DELIRIUM III (VIAGGIO NEGLI ARCIPELAGHI DEL TEMPO)
Delirium
•Rock Progressivo Italiano
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Studio Album, released in 1974 Songs / Tracks Listing 1. Il Dono (4:17) - Pino Di Santo / drums, percussion, vocals
CD-Warner/Fonit-3984 27119-2-Ita- / Fonit CDLP 421 and to progshine for the last updates Edit this entry |
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DELIRIUM Delirium III (Viaggio Negli Arcipelaghi Del Tempo) ratings distribution
(103 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(26%)
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(48%)
Good, but non-essential (23%)
Collectors/fans only (3%)
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
DELIRIUM Delirium III (Viaggio Negli Arcipelaghi Del Tempo) reviews
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Collaborators/Experts Reviews
PROG REVIEWER

PROG REVIEWER

The opener "Il dono" (The gift) is a delicate ballad introduced by acoustic guitar and flute. "At distant god's wish / You'll live thousands years in just one hour / Eternal keeper of a civilization / Pale and filled with his goodness / At distant god's wish / You'll be able to understand your role / And then mould the time as you like / You will rule moon and sun / Strange colours deep into your eyes / Drops of fire set in the sky / Young face, the time will reveal / Only ashes of glances and then."
"Viaggio negli arcipelaghi del tempo" (Journey into the archipelagos of time) is more complex with gloomy vocals, changes of rhythm and jazzy interludes soaring from "the Earth still smelling of blood."
"Fuga N.1" is an instrumental track with a good organ and sax work, many changes of rhythm and of mood. Maybe a little bit too experimental but not bad at all.
"Dio del silenzio" (God of the Silence) is an amazing short acoustic ballad featuring a good sax solo. "In a moment of eternity / I'm the blaze without mercy / My body is made only of wind / Bright is the moon into sapphire's waters / There are only the stars into my singing / God of the silence, please don't go away. God, do you think that was just an act of goodness / To give me the gift of eternity?".
On "La battaglia degli eterni piani" after a quiet intro, "the battle rages on." and the rhythm goes up: this track is more complex and the mood is more epic and symphonic, though with a slightly jazzy interlude.
"Un uomo" is just a short melodic piano ballad and in my opinion this is the weakest point of the album. "I will find again / The faith in me / Or I'll run away. A man can never stop / He'll find into himself / His reality."
The last two tracks are instrumentals: "Viaggio N.2" with a good sax work and a jazzy feeling and the quiet and symphonic "Ancora un'alba" (Another sunrise). Both good but not outstanding.
On the whole a good album and, in my opinion, an excellent addition to any Italian prog collection.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

Their forgotten gem!
Delirium III, also known as "Viaggio negli Arcipelaghi del Tempo" (Journey through the Archipelagos of Time), is their magnus opus, their masterpiece. I know many people say that only their debut album reached the masterpiece status. In my humble opinion they're wrong. I agree that "Dolce Acqua" was released very soon, in 1971, and is one of the first progressive albums in the italian prog scene. It is also true that leader- singer-songwriter Ivano Fossati is very famous in Italy and that his distinctive vocals were the Delirium's trademark on their first record. After his quick departure (he left after the release of Dolce Acqua) the band moved into their most fertile period. Their (excellent) debut album was very folk based, with acoustic guitar and flute, with remarkable jazzy influence. It cannot be forgotten, though, the commercial vein of Ivano Fossati. Paradoxally their most famous track from that album (their most famous track ever) is "Jesahel". Does this song is representative of the Delirium catalogue? No it isn't. Jesahel brought them great success and gave them wider audience. It's not prog at all, though!
So, after Ivano Fossati left the band, they started to concentrate more in prog and the improvement is well evident in their second record titled "Lo Scemo e il Villaggio" (The Fool and the Village), issued in 1972. But it's only wih their third 1974's work that they thouched the apex! What a great album! More varied and complicated. Without frills. New characters and instruments enter in the songs' structure along with flute and acoustic guitars: mellotron and sax. The result is an original and wonderful work. If you wish to find some comparisons you should go for an original mix between early King Crimson and Jethro Tull, with some references to Van Der Graaf, sometimes, and some jazzy flashes! Also two or three (great) appearences of violin.
The general mood of the album goes from dark and serious (it is a concept album, after all) to more relaxing and soft tunes, as for example, the beautiful (and the most favourite of mine) "Dio del Silenzio" (God of Silence, 2,59 mns).
The mix between flute and strong sax came out very well, as you can hear in the most memorable tracks: "Viaggio negli Arcipelaghi..." (4,38), "Fuga n. 1" (6,42) and the somptuous "La Battaglia degli Eterni Piani" (The Battle of the Eternal Plans, 6,42 mns). I think also the rough and deep vocals are better that those of the first album. Somehow in a similar vein of those you can listen in the Rustichelli e Bordini's Opera Prima.
In conclusion, a mastepiece. Essential for people who want to know the non-symphonic italian prog.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

