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There is something magical in the work of Alvaro Fella (JUMBO) who managed to challenge many of the musical conventions of its day. This first release from JUMBO delivers a heavy folk prog which seems to fit the rough and raw vocal chords of Fella. JUMBO play complex progressive rock which seems to move in and out of many different mood swings and themes throughout. JUMBO's 1st album is less detailed than their classic 3rd release (which I have also reviewed earlier), but has a basic deep sound which I have always respected and loved. The fine folks at Philips have done a great job in restoring and rejuvenating this classic Italian prog gem to CD which offers quite amazingly great sound.

Formed in Milan in 69 and releasing two single before this debut album on the Phillips in early 72, this sextet (named after their singer's nickname) is probably one of Italy's best kept prog secret, even if you would not believe by the present. Graced with a superb multi- layered cardboard winking artwork (which is very hard to find in good shape as it did not age well), this album will be probably a little deceptive if you actually know what is to come later, even if the recording quality is excellent.

Indeed, the album presents a mainly acoustic sound somewhere between folk, blues-based rock, which resembles nothing of their later works. But it does not mean that this is bad album, far from it: well produced, with a distinctive voice (reputedly difficult, but not really more than the average Italian "prog" singers of the era), a good rhythm section, rather competent guitar works, the frequent flute or odd harmonica lines, some brass section arrangements and a few prog twist thrown in for good deeds.

The lead track can make you think of a killer Yarbirds tune, but the succession of RnB tracks is not really that captivating, as most sons are built around Fella's acoustic guitar playing. Among the better tracks are the opener, the Che Senso Ha (with its great organ and flute), Dio E (which will be reworked for their second album) and Amore Sono Qua (great piano track and their progiest track). The only weak track being the almost-punkish Artista, on the whole this is surprising album from Italy , but which Jumbo album was not?

As mentioned above, this album is not really representative of Jumbo's works (it could even be seen as a Alvaro Fella album with an accompanying group if you did not know better), so it cannot be considered as essential (I'd even say that it could be for fans only, but that is almost too severe) but should you choose to invest in this one, you might want to make the effort to find a mini-Lp copy because of its

This album holds several fully heavy blues oriented songs and apart the fact that the language used for the vocals is Italian, this album doesn't share a lot to the genre I love quite a lot (ISP). It is true that in the meantime, a new category has been inaugurated and hold anything with an Italian name.

I don't like this album very much. It features little songs of interest ("Dio E" maybe). Vocals are quite difficult to bear: mostly screams instead of true sung passages (at least during the first side of the vinyl album). Some Tull influences are definite, yes, it is true. But not as many as would have liked.

The second part of this record is better though. After the good "Dio E", the pleasant "Amore Sono Qua" brings some Italian emotion I was quite missing so far. The third good track in a row is being achieved with a more delicate, folkish "La Strada?".At least during the first part of the song, since the closing module reverts us back into a heavy-bluesy affair.

The delicate but short "Ho Visto Piangere" closes this average album on a fine note. Still, I can't go above two stars to rate this album (five out of ten probably).