DIETRO L'URAGANO

This is another bag of gold from the vaults of Mellow records and worth its weight!. This is an organ player's nightmare and will please all prog fans who love the 'ol analog keyboard sound. Altough this recording has a very dated sound, it should in any way detract from your enjoyment of this recording. There are some superb prog moments on this recording and great musicanship.

Alphataurus was a group who despite have putting out of the more popular albums here at PA's with their S/T'd debut has little known or written of them. Sources aren't even sure whether they were from Genova.. or from Milan. Little of them was written of them during the groups existance. The main reference site on the web says little and a comprehensive text I have of them has even less. They were signed to Magma records formed by members of the New Trolls for several albums. After they released their first album they went back to the studio to record a second album. Personal issues tore the group apart and the album they recorded, which was completely instrumental due to the fact that vocalist Michele Bavaro never recorded any vocals by the time the group split apart for good. The album 'Dietro L'Uragano' sat unreleased for 20 years until Mellow Records released it 1993. This is what the follow up to their 1st album would have sounded like. The album was left as they left it ..with only the instrumental tracks down, with no vocals so this unintendedly is an instrumental album.

The album opens with 'Ripensando E....' a Moog and Hammond workout. The lack of a vocal track on this one really hurts.. sounds like exactly what it was. An instrumental track awaiting a vocal skin so to speak. Musically not bad.. just not intended to stand alone as an instrumental of course. Next of it ' Valigie Di Terra' which begins with an extended drum intro before the some synth chords come in. About 3 minutes in the pace and rhythm accelerates and picks up and we have a moog section, then finally we are treated to a section remenscent of the 1st album when some Hammand Organ and some great drumming and bass playing and after a song and a half into the album we are treated with something musically that stands alone well. Various sections follow that continue the unspoken rule here of not just sounding like a backing track. Anyway.. after a slow first couple of minutes this tracks satisfies the listener with something musically to sink their teeth into.

Next we have .. the aptly title.. 'Idea imcompiuta' which has a very strong jazz vibe though at less than 2 mnutes long wherever they were planning to go with it, they simply never arrived. The final track on the album is 'Claudette'' A nice electric piano intro which takes us to a bombastic symphonic main sections. Strong bass playing and some great keyboards mark this instrumental. The only one of the 4 songs that really is worth the purchase of the album for. The track is marked with some furoius sections that really rock out if that is your kind of thing.

Beware if you get this.. it is in large part what it is. An incomplete album. Only the last song really stands well alone. For myself and the site 2 stars. For hardcore RPI fans only.

Michael (aka micky)

An incomplete album, not much more than a collection of demos, released two decades after it was recorded. There's little of the heaviness that marked their first album, this being a far jazzier workout. The loss of BAVARO, the vocalist from their eponymous first album, has hurt the band, and the sound here, while not unpleasant, is directionless and lacks real passion. For those looking for yet another keyboard-driven album from the early 70s this fits the bill, but it simply does not compare to the band's debut. 'Valigie di Terra', in particular, is a montage of disparate themes, never quite gelling despite furious playing and excellent musicianship. 'Idea Incomputia's main bass riff (starting at 1:05) is notable as being strikingly similar to the MOODY BLUES' riff used in 'I'm Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band'. Weird, that. The album's best track, 'Claudette', lifts the record to two stars.

Wonderful album cover though.

Superbly skilled musicians, good and passionate songs. What else do you need?

The music you will discover is very good. On line with their debut (which was quite OK to say the least). This album will bring you into another sphere: psychedelia, harmony, skills and scaring moments.

The excellent "Valigie Di Terra" is leading to lots of emotions. Percussion work is superb, harmony is on par: this song is maybe sounding too much of an ELP affair at times, but it provides such a great feel!

This album has been released years later than recorded but it doesn't affect my feel: a good keyboards oriented album and fine compositions. OK: maybe brilliance is alien, but still: genuine Italian music is available and deserve your full attention.

The closing and vibrant "Claudette" is the best example from this album. it is a sublime song which consist of so many different parts: classical, jazzy, bombastic. A gorgeous moment of prog music for sure.

This is almost an all instrumental album and I like it. The mellotron lines of the closing epic are so huge?A fine album for sure. Three stars.

First of all let me start by saying that I think Alphataurus first effort was a clearcut masterpiece, - which incidentally also was the predominant reason for me acquiring this album. (This could actually ruin the whole thing for you, if you dive into this record thinking it will be a serving of the same ridiculously multi flavoured exotic meal, as the last time you visited this restaurant.) At first I was a bit dissapointed with the shift in style, the beautiful and soaring vocals of Michele Bavaro are gone, and the vocals are instead done by drummer Giorgio Santanderea, who is ok but lacking in power and diversity when the 2 are compared. However the album is near all-instrumental, and the sound is more of a laid-back-jamming-with-your-buddies than highly orchestrated rock symphonies - albeit for the last tune "Claudette". I finally found the key to this record in a highly unexpected place - listening to The Stones "Get Yer Ya Ya´s Out" one night and then putting "Dietro l'Uragano" on right after, I suddenly realized that you need to listen to this as a live record. It really sounds like 4 guys fiddling about at a concert, and at times they DO penetrate the sound system speakers with a force to be reckoned with - much credited to the drumming of Santanderea (who reminds me of an italian John Bonham on steroids), and the spacey keyboard licks sometimes intertwined with high soaring moog solos, fripp-like guitarlicks but faaar more ITALIAN and throbbing basslines makes this offering a potent meat and potatoes prog-rock live feast.

