PROCESSION

The opener "C'era una volta" (Once upon a time) starts by a beautiful new introduction with piano and electric guitar in the forefront. From the very first notes you can appreciate the clear sound and the care that the band put in the new arrangements revitalizing the old repertoire with respect and competence. The new vocalist is absolutely up to the task and breaths new life into the story of the child who wasted his time looking for the sense of life, getting old without reaching his goal...

To better underline its apocalyptic, tense atmosphere, the new version of "Uomini di vento" (Men of wind) gives more room to dark organ passages while the hieratic vocals depict the terrible wind that rules on the world and bends nature, guided by its blind will, sweeping away terrorized men and a blurred reality...

Then it's the turn of the melancholic "Un mondo sprecato" (A wasted world) where Samuele Alletto delivers in a very effective way the caustic reflections of the jaded clown protagonist of the piece, perfectly backed by a band able to add colours and emotions in the instrumental sections.

"Esplorare" (To explore) is the only new track on the album and it's a pity since the vitality of Procession's new course is great. It's a piece that deals with the illogical but nonetheless powerful belief that things will change for the better in a new place. The music and words describe a young man that looks for another world to explore, a place where his fantasies will come true. He wears his dreams and sets off but later realizes that is all in vain and begins to feel lonely and desperate while his certainties fade away. He will have to take a step back to find the meaning of life...

The new arrangement of "Il volo della paura" (The flight of fear) is excellent and succeeds in conveying the disquieting feelings that a flock of birds provoke darkening the sky and the need to overcome the gloomy omens that they could represent...

Next two tracks reshape brilliantly, with good taste and respect, Procession's first album, Frontiera, a conceptual work telling the story of a young man who leaves his home and family in Southern Italy searching for a job and a better life in a big city of the North. "Suite 1" includes "Ancora una notte" (One more night), "Uomini e illusioni" (Men and illusions), "Città grande" (Big city), "Incontro" (Meeting) and "Anche io sono un uomo" (I'm a man as well) while "Suite 2" includes "Un mondo di libertà" (A world of freedom), "Un ombra che vaga" (A wandering shadow) and "Solo 1" (Alone).

Then "Fiaba" (Fairy tale) ends the album by painting with new vivid colours the surreal landscape of an imaginary village perched on a mountain that hosts dreamers, poets and musicians. The inhabitants do not need money nor gold to be rich since happiness and peace are their real treasures...

On the whole, an excellent work that gives new life to the old repertoire of the band and leaves some hope for the future.

Opening song Ancora Una Notte puts us on notice immediately with an arrangement and vocal straight out of the first two Flash albums. A more angst ridden Colin Carter style vocal propels a vigorous twin guitar assault that would please early Rush fans: guitar heavy proto prog. The opening song is like a Black Sabbath version of Osage Tribe, another heavy guitar RPI band everyone should have in their collection. Uomini E Illusioni is reminiscent of the first song on side two of the New Trolls album Ut, Sabbath heaviness unleashed. Wolfmotherish in a fashion that the New Trolls song also is.

The band is capable of producing some epic sounding stuff with an excellent ability to shift from heavy to acoustic guitar sections when the symphonic kids are starting to freak out. Italian themes are identifiable throughout this album (sung in Italian) ensuring you son't mistake this for some unheard lost UK rock gem.

Incontro is a catchy 12 string acoustic guitar romp--Starcastle meets Head East through PFM (whew!) with the first signs of flute and mellotron.

Side two: we are off and running again on a wild ride once again similar to the heavier stuff on Ut. Dynamic riffs will keep metal heads banging in a complex fashion as it gets a bit 2112-ish before settling down once again into an acoustic propelled Italian version of Flash. Their love of Tony Iommi is very apparent on Solo 1. Un'Ombra Che Vaga brings in atmospheric echoed guitars in a delicate acoustic background before a VDGG 'Man-Erg' style riff abruptly changes things, almost proto punk rock. North and South seem to be represented by the juxtaposition of heavy electric and gentle acoustic approaches. Solo 2 finishes us off with a harmonica fueled blast of something that would be comfortable on Black Sabbath's debut album, an exhilirating ride to the end.

