ALAN SORRENTI

Alan Sorrenti's trip into the Experimental Rock fields continued a year after ''Aria'' with the album ''Come un vecchio incensiere all'alba di un villaggio deserto'', again released on Harvest and recorded at the Island Studios in London between February and March 73'.A very special line- up surrounds Sorrenti, like drummer/percussionist Toni Esposito, Curved Air's Francis Monkman on synths, piano and guitar and Van Der Graaf Generator's David Jackson on flutes.

Despite the upgraded line-up the music remains in the same vein of Sorrenti's debut as well as the album's structure, including the sidelong eponymous 23-min. track.The first side is atonal, depressive and very lyrical Experimental/Folk Rock, highlighted by Sorrenti's unique vocal workouts.In this album Sorrenti's approach comes even closer to the emotional side of PETER HAMMILL and the music is mainly driven by his acoustic guitars.There are though plenty of piano exercises, smooth flute parts and haunting violin strings, that ensure to create a very cosmic and almost frightening atmosphere.The sidelong suite of the second side finds Sorrenti at his more extreme phase.This is not actually what I would call music, this is a completely dissonant and cacophonous collection of sparse sounds, full of Sorrenti's wordless vocals and cries along with dominating percussion and acoustic guitars, while the few singing parts have a cosmic theatrical approach with floating synths, pianos and flutes, which add a sporadic orientation to the composition, that as a whole is a rather painful experience.

From this point pn Sorrenti's career took slowly a more commercial approach from album to album, resulting to a succesful career until the mid-90's, even including a performance at the Eurovision song contest.His second album lacks the balanced delicacy of ''Aria'', the first side is listenable with some interesting moments, the second one though is sure to please only fans of extreme Experimental/Avant-Garde expreriences...2.5 stars.

It´s a bird! It´s a plane -No, no, no hang on a minute you were right the first time...

I was talking to Pierre (our local duck in the RPI den) about this record, and rightly so, he said that one should look at Alan Sorrenti not as a singer, but as a bird. Words of wisdom right there, and ever since that conversation took place, I´ve listened to this album with a big smirk on my face and countless images of storks and ibises flying around my head. It´s his voice that makes this comparison apt, and I promise you once you´ve heard this album, you´re not likely going to forget it anytime soon. This guy probably has one of the most charismatic and unique voices ever to ornament the face of any rock music.

Going through these different "voices" within his voice is like looking for individual blades of grass on a green meadow. There seems to be an endless amount of them. Just to give you an idea of this guy´s enormous vocal talents, I´ll name a few styles of his. First of all he has a gentle touch, when the song craves for it and he can sound almost female-like with gentle whispers and sensuousness oozing out of the phrasings. On several occasions, I´ve sponsored quite the crush on him, only to be ripped out of my newly found love with the sudden change of his singing - now turning into frantic and demonic yells. These high pitched squawks of Sorrenti might lead you into believing, that he´s only a mere Hammill impersonator, but that is far from the truth. Hammill never had this vocal range, and furthermore I don´t think he´ll ever be as eloquent in Italian. That being said, there is definite signs of Van Der Graff Generator in this music. Sorrenti does frequently use that theatrical way of wrapping his lips around the words, and the music accompanying this spectacle could also make your mind wander towards the organ lead cacophony of VDGG, but here the similarities end. Comprised by a hefty dosage of acoustic guitars with a medieval flavour - almost resembling the old jester with his lute - jumping around in sheer exuberance and carelessness, Aria is heavily rooted in the Italian folk music tradition. It´s chuck full of evil sounding rock n´ roll organs, heavy breathing wind instruments and the bass lines to back this up, - but still the soul of this recording is to be found in the old Mediterranean folk musics. Adding to this theory of mine, is the way that French violinist Jean-Luc Ponty plays his instrument on here. People who´ve heard this guy with Zappa or on his solo albums, will probably associate Ponty with those kinds of musics, but just remember that Aria is the zany and otherworldly bridge that unites such genres as classical, folk, rock n´ roll and the avant guarde, - and in this wonderful mess he doesn´t sound out of place, but rather fits in like a disguised cuckoo in the chicken coop.