The record opens with 'Il Dono ' a beautiful song for acoustic guitar, flute and strings with nice jazzy interplay , followed by the title track 'Viaggio Negli Arcipelaghi Del Tempo' an uptempo track with influences of Jethro Tull (flute) and King Crimson (the heavy funk rhythm and the sax solo reminds the KC of 'Islands' with Mel Collins) and a geat Mellotron outro.
'Fuga N.1' an instrumental again with a' King Crimson'- like intro, developping a dark mood for sax organ and strings, followed by a heavy funk section for flute, bass and strings, another great track.
The fourth track 'Dio Del Silenzio' like track one a beautiful theme,suported by acoustic guitar, flute and a sax solo , followed by 'La Battaglia Degli Eterni Piani ' with an intro for acoustic guitar and Moog, that evolves into a dark threatening theme with great flute & guitar interplay ā la Jethro Tull and ending with a treated flute solo.
'Un Uomo' with a jazz piano intro, strings and jazzy vocals sounds a bit too much like 'Lounge Bar Jazz' for my taste, even so the melody is beautiful and reminds me Paolo Conte.
'Viaggio N.2 ' is a Gentle Giant inspired track, with a moog and sax intro, followed by a typical GG mutlipart vocal arrangement that evolves into a funky theme for guitar and soprano sax, Gentle Giant meets James Brown and segues into....
'Ancora Un'alba' a last beautiful theme supported by dramatic strings, chamberlain and flute.
A masterpiece that combines melodic Prog with Jazz & Folk elements and beautiful Italian vocals.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

Delirium are a Genova based group who formed in 1970 from the remains of a beat band called Sagittari. The original line-up included the famed Ivano Fossati who had left by this time, replaced by Martin Grice. Some consider this to be their finest recorded work although there are those who prefer the first album with Fossati.
The album begins with "Il Dono" which is one of the prettiest songs you'll ever hear. A fantastic, sentimental melody runs throughout in the flute and acoustic guitar. There are occasional loud punches at just the right moments to give the songs some drama, but then it goes back to relaxing with nice hand drums for rhythm. The vocals are warm and approachable. Half way through Vigo's mellotron lays some nice washes adding to the gorgeous sound, then near the end it picks up a bit. Great opener a la PFM. The title track is second and is harder edged with standard drums and sax. This one is quirkier rather than folksy with a GG/KC influence perhaps in the odd beat. Again the mellotron shows up but only sparingly which makes the effect even more welcome. "Fuga N. 1" begins with a sludgy bottom end sax combined with bass to create sort of a menacing heavy chug. Things degenerate into a sort of chaotic jazzy slurry with flute, strings, and sound effects. Then the organ and piano get some play which is very nice before the heavy groove returns. "Dio Del Silenzio" is another pretty piece of brightly strummed acoustic melody. "La Battaglia Degli Eterni Piani" has a varied intro, then gets heavy sounding like a mix of Sabbath and Tull with some heaviness in the vocal and lightness in the flute play. Then come some jazzy guitar chords and bass and the heavy vocals return. "Un Uomo" features piano, mellotron, acoustic in another lovely track with laid back vocals. "Viaggio N. 2" is another quirky number that sounds like a Giant influence initially with gibberish vocals effects but soon morphs into a quick paced jazzy beat. From there on the piece turns a bit fusion but strikes me as unfocused. A crash of thunder welcomes the closer "Ancora Un' Alba" followed by serene strings. The relaxing orchestrations are eventually joined by the band for one pleasant bit before the fade-out.
"Viaggio" is a good Italian album with some very beautiful sections scattered throughout and these parts are very endearing. But I was less convinced by their more dramatic, harder edged sections which seemed a bit forced and as I mentioned already, somehow unfocused. Fans of Italian prog who love saxophone and flute will likely enjoy this enough to purchase but I don't think of it as highly as some others do. Then again, the sheer beauty of the opening track is enough for an Italian zealot like myself put this one on the shelf.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

