LE ORME

After the commercial departure of "Smogmagica", one might have expected LE ORME to poppify itself even more as the middle of the decade past. Instead what they produced with the help of new guitarist Germano Serafin is a superb rock album informed by 1960s enthusiasm and 70s sophistication, with progressive overtones. The rhythm section and Serafin are so formidable that "Verita Nascoste" should have been required listening for the "masters" of prog in 1976, most of whom had long since abandoned any pretense of caring for their rock roots.

For those who felt betrayed by "Toni Pagliuca" on "Smogmagica", rest assured he is back and an equal partner. In particular his synthesizer work sizzles on vibrant cuts like Regina al Troubadour", and the closer "Il gradino più stretto del cielo" before the equally exultant guitars lead the way out. The organ is more ubiquitous but employed chiefly for colour. Among the more commercial cuts that shine, "Radiofelicita" is as good as it gets, which is to say excellent, particularly in the vocal department, and the tubular bells of Michi Dei Rossi tap out a deceptively simple tune. Again the synth passages are wonderful. Some dissonance in the form of other voices and an oddly sped up ending demonstrate the group's continued wish to experiment even in a more conventional setting.

The title cut is the most mellow, and tugs at the strings be they orchestral or cardiac. Again Tagliapietra is at his best, and this might be the album that showcases his strengths better than any, but that is generally true for the whole group on "Verita Nascoste". The two opening tracks are also strong, with plenty of imaginative shifts in service of a loosely unified whole, and rich acoustic dimensions. Only "Vedi Amsterdam..." and "I Salmoni" lack originality and verve, sounding somewhat strident and more like a group following a trend than setting one.

I have made few comparisons to anyone in this review, because the energy level on "Verita Nascoste" is beyond what one might expect from a pre-punk mid 70s product, but also far superior to what followed in the punk and new wave genres. Still, I hear in the more aggressive passages some of the angst of the best rock groups from the turn of the 70s, such as THE CLASH. I shudder to place too much emphasis on this, because those groups were shackled by the 3 minute tune and plowed a singular furrow, albeit well. LE ORME set the pace using a multidimensional strategy, and that's the hidden truth as I see it.

A second major departure for LE ORME in as many albums, "Smogmagica" sees the addition of a full time, if temporary, guitarist Tolo Marton, who not only provides the group with its first guitar oriented album, but also with vocals here and there to offset those of Mr Tagliapietra. For many, merely introducing guitar as a major instrument to the Le Orme sound constituted blasphemy of the highest order, but add in the clear influence of America and the Los Angeles recoding environs and you can pretty much write this one off in the eyes of the prog public both then and now.

Yet this is a vast improvement over the vapid "Contrappunti". It is true that some vestiges of the dead end compositions of that album remain, particularly in the dreary "Laserium Floyd", possibly engendered by the popular laser light shows that made planetariums the cool places for teenagers during the mid 70s. And the closer "Laurel Canyon" is an ersatz mid 70s blues-rock instrumental reminiscent of FLEETWOOD MAC in all the wrong ways. But "Los Angeles" breathes a firestorm of new life into a group seeking a credible new sound, a workable mix of Marton's licks and the old Le Orme sound circa Uomo. "Amico di Ieri" and "Immensa distesa" are both gorgeous wistful ballads also very much in the prior style.

A decidedly pop prog vein is mined in two quirky songs, "Ora o mai più" and "Amanti Di Città", which sound ahead of their time, reminding me of some of FRANCO BATTIATO's 80s work. Granted, this might not be the fodder for progarchives listeners, but they nonetheless exhibit a good deal more imagination than most of their English progenitors at this stage, not to mention rather catchy melodies.

For those who enjoy successful transitions to a more accessible style by prog bands, "Smogmagica" remains a breath of fresh air to this day.

After two sweepingly lyrical and melodic exercises in the bombast, LE ORME shifted direction rather dramatically. "Contrappunti" holds mere remnants of the elements that helped forge two early 70s classics. The playing remains impressive but mostly for its own sake, while the voice of Aldo Tagliapietra takes a back seat to the increasingly ELP and Yes-ish keyboard marathons unfeelingly juxtaposed with eerie organ passages that sound like soundtracks to B grade Italian horror flicks. I do not stand in the way of a group's attempts at evolution, and would gladly applaud when the results take on human form.

