IL TRONO DEI RICORDI

Yet another Italian "one-album wonder", Il Trono Dei Ricordi offer up an interesting sound on their self-titled album which unfortunately comes unstuck a little too often to give a very high grade to. The vocals sound a little off, in a way which I am not sure whether it is the mix or the actual performance from Alberto "The Wizard" Mugnaini; moreover, the keyboards from Alessandro Lamuraglia and electronic effects from Stefano Cupertino have dated a little badly, to my ears sounding like the cheaper end of what could be accomplished in 1994. (In fact, at part it sounds like a lukewarm CRPG soundtrack from the late MS-DOS era.) The compositions are good enough to prevent it being a total wash, but this is far from being a hidden classic.

The Italian progressive rock scene is notorious for its many short-lived acts who only released one album before disappearing into oblivion, especially during its heyday in the seventies'. In quite a few cases, these brief stints between obscure musicians have led to some of Italian prog's most notable masterpieces - Il Trono Dei Ricordi may have arrived a bit later to the scene than many of RPI's obscure classics, but this self-titled debut proves that they were every bit as noteworthy as many of the seventies' pioneers. Bombastic symphonic progressive rock is the name of the game here, and anyone who enjoys long and dynamic compositions is sure to be in for a real treat once they start cranking up this obscure gem from 1994. Il Trono Dei Ricordi is an excellent album from beginning to end, and it's really a shame that they stopped making music after its release. In short, this is an obscure gem that's sure to please any progressive rock enthusiast.

Despite being widely considered an Italian symphonic prog album (after all, the band is from Italy), Il Trono Dei Ricordi actually bears very little resemblance to traditional Italian symphonic prog; the music here has much more in common with neo-prog and early nineties' American progressive rock than it does with the pastoral sounds of most flagship Italian bands. The vocals are also sung in English, further ridding the band of RPI flavoring. The most obvious influences here are probably Pendragon (this one especially), IQ, Marillion, ELP, and Genesis. Il Trono Dei Ricordi wasn't the most innovative act out there, but they did have a knack for creating top-notch progressive rock epics, and this record is just filled with sheer brilliance. Although I would've liked to see more from this band in the future, I'm at least thankful that they've left us with this absolute monster of an album.

Il Trono Dei Ricordi opens up with the epic, twenty-minute "The King of Memories" - an emotional, bombastic, and complex journey through the very best that symphonic prog has to offer. The fluid songwriting and unforgettable main synthesizer melody open up the album with a 'bang', and I have no hesitation in calling this track a flawless masterpiece. The rest of the album gets a bit overshadowed by this legendary opener, but it's all excellent nonetheless. I especially dig the Genesis flavor in the 18-minute "Visions of the Daughters of Albion". This track is probably the other highlight, and it's yet another brilliant example of symphonic progressive rock done right.

One thing that I've always found astonishing about this album is the sheer strength of the musicianship. Even though this is only their debut record, every member in Il Trono Dei Ricordi successfully demonstrates that they are experts at their respective instruments. Keyboard player Alessandro Lamuraglia especially grabs my attention; his lush palette of piano, organ, and synthesizer tones always add just the right effect to the music, and he also delivers plenty of breathtaking solos throughout the course of the album. Alberto Mugnaini's singing style took a little while to get used to, but I've grown to really appreciate his Peter Gabriel-tinged voice. The production is also pretty good on Il Tiempo Dei Ricordi, and even though it's a bit too thin for my liking, it's powerful and commanding at all the right spots.

Il Trono Dei Ricordi is an excellent gem from the mid-nineties' that should please all fans of symphonic progressive rock; after all, what's there not to like about a four-song progressive rock album that nearly reaches the one-hour mark? This CD can be a pretty difficult find nowadays, but it's definitely worth hearing for any progressive rock aficionado. It's a shame that this obscure gem never saw any follow-up releases; Il Trono Dei Ricordi were indeed a very promising act. This debut is very worthy of 4 stars in my book, as well as an easy recommendation to fans of symphonic/neo-prog. Though unknown by the prog community at large, this is one of the best mid-nineties' progressive rock albums in my humble opinion.

