H2O

Four years after the very good ''Uno punto sei'' H2O returned with their sophomore effort simply entitled ''Due'' on Kaliphonia.The trio of Andreotti, Malaguzzi and Prandi wrote another album, using the same formula as on the previous one, five long and semi-long tracks, clocking at 50 minutes as a whole and featuring again Lino Prencipe on drums.

This time though the band chose to abandon the Italian lyrics and create compositions exclusively written with English lyrics, thus having a stronger GENESIS influence than links with the Italian school of Prog and another reason is the district GABRIEL-esque color of Luca Prandi's voice.However the quality of the material has not changed or dropped a bit.Melodic Symphonic Progressive Rock as performed by GENESIS or PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI with alternation between multi-layered passages and soft sensitive musicianship.The vocal moments charactertize the more emotional side of H2O: music passages filled with delicate piano, soft HACKETT-like electric touches and romantic non-accented vocal delivery.As aforementioned these are combined with some trully complex, mainly-keyboard-driven instrumental excursions with occasional breaks and a strong amount of interplays.Prandi's keyboard parts are extremely inspired ranging from TONY BANKS-like solos to bombastic symphonic themes.Malaguzzi's guitars come close.Very good solos under a slightly distorted sound and also some good heavier riffs.All tracks are extremely tight, melodic and captivating with an emphasis on the symphonic side of Progressive Rock.

Unfortunately nothing has been heard around this talented trio since this release and it seems that the band dissolved silently as it appeared in early-90's.''Due'' is another fine album by this good Italian group, strongly recommended to all lovers of Symphonic Rock and Italian Prog...3.5 stars.

It's hard to believe it's been almost 4 years since I reviewed their debut. Anyway the follow-up for this Italian band is similar in style to the debut but no guest female vocals this time. H2O are a trio of keyboards / vocals, guitars and bass with a guest drummer. I agree with Andrea Cortese that there is nothing on this album that hints at it being Italian.The vocals are in English and the music is sort of slow to mid-paced without a lot of dynamics. Lots of tempo shifts as these longs tracks play out.

"Prometeus Breath" is mellow to start with reserved vocals. It does kick into gear with synths as the tempo continues to change back and forth and vocals come and go. "L'Altra Aurora" is pastoral early with piano coming in at 1 1/2 minutes. Reserved vocals 2 minutes. It does pick up 6 minutes in.

"The Darkness For The Light" opens with piano as reserved vocals join in. It kicks in after 2 1/2 minutes to a full sound. Guitar leads 4 minutes in and there's lots of synths too .A calm 6 minutes. "Stop" opens with piano and synths. Drums follow and vocals arrive before a minute.The guitar and synths lead 6 minutes in then it settles with soft vocals. "Due" opens with sparse piano as almost spoken vocals join in. A classical flavour arrives before 5 minutes. A calm 8 1/2 minutes in and reserved vocals and piano follow. Guitar before 11 minutes. It ends in a mellow way with piano.

A tough listen for me really. There's not much at all that I can harvest from this record that I actually enjoy.

A strange and widely unknown story around this very good Italian band.H2O were formed in 1976 in Milan, composing and playing progressive rock, but -as with a mass of bands around the same period- they weren't lucky enough to sign a contract.The band continues performing live till' late-80's,when they disbanded.1992 sees the meeting of founding member/guitarist Rocco Malaguzzi with the leader of Kaliphonia Label Raoul Caprio.Thus,a new chapter begins for H2O.Four compositions from their old material are re-worked and finally pressed in 1997 on the album ''Unopuntosei''.

The album runs at almost 50 minutes and the tracks' length range from eight up to twenty minutes. Romantic,mainly mellow progressive rock of the old Italian style is what ''Unopuntosei'' offers to the listener,as we expect from a prog band living and composing in mid-70's Italy.H2O's sound is mostly based on the keyboard work of Luca Prandi,who use a variety of analog keys like organ and mellotron along with his baroque-influenced piano lines and the dynamic synthesizers.Melody and delicacy are the main elements of this work with some nice interplays, tasteful keys all over and some acoustic passages of lovely beauty.Malaguzzi uses his electric guitar when it's appropriate,supporting Prandi's keyboards or delivering some smooth solos.Vocals are in Italian and they also let loose a romantic feeling of old Italian prog touching your ears.Closest comparisons would possibly be SITHONIA or even CONSORZIO ACQUA POTABILE, FOGLIE DI VIETRO and TAPROBAN.Fans of keyboard-oriented symphonic rock with an emotional touch should add this one in their collection.Another fine example of decent Italian progressive rock.

Hmm, more neo type Italian stuff that was so common in the late 90's.

Having said that, it's a pretty good listen. Some very Genesis like atmospherics, especially the second song, but throughout as well. The second song is also notable for the lovely female vocals. The 3rd track brings in some more complex and more upbeat passages. The first track is a statement of intent that really gives a good feel for what you will hear. The final, epic, track is a good summing up of all that has gone before featuring both darker and lighter parts and a quite euphoric ending.