This album has really grown on me with repeated listenings, and will appeal to guitar heavy prog fans. It is really a singular release in RPI, I haven't encountered anything that sounds like this album. For symphonic fans, beware, there are really no keyboards or flute on here for those that might be afraid to go far from their comfort zone. (They borrowed the mellotron from kindred band R.R.R.)

Flash meets New Trolls on Ut. Fans of the first few Rush albums might dig this too.

4.25 stars

1. "Ancora Una Notte" (5:24) blues rock of the CREAM kind with a powerful singer. Unfortunately, the guitar play and riffs and the vocal melody line get old real fast and never really develop or shift. (7.5/10)

2. "Uomini E Illusioni" (2:42) a full-on rock anthem in the YARDBIRDS, DEREK AND THE DOMINOES, and THIN LIZZY tradition. The highly touted drummer is not as impressive to me as the twin guitars are. Nor is the powerful but almost monochromatic voice of Gianfranco Gaza. (8.5/10)

3. "Citta Grande" (5:15) gently played acoustic guitar over which Gianfranco sings--this time with some nice emotional nuance (reminding me a bit of JAQUES BREL). The song bursts into a "la-la'la" sing along with some more dynamic full-band instrumentation (though the acoustic guitars continue) but then settles back down for Gianfranco's second verse. The drummer's fills to transition are rather sloppy and over-filled. The first good song though it still has a fairly straightforward blues rock chord structure (very much like CREAM's "White Room" or ZEPPELIN's "Rambler" or even THE EAGLES' "Hotel California"). The twin electric guitar passages again remind me of Thin Lizzy--though these guys precede TL by a couple of years. The song's final two minutes are purely a classical guitar solo. Odd. (9/10)

4. "Incontro" (2:43) mandolin and acoustic guitars with Gianfranco singing. Kind of nice Woodstock music. Electric guitar and flute in the final jam section. Love the acoustic instruments strumming together throughout the final jam! (8.5/10)

5. "Anche Io Sono Un Uomo" (3:59) thick chunky bass and two guitars being picked in the side channels are sung over by Gianfranco. Man this guy's voice is monotonous! Drums kick in at 1:30 with Mellotron and single electric guitar and gently picked steel string guitar in opposite ears. Gentle two-guitar motif returns for Gianfranco's next verse. Robert Plant-like vocal section is then paired up with Zepp-like bass, drums, and lead guitar to the fin. (8/10)

6. "Un Mondo Di Liberta" (8:41) slightly complex rhythm section supporting the screaming guitar shredding of a single electric guitar over the first two and a half minutes. Things shift into a little "Frankenstein"-like passage at the end of the third minute--which is interesting--before falling back into the misleading melodic chorus-pedaled electric guitar picking of the opening seconds. Then, poof! we're in an entirely different song! I don't know how people are expected to tolerate this--there isn't even any connection or bleeding from one section to the next; totally different, isolated songs spliced together for whatever reason. And then there are the "la-la-las" for the chorus/bridge into next full-band section. I'm sorry, this just doesn't work for me. (15/20)

7. "Solo 1" (3:29) raw and raunchy electric rhythm guitar starts things off before straight-time rock rhythm section and blistering Robert Plant-like lead guitar starts ripping it up. Even Gianfranco's vocal sounds like something straight out of one of LED ZEPPELIN's first two albums. Then there is a "la-la-la" vocal section to fade followed by a second song: acoustic guitars in the CSN&Y vein with a volume pedal experimented lead electric soloing in the middle. I like this stuff but it's kind of like pushing the record button while the band members aren't looking-- catching them jamming mindlessly in the studio. Not fair. (7/10)

8. "Un'Ombra Che Vaga" (5:09) yet another song with more than one entirely separate song within the song. A heavy guitar-centered intro followed by an acoustic supported vocal section (with yet more "la-la-las"!). Sounds very mainstream poppy. Just a weird splicing. Can't imagine this being played live. (7/10)

9. "Solo 2" (2:10) more blues rock as if straight off of an early LED ZEPPELIN album. Good by highly unoriginal. (3.5/5)

Total time 39:32

Three stars; a fair but dismissive representative of Rock Progressivo Italiano; better suited as a classic rock / blues- rock album.