While "Uomo di Pezza" and "Felona e Serona" were more composition than song oriented, with occasional and generally appropriate unstructured romps, "Contrappunti" fails at both levels, and exposes Le Orme's considerable deficiencies in the songwriting department at this point in their history. Sure, "Frutto Acerbo" has the trademark sweet melodies, and "La fabbricante d'angeli" uses synths to approximate flutes, and is fairly similar to the "Felona" style until it teeters off the precipice in the final minute, an anti climax if there ever was one. The longest track "Maggio" alternately sparkles and stagnates, as the experimental ambient sounds that plague the album opener, "Aliante", and "Notturno" restore the malaise.

Perhaps I am just not a sufficiently discerning listener, but "Contrappunti" lives up to its name a bit too much, shifting indelicately about when I wish it wouldn't, and holding still far too long when I wish it would break out. I think I'll punt this one to the sidelines.

The best progressive music acknowledges the dark and light sides of humanity and of our existence on this earth and beyond. In that sense works like "The Wall" and "Tales From Topographic Oceans", as significant as they may be, are flawed in their consistent pessimism and optimism respectively, and LE ORME's oft regarded pinnacle represents the archetypal expression of life's perennial dichotomies. This is a tale of two planets, one radiant and the other eternally bitter, so far apart in space. The story itself may hardly be headline news, but the music herein and the manner in which it communicates the schism certainly are.

While the individual track lengths are mostly modest, each leads into the next such that "Felona and Serona" flows like a suite, or two suites, the first 4 tracks more or less depicting Felona and the last 5 Serona. The black cloud over the better of these 2 (Felona) is that it was reprised even more potently in 1997 at LE ORME's Progday appearance, so I only ever listen to it in that rendition. But the silver lining is that the original studio version still eclipses 99% of what was and is out there for sheer clarity of musical vision, not to mention rapturous vocals conveying scintillating melodies and keyboard, bass and percussive histrionics to draw the emotional well up within any red blooded symphonic progger. The 9 minute opening segment and the epilogue "L'Equilbrio" are the best of the best.

On the flipside, the music is more maudlin and subdued, appropriately so, but just doesn't plumb the depths one would wish to contrast with the heights of part 1. The "Serona" part is reflective and profoundly sad but doesn't draw one in enough. However, the acoustic oriented "All'infuori del tempo" and the organ and moog frenzy of "Ritorno al nulla" do come close to, and in some aspects surpass what we experienced on Felona.

LE ORME demonstrates in barely 33 minutes how the sweet loving lady and her dreary self obsessed twin each need the better part of each other for completeness, which is all but achieved in this landmark effort.

EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER's influence in progressive rock is undeniable, and they touched young musicians across the globe during their heyday to the present. Many followed the bombastic and technically brilliant keyboards of Keith Emerson, sometimes to the point of blatant idiolatry. Those that moved beyond mimicry did so by infusing the Emersonian with their own vision of the classic inspiration, and, of these, LE ORME were arguably the prime exponents. Allowing for the fact that they were a also a trio in which the bass player sang and occasionally doubled as guitarist, LE ORME not only stood out from the imitators but from the masters themselves with their warm romantic vision, something rarely hinted at by ELP, and first brought to bear on "Uomo Di Pezza".

While Toni Pagliuca's organs dominate from the outset in "Una Delcezza Nuova" and elsewhere, sometimes to a fault as in "Alienazione", his synthesizers in "La Porta Chiusa" are just as impressive and enthusiastic. Aldo Tagliapietra's voice is both assertive and soothing, and his frequently wrought acoustic guitar and bass, and Michi Dei Rossi's drums lay a formidable groundwork for the rich melodies throughout, perhaps the best of these being on "Figure Di Cartone", which also includes Aldo's trademark acoustic guitar. Le Orme could wax reflective too, as in the profoundly expectant "Aspettando l'Alba", which needs to be heard with headphones for full effect. The most romantic and playful number is "Gloco Di Bimba", which sounds like it could have been rendered as a oourtly dance 400 or 500 years ago, sans electronica.

Whereas early PFM could be too moody for my tastes, and I could never quite get BANCO, LE ORME, on several albums including this one, seems "just right", and is recommended as a starting point for those wanting to explore the RPI of the 70s.

