better in his native language.

The bass an drums in charge of Enzo Cutuli and Aldo Pignatelli are simply powerful (well this is the least yo can expect from a Power Trio) and have a transcendental role in the sound of the band, specially because Pignatelli's timing is impeccable.

Unusually for a debutante band, the album starts with a 20 minutes epic called "Crisi Suite" and is divided in three parts (Speranza, Crisi and Pazzia) taking all side A and it's simply breathtaking. I always believed that ELP and the bands that follow their style are obsessed with the late Romantic and early Modern, classical eras, but CRISI is much closer to late Baroque and early Classical era, making their sound much more melodic than I expected. A great opener for a great album.

Now comes the real surprise, side "B" seems like performed by a different band, because it consists of six shorter tracks with a radically different sound, here they leave ELP and play some sort of late Psychedelia as in "Anche Se Ho Sbagliato" with a killer Hammond performance, blues oriented like in "Un Bambino" or simply experimental as L'Anima Nuda", that reminds me more of KING CRIMSON with a frenetic guitar than of any other band.

Despite the hints of Italian POP in "Giochiamo Insieme" and "La Tua Pelle Scotta", the band always takes good care to keep an interesting and adventurous sound, even when they perform a couple simpler songs.

I simply can't believe that such an excellent band wasn't able to release a second album, but more surprised that "Crisi" remains so unknown for most Prog fans, including some of the best informed.

Four stars for an excellent album that doesn't deserve to fall into oblivion as it has for several decades.

List in the catalogue of 70's Italian one-shot bands this prog trio from Rome.Exploit consisted of Carlo Crivelli on keyboards/vocals, Enzo Cutuli on bass/vocals and Aldo Pignanelli on drums.Heavily influenced by bands like E.L.P.,THE NICE and LE ORME they released their sole album ''Crisi'' in 1972 on the tiny CGO label in a limited number of copies, fortunately the album was re-issued by Mellow Records in the 90's.

Like EIK's ''Speglun'' album,this is a complete Dr. Jekyl and Mr.Hyde release with one side dominated by a 20-min. three-part prog suite,while the other contains six very short pop tracks.Speaking about the suite,this one is tightly constructed and built around Crivelli's keyboards with long Hammond organ solos and some great piano throughout,obviously influenced by Baroque Music as LE ORME with also light psychedelic influences like in the case of GLI ALLUMINOGENI or THE NICE,while the vocals are very expressive though not outstanding,a very nice opus overall though a bit dated.The flipside,as mentioned, is totally sacrified to the farewell style of Italian 60's Psychedelic-Pop-Rock with good use of organ and plenty of vocals,decent attempts to say the least but far from the band's opening approach.Four out of the six made it to a couple of singles the same year.

Exploit released another English-sung single in 1973 entitled ''The Green's Man / Hot Mexico Road'' but soon disbanded with no further information about any participation of its members in music groups for the upcoming years.Despite the poppy side of the album,''Crisi'' deserves a warm recommendation for its well-structured and executed side-long suite,while the six short Pop Rock tunes are not bad at all.Another fine Italian obscurity.

So you've got your Le Orme's, your P.F.M's, your Q.V.L's, your Museo Rosenbach's and so on...in other words, all the classics of the vintage Italian prog-rock period, so what's next? How about exploring the numerous obscurities and relatively unknown albums from the era that may not hold the same reputation, but still have plenty to recommend about them? One such case in point is Exploit's sole album `Crisi' from 1972, a perfectly charming and energetic set that offers multiple musical personalities! The first side is a twenty-plus minute three-part suite that shares much in common with Le Orme and The Nice with its symphonic bluster, and the flip offers some sweet and cool pop/rock tunes that are hard not to love, and the LP overall curiously jumps between both English and Italian to keep you on your toes that little bit more.

With a commanding and dramatic introduction, the `Crisi Suite' bursts to life with a rapid blur of pompous organ fanfares, stabbing murmuring bass attacks and rattling drumming tension! Slinking in and out of sprightly jazzy runs, bluesy saunters and brisk up-tempo sprints, the piece frequently calls to mind the more well-known Italian band Triade's `1998: La Storia di Sabazio' from 1973 with its lengthy symphonic flights. In parts, ravishing classical-like themes emerge, and swooning vocal breaks (alternatively in English and Italian) are full of dignity and dripping with passion. Enzo Cutuli lets rip with aggressively buoyant bass soloing around a psychedelic swirl of Carlo Crivelli's dizzying and shimmering organ swells, even Aldo Pignanelli gets one of those oh-so-Seventies furious drum solo breaks! All up, this raucous and lavish symphonic suite proves thoroughly addictive and well worth constant replays, and is many ways holds its own against many other tightly written and arranged extended suites found on Italian progressive music releases.

Switching entirely to Italian, the B-side takes a step away from ambitiousness and delivers a run of well-played commercial rock/pop tunes. `Anche Se Ho Sbagliato' is a groovy rocker with snarling guitars, bristling Hammond organ and a joyful peppy choral chorus, romantic ballad `Un Bambino' sighs with gentle doo-wop flavours, and `Il Campanile Della Cattedrale' is reflective with a slightly sombre weariness that may remind some of the most honest Beach Boys ballads. `L'Anima Nuda' starts as a solemn ballad but grows hair on its chest for fiery little spurts, full of stop/start frantic instrumental outbursts (just listen for those breakneck rupturing bass spasms!), but it's a shame about the abrupt fade-out mid-wailing guitar solo. `Giochiamo Insieme' is a prancing psych-popper (superb bass, organ and piano throughout) with a cheerful sing-along chorus, and `La Tua Pelle Scotta' is an up-tempo spiky guitar-driven rocker with a proudly poppy chorus.

It's probably hard to completely recommend Exploit's LP if you have an incomplete collection of the vintage Italian prog works that needs a few more of the classics. Alternatively, the dual languages utilised throughout this disc, and well as the frequently accessible arrangements might help make `Crisi' an ideal gentle introduction to the wider world of Italian progressive music for newcomers! The side-long suite has endless ideas of great merit, but the second half of the set retains a welcome toughness to even its poppier moments, calling to mind similar accessible Italian acts of the early era like I Raminghi and Laser. All up, Exploit's sole precious little `Crisi' is simply a fine Italian rock album overall that holds plenty of charm and personality.

Three stars when placed alongside the classics, but personally a four star LP.