I've loved this album from the very first day I heard it. Truly love at first listen, a bizarre addictive love no less, and the feeling hasn't diminished with the years - on the contrary, Procession's debut Frontiera is still very close to my heart. Ditching the whole synth race, these guys opted for a more earthy and basic instrumentation with a ravine of acoustic guitars, raw frenetic electrified guitar licks, walking bass lines, punchy acute, and at times heavy as hell, drumming, flute and a bitter-sweet vocalist, who means the world to me.

Like I've mentioned countless of times before, I have no real understanding of the beautiful Italian language, which in turn means that it can mean whatever the hell my mind makes it into. On here I've decided that the singing is just so damn gorgeous in itself, that I'm not even slightly interested in finding out what he's singing about. For all I care, it could be the world's creation, zebras, eternal youth or difficult sore love. It expresses nothing and everything at the same time for me.

Opposite the heavy hits of this baby, you find a sprawling folky and highly melodic side of the band. This is where the old rural traditional music begins to shine through, and you effectively get the most alluring wisps of the warm romantic Italian countryside. 4th cut called Incontra very elegantly puts my words to shame though. The mandolin playing is inspiring on this sucker, and together with the tweeting bird like flute, the music really takes off. A thousand sun ripened tomatoes couldn't dream of relegating the same kind of endemic feel, as this tune does.

Later on, in between brilliantly melodic almost symphonic and always highly imaginative pieces, one particular track stands out to me. Un Mondo Liberta(A free world) manages to take all that's powerful and vibrant in Frontiera and squeeze into a good 8 minutes of progressive folk, scratching raw guitar rock and what genuinely sounds like Italian Doo wop(A prominent and most delicious feature throughout the playing time of this gem actually).

Like a sudden brutal awakening from a stormy and huge dream, a wild rocking guitar shoots through the airwaves following the lengthy piece, and when you've finally gotten well into the groove of this granite creature, the mood changes for the more quiet and delicate, small dozy guitar figurines start swirling slowly about, and you get hit with a frail goosebumps inducing guitar feedback. It says it all really. There's so much life and soul in this recording, it'll have your blood vessels doing the jig.

If you're into the heavier side of the Italian scene - ie Cervello, Biglietto per L'Inferno, Semiramis and Metamorfosi, then you'll probably want to move together with this album, find a small apartment somewhere and just hang out till one of you needs food, electricity or sex.

"Uomini Di Vento" is the closest thing to 1972 Procession found here. Francesco Francica of Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno plows a funky path, laying down a solid drum beat upon which bassist Paolo D'Angelo treads assuredly. Flute and sax solos are skillfully played by Maurizio Gianotti. Gaza's voice is in top form, retaining its warbly, emphatically powerful quality. The tone shifts dramatically on "Un Mondo Sprecato," as the singer displays a seemingly new-found tenderness. The slow tempo allows Munciguerra to explore a soaring Gilmouresque solo; finally Gaza reenters and gently closes the song on verse, which creates a sense of unresolved tension. "Un Mondo Sprecato" abruptly ends and we are treated to another stylistic change on "C'era una Volta" - to Jazz Rock this time. Sizzling cymbals support a sleazy sax while guitars chug along in the background. Suddenly, the mood shifts to upbeat Neopolitan folk, sounding not unlike Citta Frontale. This middle section fades out a little too soon for my taste, as the last three minutes build to a cliché crescendo.