Such a powerful live set, by means of a couple of audio cd's plus one DVD, which you won' t soon forget but-rather I should say, you would like to collect as a new surprising set...well honestly the quality of the product is not aligned with the best production for instance coming from the sound by Terry Brown or other excellent sound engineers, but the output is very good anyway!! Le Orme are an ever green band and the excerpt from "L' Infinito" is really majestic and enriched with a strong section of mellotron too...of course the sound is classic, but it's a sort of trademark by the immortal italian band. There are also "introspective" moments like in "La Voce del Silenzio" or within "La ruota del cielo", without forgetting the most powerful moments like in the famous suite "Felona and Sorona" and other old jewels...unfortunately They have not included a couple of remarkable recent suites like "Il Fiume" and "Elements", which would have given a clear idea of the new modern sound by Le Orme to the crowd; besides their fans could have got an inkling of their sound evolution (even though sometimes their recent albums are regarded to be very close to "Six wives of Henry the eighth" and "King Arthur & the knights of the round table" by R. Wakeman, being with an old mood..)...never mind, coming to the present live issue, it's a new small piece of their fantastic career and you are not tired when you listen to their usual ballads or hit singles (the soft song "Gioco di Bimba" is a typical example)!!

So Long Live Le Orme and...choose them once again!!

Elementi certainly sees a shift from the classic darker sound of Le Orme (I have no albums between Contrappunti and this so it's possible their sound has changed prior to Elementi) to a far more positive sound. Le Orme puts a toe into the world of Neo-prog with this one. As a concept album (although I have no little idea about the concept) this album is full of reprises and recurring themes.

As you could probably figure out, the first three songs are more of a suite since "Il Vento, Il Cielo E La Notte" is bookended by parts 1 and 2 of "Danza Del Vento." The two dances do a good job at setting a positive mood with their enthusiasm. "Il Vento" starts off with 1.5 minutes of the most beautiful voice in music working with some delicate instruments. An extremely cheesy 80s-esque guitar solo comes in for a while then things switch between the beauty of the beginning of the song, the wind dance, and the 80s cheese.

"Danza Della Terra" brings us our first foray into the ominous Le Orme music of old. A setting created by the bass drums, bass guitar and keys almost makes you forget about the joy displayed earlier.

"Risveglio" is probably my favorite track here (although it's hard to single out a single thread in this fantastically interwoven cloth). It eases up on the bleak atmosphere from the previous track. The keyboards, as usual, play a crucial role here. Aldo's vocals bring a beautiful sadness to the mix which fades into a more hopeful tone with the encouragement of the other instruments during the choruses.

"Canto Di Preghiera" sets a haunting mood with its acappella choral-style "oh oh oh"s which are joined by some keys and drums to add to the effect.

"Lord of Dance" is sung in English (for some reason) and the lyrics make no sense without the background set up by the previous tracks. Anyway, this track starts off rocking with their most exciting use of synths yet and maintains the energy throughout the song.

"Danza Della Pioggia" is a soft piano piece with some strings in the background. It's quite good.

"Dove Tutto E" is all about the sitar. It starts off beautiful without a clear mood then turns into a happier piece you might expect to hear somewhere on Tales From Topographic Oceans or maybe a little like "Don of the Universe" by The Flower Kings. "Dove Tutto E" then flows into "Luca Dorata" which is somewhat of a reprise of the first half of "Dove Tutto E."

"Luce Dorata" is a organ and synth based song which seems to take a very roundabout way to transition from the previous instrumental to the next two tracks.

"Danza Del Fuoco" seems to be the most ELP-inspired piece due mainly to the keyboards. It's the instrumental half of the fire element and "Il Respiro" is the vocal half. Le Orme's idea of fire is toned down a fair deal from what other comparable bands would do. It's still a good duo but I feel like they should have made it a bit more fiery (improper English perhaps but "fierier" sounds weird).

The third part of "Danza Del Vento" is once again a continuation of the wind suite from the beginning but it does serve as a good lead-in to the energetic reprisal of "Risveglio."

Elementi is easily on par with classic Le Orme works. I absolutely love this album and recommend it to anyone who wants a bit of accessible beauty in the form of music. Giving this 4 stars is the only option in my mind because it lacks that special something to be a masterpiece.