As a whole this is fairly slow paced, easy going prog. A bit more texture than typical English neo prog, but fairly ordinary for Italian prog. At their best they remind me a bit of Locanda Della Fate, though with weaker vocals, though the vocals here are far from bad. Just not very distinctive or powerful (though as I mentioned, the female vocals are quite nice on the second track).

Overall, a fairly non descript work, but probably on par for that period. Though they were a bit late in the 90's Italian prog resurgence to really make any impact. Still, fairly enjoyable for me, a solid 3 stars. There is much more to hear before this, but good if you like 90's Italian neo type stuff.

"Due" is the second album of this promising contemporary italian trio, after the well acclaimed debut "Unopuntosei" issued in 1997.

In their music they blend a strong symphonic prog with many melodic parts and lyrics completely sung in english (with obnvious italian accent to my ears) and sparse Gentle Giant's occasional flavour as in the opener "Prometheus Breath" (7,11 mns). No particular italian-way is recognizable, at least not in this second release.

The five compositions are all of a considerable length between 7 and 16,32 minutes long and deliver many shifting moods with many variations on keyboards instruments as grand piano, moog and mellotron-like-atmospherical sounds. Mellow acoustic guitar enriches the music as in "L'Altra Aurora" (8,45 all sung in english, despite the title in italian language), while fiery electric guitar's excursions give the sound a more modern appeal thanks also to the good interplay with bass, drums and mini-moog. Just listen for example to ""The Darkness for the Light" (10,07 mns) or to "Stop" (7,07 mns).

The small epic "Due" is about 16,32 minutes long. It opens with soft piano intro and gentle vocals reminding, a little, to Genesis who are a clear reference (sometimes delivering a true neo-prog tendency), instead of the obvious ELP (speaking of famous trios). From the fourth minute you can hear also to church organ and harpsichord interplay, then uptempos and exciting variations.

All in all is a very good album which only lacks in production, in my opinion. None of the three members are credited for drums and in fact drums are, somehow, a weak point here, even if not always mediocre. Generally the sound smells of demo recording tape (and so the cover art, unfortunately) and this is the main reason of a three stars rating, instead of a full applause and tribute for the excellence status!

3,50.

H2O are an Italian band who play a fairly light brand of Symphonic music. There are no outbreaks really, lots of keyboards and acoustic guitar often done at a slower pace. They're a three piece band consisting of vocals, keys, bass and guitar, with a guest drummer and female vocalist.

"H2O" is uptempo with lots of keys until the male vocals come in and it settles down. It's fairly laid back until late in this 11 minute opener. "Lo Specchio" is quite mellow and sad with male vocals, a guest female vocalist also takes part.

"Metareus" is filled with lots of time changes and mood shifts with some weeping lead guitar late. "Il Cimitero Degli Elefanti" is the almost 20 minutes closer. Again slower paced with lots of mood changes and an emphasis on keyboards and guitar.

Good album but nothing that would make me consider giving it 4 stars.

Reminds me of Banco, Deus Ex Machina, Finisterre or some of the better Latin Americans like Tempano - the polyrhythmics and challenging digressions are not there, but instead there is very clean, clear symphonic instrumentation, great vocals, and enjoyable melodies. I'm ready for the next release!

The 2nd release by this Italian band leaves me with mixed feelings. This band just has too many things that I don't like in Italian progressive. First of all, the vocals are in English and although not that bad it's still a major flaw for this album. Secondly, this band has clearly some neo-progressive influences that I'm not that fond of either. I remember being surprised when I first played this album because I thought this was supposed to be reminiscent of the seventies Italian groups. To a certain degree it actually is but the influences from the English scene (Genesis) are even more evident. The instruments are well played though I do find the keyboards way too repetitive (in other words: boring). It is hard for me to rate this album because the music is well done but it just doesn't grab me in any way. I have not heard their debut album because this was the first album I acquired from this band and I'm not that impressed.

There are five tracks in this album and the longest tracks "The Darkness for the Light" and "Due" rise a little above the rest of the tracks. All in all, the music does have that English sound and this might please listeners that like other Italian bands like Ezra Winston, Il Trono dei Ricordi and The Watch.

Conclusion: Not among the best new Italian progressive.

H2o's due is a good italian symphonic progressive rock album. These guys offer english singing, guitars, great syntheziers and a drum machine. The drum machine is actually programmed well compared to other bands that offer poorly programmed drum machines, but still the drum machine makes me consider it "Good, but non-essential". I still think that these guys offer great melodies which can be defined as symphonic progressive rock like all the classic italian bands, ELP and UK's danger money. In a nutshell, I recommend that you buy it, but you can seek for other albums that offer real drummers with those great symphonic melodies.

Four stars and a half really. I agree with Gabriel, I prefer Italian lyrics even when this point could be a limit to penetrate in the English markets. I like "Due" more than the first H2O album (very good indeed), maybe 'cause compositions are quite better (specially last track, the homonymous "Due", is superb).

This stuff seems to me, sometimes, closer to neo-prog realisations, perhaps due some neo cliches or the notorious GENESIS influences or even the language, but -at the same time- the Italian symphonic vintage taste is never lost. So, I guess it's an album from a refined band to recommend to every prog fan.