The first cut serves as an opener and kindly welcomes you to the show with a dreamy instrumental fronted by a melody driven moog that takes in some jazzy flavouring combining small and sneaky rhythm breaks - suddenly transforming this song into an evil Mario brothers theme. I like it! "Valigie Di Terra" is actually my favourite out of the bunch with the thunderous drumming, the giant leaps between the valleys and the peaks, and the small parts in the song where you can hear the musicians talking to each other by jamming in different directions makes this a wonderful 10 min. symphonic semi-jam, that I listen to far too often. I´d say that probably 50% of this is sheer jam. "Idea imcompiuta" starts out like an old horror movie with horrendous sounding keyboards that leads into a terribly confused little piece with sniffling jazzy drums and a jump rope bass line, that sounds like a man chasing mice inside his scull. Very mysterious indeed. The album closes with the beautiful "Claudette" that really is the closest you get to the old Alphataurus, if it wasn´t for the jazzy stylings of the breaks and turns, and the missing Bruce Springsteen vocals of the first. The only draw back might be the reserved vocals, that in truth serves more as muffled melodic words than actual "singing". The closing part is particularly good- sounds like a rock n´ roll infused Edgar Froese on top of a wild a rumbling rhythm section, climbing and climbing until it finally erupts. What a way to end an album!

I have been listening to a lot of RPI lately - once I cleared the language barrier (Come on man - most of the time you can´t understand diddly squat of what´s reverberating between Mick Jagger´s two beeboppaluuuuing slugs - following in the Stones analogies....) - it was all downhill I can tell you. The skills of these musicians are second to no one, and combining that with a childish approach to the instruments, meaning playfulness and imagination at the front wheel, and that special something - the secret ingredient that IS RPI, you are treated with progressive rock that is apart from it´s brothers in the UK, Germany, France, the States - you name em´. Something else.

3 stars simply because of the pure thrill I get from those drums. All hail John Bon-prosciutto!!

P.S. Incidentally I think the album cover has got to be one of the most beautiful I have EVER seen, -and those crazy Italians have their fair share of head turning artworks.

Their debut is in my top three RPI albums of all time, and if pressed I would say it's number one. As they went into the studio to record their follow-up album the singer left. I'm not sure if he left during the recordings or before, but regardless the band recorded this album with the idea that vocals would be used. So without a vocalist they scrapped the album even though they recorded the instrumental parts.

Fast forward many years and Mellow Records released this album as it was, without vocals. The problem is that it sounds so incomplete without them because they obviously planned on vocals being used here. The two things I love about their debut, the heaviness and the vocals are missing here. Then add how naked this feels without vocals and I have a hard time giving this 3 stars. The keyboards are much more dominant and honestly the guitar seems to be missing in action.

Highlights for me are the last 2 minutes of "Ripensando E..." where it gets heavier. Also there's a good section on "Valigie Di Terra" around 7 minutes and later at 7 1/2 minutes when it gets heavier. "Idea Imcompiuta" is a short jazzy piece, while "Claudette" the longest track doesn't do much for me at all. The drummer adds some almost spoken vocals on that one.

Like I said earlier barely 3 stars, but probably the "fans only" rating would be more accurate.

During the second half of 1973 Alphataurus entered their studio to prepare the follow-up of their fantastic self-titled debut.Unfortunately due to family issues the band had to break up during the recording sessions.In 1992 Mellow Records collected the tapes of these unfinished rehearsals and released them under the title ''Dietro l'uragano''.

At the time the band performed a mostly instrumental Progressive Rock without the presence of singer Michele Bavaro and their sound was now heavily keyboard-driven with an even more symphonic sound.Actually the opening ''Ripensando e'' contains strong LE ORME influences with Classical references and long moog solos in a very haunting mood.The following ''Valigie di terra'' is a great piece of moog/organ-driven Symphonic/Heavy Rock with stronger links to the band's debut, spacey synth waves until the middle and next come somes excellent Hammond organ runs with a pounding rhythm section.''Idea incompiuta'' is a short theme with a jazzy flavor in the guitar and drum parts, followed by the 14-min. ''Claudette''.Another nice piece of keyboard-based Progressive Rock with fiery organs, good interplays, massive synthesizers and even a sweet piano theme supported by the smooth vocals of drummer Giorgio Santandrea.The ending theme of the track is Alphataurus' at their best.Grandiose, nervous synth-drenched outro with a very intense and powerful atmosphere.

While Alphataurus' debut is more of a complete work, these early rehearsals of the band indicate that a possible sophomore record would have been propably another great Italian masterpiece.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.