Side two still suffers from an identity complex as Procession try to work through various passages, impersonating a classically symphonic RPI band at times ("Notturno"), and a folk/canzone group at others ("Il Volo Della Paura"). The title track seems to finally settle on a cohesive style, but feels too little too late. I do not regret adding Fiaba to my RPI library, but the title will be largely irrelevant for most and only mildly enjoyable for Italian Prog newbies. I recommend the debut to hear Procession in its element and at the peak of their powers; Fiaba displays a shadow of that great band trying to adapt and catch a break near the end of a creative wave.

Procession is one of my favorite bands, so when I heard that a 1972 concert had been found and remastered by Beppe Crovelle, I was thrilled! The date is 9 January 1972, and the venue is Lio Club. The concert was recorded by the first incarnation of the band, featuring three of the five members who would go on and record their first album, masterpiece Frontiera, eight months later. This iteration is unique in that it features Mario Bruno on Hammond, whereas their two studio albums don't have Hammond (although there is wonderful Mellotron). The songs are all covers, mainly (unsurprisingly, given the Hammond) Atomic Rooster, with some smattering of Led Zeppelin (beautifully suited to the heavenly voice of Gianfranco Gaza), Jethro Tull, Free, Uriah Heep, and even James Taylor. The style is therefore quite different from the first album that appeared just a few months later. Just a short time after this show, Bruno and drummer Spallino left the band, to be replaced by guitarist Roby Munciguerra and drummer Giancarlo Capello, and the rest is history.

With regard to the sound--unfortunately there aren't many great quality live recordings of Italian bands from the 1970s. The best are PFM's Cook (Live in America), Area's Are(a)zione and Banco's Seguendo le Tracce, which are good quality. But even Le Orme suffers from a lack of a good sounding live 1970s recording. So understanding that, this particular recording is of better than average bootleg quality, pretty close in sound to Le Orme's Live Orme and Locanda delle Fate's Live. As another point of reference, this concert is similar in style and concept to Quella Vecchia Locanda's live album from 1971--in fact, they both cover the same Free song, "Fire and Water." But this album sounds much better than the QVL, and in fact sounds much better than similar recordings from Museo Rosenbach, Biglietto per l'Inferno, Campo di Marte, Banco (Live "1970" but actually 1971) and Acqua Fragile. (The live albums by Corte dei Miracoli and Il Rovescio della Medaglia are different in that they present new material completely different from the studio albums, both of which sound just okay.)

But the main value of these live recordings is their historical record--we can lament what we don't have, or we can enjoy what little we do. So for me, the final grade is four stars (Gnosis 11/15), an album I'm very pleased to own. But for the site, I'm assigning three stars. Don't start the Procession here--grab and love their two studio albums, even their reunion album, before this one. But I'm a happy fan.

For a 1972 album, Frontiera sounds well recorded and produced. The small Help! label folded shortly after this release, leaving the band on hiatus for nearly two years until they signed with Fonit. I would describe Procession as a cross between Flea and early Il Balletto di Bronzo with Robert Plant singing. The guitars are also reminiscent of Led Zeppelin at times, particularly in the extensive use of 12-string. The instrument opens "Ancora Una Notte," drums and fuzz guitar join in, and massively booming bass feeds back before the whole thing roars to a stop. Acoustic guitar supports vocalist Gianfranco Gaza, whose distinctive voice gives the group exactly the gravitas it needs. "Uomini e Illusioni" features some dual-guitar riffage...again the bass is enormously omnipresent and sounds great. Drums jam and bounce while Gaza floats along the top of the whole thing. This is good, good stuff. We transition right into "Citta' Grande," my favorite song so far, and an epic middle section reminds us this is definitely RPI. A multitude of harmonized guitars and bass give way to a classical guitar interlude which somberly closes the song.