Incredible mixture of space rock, crossover prog and electronic music

Fourth studio album by Le Orme - Felona e Sorona, is probably their artistic and musical peak and their best album as whole. Le Orme is quite different band, than it's italian fellows - PFM, BMS and others. Especially their fourth album - Felona e Sorona doesn't contains typical symphonic style of most f the italian bands and albums. And this different and uncommon style of Le Orme makes them highly interesting and attracting band. Felona e Sorona is very well structured album with perfect expressiveness collected in only 33 minutes. It tells about two planets with totally different mood and existence. It could be felt everywhere in the first and second part of the album. The sound is highly keyboards-saturated with mainly synthesizers in there. As a tradition for italians, drumming style is from outer space. Highly recommended album for space and crossover fans. Treasure of irregular prog sound from this latitudes. 4.5 stars

Italian genuine piece of progressive rock

I own this CD since 2002, but I did not pay much atention to it until recently. At that time I found so many new stuff released by the same label in Brazil (Rock Symphony Records) I simpy had to much to listen. But now I decided it was time to give it some new spins and I was quite impressed by it. Le Orme did some weak stuff after they released a string of outstanding records in the 70´s. Well, they were not the only ones not to feel confortable in the 80´s. So I was a little skeptical when I bought it. But at least it was not expensive and it had a great cover done by Paul Whitehead (Genesis).

I´m glad to say I was very surprised by what I heard. This CD seems to come right from the 70´s. Their music soars and the ELP and Genesis influences (specially the former) are very clear. They have two new keyboard players, but orignal members Aldo Tagliapietra (bass, vocals, guitars, sitar) and Michi Dei Rossi (drums & percussion) are there, and in great form. In fact, Tagliapietra is actually singing even better than in the 70´s! A very nice touch! I just loved the record, although it is a bit short for today´s standards (just 42 minutes of music). they could have come with something longer than that.

The CD as a whole is excellent, but I must point out one of prog´s most beautiful songs: Il Vento, Il Ciello E La Notte, a very poignant number with emotional vocals and an instrumental that givers me goose bumps every time I hear it. (nice violin here played by one fo the keybodists, Andrea Bossato). The production is also top notch. If you´re into 70´s symphonic prog, italian or otherwise, you should not miss this one. Four strong stars, no doubt.

"L'infinito" and "Elementi" the last two LE ORME albums are the best works they've done since "Contrappunti" in my opinion.Now i'll admit that these two latest albums don't stand up well to those classic LE ORME albums we all know and love,but for me both are solid 4 star recordings.Paul Whitehead once again does a great job with the cover art.By the way this is the final installment of the trilogy. "II Tuono E La Luce" opens with mellotron-like sounds as drums join in.This drummer is quite bombastic at times.Guitar after a minute as drums and those mellotron-like waves continue. "La Voce Del Silenzio" opens with organ as reserved vocals join in.It starts to brighten a minute in.A full sound follows as the guitar soars beautifully.Solo piano takes over then the vocals return.Melancholic synths replace vocals.It blends into "Shanti" as the organ starts to pulse as piano,bass then light drums join in.Vocals 2 minutes in. "L'infinito" features orchestral keys as drums pound away.Mellotron-like sounds after 2 1/2 minutes as it settles, then vocals arrive. "Si Puo Immaginare" opens with what sounds like harpsichord as vocals join in.A fuller sound 1 1/2 minutes in with drums and organ joining in.Violin after 2 1/2 minutes as drums pound.Organ takes the lead after 4 minutes then vocals return late. "II Tempio Sul Lago" opens with solo piano for over a minute then these strings(keyboards) take over before the piano returns to end it. "Questo E II Mattino" is a 40 second vocal only track. "Canto" opens with piano as vocals join in.Synths replace the vocals.Guitar and a full sound after 2 minutes.Nice.Solo piano after 3 1/2 minutes as themes are repeated.Great tune. "La Ruota Del Cielo" features sitar and atmosphere.Reserved vocals and drums join in.Violin after 3 1/2 minutes.Spoken words end it. "Tra La Luna E Il Solo" opens with acoustic guitar melodies as reserved vocals join in.Drums and organ after a minute. "Il Come Onde Sull'Oceano" opens with some great organ as drums and orchestral keys follow.Guitar then takes the lead. "L'infinito(Reprise)" is exactly that.Drums,vocals and mellotron-like waves.Just an incredible sound. Lots of piano on this one while the other keyboardist plays synths and also creates mellotron and orchestral-like sounds.Some emotion in this album as well for me.