Another one-shot Italian band of the modern prog era,Il Trono dei Ricordi started in early-90's in Firenze led by keyboardist Alessandro Lamuraglia and featuring five more members on bass,guitars,drums,electronics and vocals.They recorded an Italian-sung EP in 1992 entitled ''MCCCXX: Milletrecentoventi'' as a four-piece band,released the next year,followed by their only full-length self-titled album in 1994 on the unknown US label The Labyrinth.

This is a fantastic Symphonic Rock release,entirely sung in English,but dominated by long and demanding instrumental parts.It features one short track and three very long suites,all of them approved seminars of how Progressive Rock music with a symphonic tendency should be played.The style comes like a cross between PAR LINDH PROJECT,EZRA WINSTON and GENESIS with lovely guitar work,Classical-influenced piano parts,bombastic synths and obscure electronics.The album is filled with a mass of shifting moods and tempos,all very tightly connected,dramatic atmospheres coming out of Lamuraglia's keys,intricate melodies where added and satisfying symphonic orchestrations.The vocals of singer Alberto Mugnaini are not exceptional,but this band could create some exciting vocal harmonies as well,overcoming the lack of a really gifted singer.The final result is a well-arranged journey into symphonic labyrinths with plenty of dreamy and often cinematic soundscapes.

The band was not meant to survive long after the release but ''Il Trono dei Ricordi'' is a great gift left for the progressive rock audience.While the album didn't break any new grounds,it certainly contains all the right elements to be categorized as essential for any fan of progressive music.

WOW !!!!

I had no knowledge about this band whatsoever before I read a review of this album at PA. I therefore included it in one of my giant orders I normally place from my supplier.

OK, the band is from Italy and sings in English. The music...... This is one of those albums I instantly like when it starts. The opening of the first tune....... ehh, epic The King Of Memories is bombastic and.... epic ? Yes, that describe this one second short of this twenty minutes long song. Most of the song is pretty much based on neo-prog bands like PENDRAGON and IQ in addition to the usual suspects GENESIS, ELP and YES. An excellent song !

The next song A Memorable Fancy is rather short, but pretty effective with a bombastic opening and some heavy music in the vein of MARILLION and PENDRAGON. The heavy main riff is one I will not forget in a hurry. An excellent song.

The two finishing tracks The Rising Sun and Visions Of The Daughters Of Albionare are both long and full of changing themes. They are both excellent where they venture into the domains of neo-prog, symphonic prog and pomp rock. I guess all fans of neo-prog and symphonic prog will love this album. That means; most of the PA readers. The main instruments is the usual suspects with bombastic tangents (moog, synths etc etc) and some heavy guitars. The bass and drums complete the picture. The vocals are not too bad. They are not dominant in the picture. The most memorable and brilliant parts are the instrumental parts and the band prove that they know what they are doing.

I am writing this review on the basis of not have been listening to this album for more than a couple of weeks. I have put it on my heavy-rotation list and in my MP3 player. I am just mentioning this because I guess this album will grow and grow on me over the coming months and years. Ideally, this review should be submitted by me in one year time. But I cannot wait. You should all get this album.

5 stars from me.

This album is actually on my top ten albums of all time ever. Yes, that's right. Among all the great albums by Yes, Genesis etc and among the fellow italians as Banco, PFM, Le orme etc this album made it's way on the top ten. All songs are great and five stars, except A memorable fancy wich I only gave four stars. The album is full of fantastic symphonic rock with emotional singing. All is well composed and there is a great balance between the instruments and the singer, also great production.