"Incontro" displays classic Torinese spirit, using mandolin and tamborine to achieve a singalong effect. This fades right into "Anche Io Sono Un Uomo" which is a dark, brooding piece amply colored with Mellotron strings. "Un Mondo Di Liberta" is the song that elevates Frontiera from three to four stars in my opinion; the song contains quite possibly the most thunderous riff in all of Italian Prog and drums that sound like fireworks going off. But this is just half the story - the eight-minute piece changes abruptly at the halfway mark, leaving Gaza to sing with only acoustic guitar support. Eventually drums and bass enter and contribute accordingly. The "Solo/Un'Ombra Che Vaga" medley starts off with straight rock swagger and then fades to another 12-string section with some clean tones added for good measure. This brief respite is plundered by a reappearance of The Riff, of which I can never get enough anyway. Finally "Solo 2" reprises its predecessor with some harmonica and lead guitar thrown in. I can't say enough good things about Frontiera and will leave it at that.

A refined line-up brought a refined sound for Procession and musically ''Fiaba'' is a lot smoother and lighter release than ''Frontiera'', albeit in the same good level, if not better.Their sound was now a mix of soft Italian Prog with plenty of Folk and Jazz elements, based on the excellent vocals of Gianfranco Gaza and the elaborate arrangements.This belongs among the most romantic releases of the Italian school of Progressive Rock, featuring beautiful vocal lines, mellow jazzy electric guitars and careful synth explorations, maybe comparable at moments with IL VOLO's works.Procession focused this time on creating more atmospheric compositions with lyrical depth than offering multiple Hard Prog attacks and their sound is often colored with elegant acoustic passages and swirling flutes.Additionally some tracks contain some well-crafted sax parts akin to VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR's album but with a more melodic content.

The next year Procession disbanded despite their decent live activity with Gaza participating in Arti E Mestieri's second album ''Giro di valzer per domani'' and Gianotti playing with the Jazz-Rock group Combo Jazz.More recently the band surfaced again under the leadership of guitarist Roby Munciguerra and released the 2006 album ''Esplorare'', consisting mostly of reworked old songs.

Another winner from the 70's Italian Prog scene.''Fiaba'' is a very nice album full of flexible material and comes strongly recommended for all fans of high quality artistic rock music...3.5 stars.

"C'era Una Volta" is laid back and something you'd hear in a smokey club back in the day. Piano leads early then the guitar cries out. Flute replaces the guitar before 2 minutes then it picks up with vocals. Some nice guitar comes and goes. It calms down then we get sax after 5 1/2 minutes. "Uomini Di Vento" opens with drums and guitar. Organ and flute join in then vocals.The flute comes and goes. The guitar 2 minutes in sounds great. "Un Mondo Sprecato" is my favourite and I raise a glass to Gianfranco who may not be singing but his inspiration can be felt from the new vocalist. Just a gorgeous intro here as reserved vocals, bass, drums and gentle guitar lead. Gulp. When the tempo picks up check out the bass ! It settles back as contrasts continue. "Esplorare" opens with bass and vocals. Great sound 1 1/2 minutes in as guitar and flute stand out.The bass continues to shine. Sax follows then the vocals replace the sax.

"Il Volo Della Paura" is mellow early with acoustic guitar and flute leading the way.Vocals a minute in. It kicks in after 1 1/2 minutes and the vocals become more passionate and I love the electric guitar that follows. Beautiful stuff. "Suite 1" is the other track that is amazing although this is like a medley with one song blending into the next. Lots of atmosphere early then the guitar comes in after 1 1/2 minutes and drums and bass follow. An explosive sound then wind can be heard. Cool. Gentle guitar then vocals follow.Vocals are passionate 3 1/2 minutes in then it kicks into gear. It turns heavier and more intense 6 minutes in then the tempo picks up. A calm after 9 minutes then it kicks back in as the tempo and mood continue to change. "Suite 2" turns heavy quickly and the drumming and synth work are outstanding. A change after 3 minutes as it settles and we get some vocal melodies too. Another change 6 1/2 minutes in as it turns aggressive with guitar,organ and drums. Passionate vocals a minute later. "Fiaba" features gentle guitar as flute joins in followed by drums and vocals. Some chunky bass too.

It is what it is (haha). An album that goes over the same old ground yet at the same time it "sounds" very good yet is still vintage. A low 4 stars and i'd suggest you check out the original albums first.