PROG REVIEWER

"Il Dono" features acoustic guitar and flute.Vocals come in around 1 1/2 minutes. Nice sound. Bass and drums do become prominant later. "Viaggio Negli Arcipelaghi Del Tempo" is led by flute and drums and the vocals are rough sounding although there is a second vocalsist who I like better. Sax before 1 1/2 minutes and strings a minute later. Vocal melodies come in after 3 1/2 minutes. "Fuga N.1" is heavier with organ. I like it. Sax comes in as well as synths with flute. A good uptempo section comes in around 3 1/2 minutes. Orchestration and some fuzz follows. Piano after 4 minutes. It's heavy again a minute later. It settles once more with strings.
"Dio Del Silenzio" is led by strummed guitar and vocals although there are some strings and a sax solo late. "La Battaglia Degli Eterni Piani" has a pastoral intro with some strings. Menacing vocals come in before 2 1/2 minutes with a fuller sound. The tempo picks up then back to those dark vocals. "Un Uomo" is a short 2 minute track with some flute and strings joining in. "Viaggio N.2" becomes uptempo and sax comes in before 2 1/2 minutes. Drums take the spotlight after 3 minutes. "Ancora Un'Alba" opens with thunder and rain followed by strings and flute.
As Andy from Planet Mellotron states, if there's mellotron on here it's hard to pick out with all the strings and orchestral movements. Still a good album that most seem to like a lot more than I do.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Retired Admin

There has been a lot of Jethro Tull references, but I honestly donīt consider all rockmusic that features flute to be derivative of JT. The way the flute is played on Delirium III: Viaggio Negli Arcipelaghi Del Tempo is very melodic and rhythmbased, and made me think of the mighty Jackson from VDGG, even if that sounds like I have lost my marbles. They both have an similar understanding of when to play lead or rhythm, though their individual styles are about as close as Michael Jackson is to Michael Åkerfeldt...
This is great music for mornings with blue skies and seagulls on the horizon. The horizon is always changing before our eyes, but there is always something familiar about it - something that is un-erasable. Delirium 3 is like that. It changes paths all through the album, jumping from acoustic sprinkling guitars spiced with soft handdrums and mellotron, to beautiful soaring textures with a full-on-orchestra attack,- and like The Wall from Floyd it has a recuring theme, that is played either by the flute or the saxophone. It is extremely effective as it is beautyful and almost naive. During these sections I canīt help from smiling, dreaming myself away to long warm summerdays of my childhood running around in bare feet not giving a care - wasting my time on anything that was remotely dangerous... I guess itīs the nostalgic feel to this album that colours my view. If I were to point out some personal highlights, Iīd say Il dono, Fuga nr1, Viaggio nr2 and Dio del silencio.
Delirium III: Viaggio Negli Arcipelaghi Del Tempo should be heard in itīs entirety and preferably in green grass groves, mustard yellow fields or on a small backroad to the forrest where you might be pressed to shush the neverending chit chatting of blackbirds, because you are missing the saxophonepiece...
Latest members reviews
The third work released in 1974 "Delirium III:Viaggio Negli Arcipelaghi Del Tempo". Work
with high evaluation as progressive rock. It is a content that is settled further. It is a
dramatic work. In addition, strength and clearness have increased. There are a lot of
jazzs and classical respects
... (read more)
Report this review (#71468) | Posted by braindamage | Thursday, March 9, 2006 | Review Permanlink
This is the forgotten album by Delirium. The first and the second were quite popular in Italy
(especially the 1st, because of the presence of Ivano Fossati, who had later, and still
today, a highly succesfull solo career). This final third, instead, went almost unnoticed, but
I like it so much
... (read more)
Report this review (#18600) | Posted by | Monday, May 10, 2004 | Review Permanlink
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