Even if this is somewhat typical italian symphonic rock, it still has some international feel about it, can't really put my finger on it but it doesn't really scream italian prog but when you know it is it kind of makes sence. For me this is a classic symphonic rock albums on par with anything Banco, Yes or Museo rosenbach did. A must have. This is how music should sound like.

This album should have been a full instrumental one. After the recording of the original music, a new member joined (Alberto Mugnaini). The band decided to add some lyrics to one of their songs "The King of Memories". The boss of the recording company was so impressed by the result that he asked the band to follow this direction and asked for more lyrics. And here we are for a great symphonic moment.

Of course, the intro for "The King of Memories" is fully ELP oriented. Gorgeous and pompous keys. I only had wished that instead of "In The Hot Seat", ELP would have produced such a great album as this one. Because we are facing a true symphonic gem. I am not sure that this album fully falls under the Italian prog genre (all lyrics are sung in English); but who cares. It is great music and vocals are rather convincing.

If you except the short "A Memorable Fancy", the lenght of the songs ranges between thirteen and almost twenty minutes. So, no simple music featured here. Great classical passages, strong ELP-ish keyboards (in each song), sweet symphonic elements, melodic moments and at times (like during "On The Rising Sun") : a superb guitar solo. These are the basics.

My preferred song of the album is "On The Rising Sun". The lenght will prevail it from being boring (thirteen minutes) and still allows to develop it sufficiently. Great (but very short) sax play and aerial keys are a pure marvel. This song really ranks as a great one. This is full symphony even if at times, some heavy keys can be noticed.

The fourth and closing number is probably the hardest and the weakiest one. Somewhat neo-prog and a bit out of mood.

My only negative remark would be that it is a shame that such a good band only produced one album. It should be forbidden...Four stars.

Il Trono Dei Ricordi are one of the most interesting Italian Progressive Rock Bands surfacing in the 90s. Sadly, they only released one single album. The album is built around the poetry of William Blake. Musically, influences from Genesis, Marillion and ELP are audible but they succeed well in creating their own sound. Especially the compositions and the songwriting creates a poetic flair embedded into delicious symphonic structures. The band plays tight which each instrument in balance. I must admit, on a personal level this is one of those ten albums I would take with me on to the famous island, to me the experience of listening to this album has never worn off, to me it is a grand masterpiece, maybe my favorite off all prog releases that I know from the 90s. The album comes garnished with beautiful artwork by Michael Bennett.

Italian Prog? Sorry, NOT! But an astonishing Neo-prog album with fine vocalist (singing in a hard-rocking style a bit). These guys have made everything which later ENCHANT and early ARENA released: heavy-Neo, but very complicated (according to usual Neo standarts). Their music reminds of GENESIS, YES, ELP, MARILLION, PINK FLOYD, IQ and COLLAGE a bit (especially in their level of musicianship... these guys are great professionals!!!). The best tracks are "The King of Memories" and "Visions Of The Daughters Of Albion". I wonder where are they now and what would they do on the other albums of them if they only exist. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to all Classical Prog fans - IL TRONO DEL RICORDI are more original most of the time, than some well-known and respected prog-bands of the past.

While I like this album, it does not have that unique Italian prog flavor that so many of the 70's Italian bands had, and many modern Italian bands still have. This is not necessarily a bad thing. This is definetly neo-prog territory, but manages to avoid most of the things I dislike in neo prog, with the exception of the lack of analog keyboards. This is not what I would call a memorable album, but there is nothing I consider bad and I do enjoy hearing it from time to time when I am in the mood for good neo. The songs are generally pretty similar, though the two epics are the ones that I enjoy the most. So nothing extrordinary by any means, but worth a listen for those who enjoy IQ and similar bands. Just don't expect anything along the lines of Ezra Winston or Finisterre.

I'm not agree with who have say "this isn't Italian Prog". Ok, there's many influence by Yes and Elp (their keyboard work with them), but the style is ItaProg. And it's fantastic all the album. All the album, also if I prefere them when they havn't lirycs in their songs.