Getting back to Monsieur Sorrenti and his tender vocal phrasings, people need to understand just how much out of the ordinary this album must have sounded like back then. Italy is first and foremost known for its impeccable and refined usage of melodies. Be that in their traditional folk music or inside the world of classical composers - this has always been a defining trademark of theirs. Try listening to the differences between Wagner and Puccini with a classical connoisseur, and almost immediately you´ll be facing these huge differences in both temper and angular design, but firstly in the sweet and melodic way that Puccini´s music presents itself. This is a highly melodic nation of people, and to have a young guy with obvious vocal talents come out of the blue with clear connotations to the wild and blurry avant guardistic and abrasive sides of the human voice, obliterating and alternating the well-known acoustical guitar ballads and traditional folk laden musics all at once with the flick of a switch - and with a voice of a thousand eagles............... - must´ve been quite the change. I for one would love to have experienced this first hand in down town Naples with a bottle of red wine by my side.

You! Yes, you! Indeed, I'm talking about you. You're not going to love this album, I'm quite sure about it. Not that this album is extremely bad. It's just not Prog, only Pop. This happens because of policy of ProgArchives to add complete discographies (so with such prolific artists, this kind of things happens). Some simply concentrate more on Pop albums that on what's revolving here on 'chives.

It's enjoyable, when you want to just relax and listen "easy" music. But that's not enough for this album to get high rating. I wonder how high ratings it gets on "normal" music servers. That doesn't matter much. Actually, it's doesn't matter at all here.

2(-), for pleasant, yet anti-Prog album. It's not offending and/or leaving me in disgust though.

A breath of fresh Aria

My Rating: 9/10.

Before taking the path of commercial success with songs like "Figli delle stelle" and "Tu sei l'unica donna per me", Alan Sorrenti wrote prog music. Have you ever listed to "Figli delle stelle"? If you are not italian, as I am, I think not. Well, I don't want to judge but ...ehm... I don't like this song very much 'cause it's nothing more or less than 70's disco / 80's pop or something.

So imagine my surprise when I learned that Alan Sorrenti had to his credit a couple of prog album! And now imagine my surprise when hearing "Aria" the first time I realized it was a very good album. And when, at the second hearing, I thought that the title track suite was a masterpiece. Today I listened to this record probably at least thirty times and I can safely say that Aria is my favorite suite of Italian prog with Banco's "Il Giardino del Mago".

A delicate guitar arpeggio introduces Aria, the suite of nearly 20 minutes which is the highlight of the record. The voice of Sorrenti is soft initially but soon, when the music becomes more frantic, it turns and becomes rougher, and more intense and dramatic tones emerge suddendly, in a style very close to Peter Hammill. Acoustic moments alternated instrumental crescendo with typically Mediterranean percussion style and great demonstrations of virtuosity of Jean Luc Ponty on the violin. Note that the keyboards do not have large space in favor of other instruments much closer to latin tradition. The lyrics seem to be related to a mental trip, a dream or something, until the final part of the song, where is a sudden return to reality: Attraverso i vetri della mia stanza io guardo fuori, e fuori piove / e nelle gocce sospese alla ringhiera vedo le perle della tua corona / Aria, in ogni angolo della mia stanza io ti sto cercando / Aria, sull'asfalto bagnato della mia strada io ti sto inseguendo e tu ti stai sciogliendo / Aria, io sento che ti sto perdendo (Through the windows of my room I look outside and outside it's raining / In drops hanging from the railing I see the gems of your crown / Air, in every corner of my room I'm looking for you / Air, on the wet om my street I'm chasing you and you're melting / Air, I feel that I'm losing you).

The second track, Vorrei Incontrarti is a delicate acoustic ballad, much more simple and melodic, very relaxing and beautiful. The final two song are more complex: La Mia Mente, with a lot of piano and mellotron parts, reminds me the Hammill style quite clearly and so well the final track Un Fiume Tranquillo, that stands out for its large use of wind instruments. In conclusion a great album that will appeal to fans of ethnic and folk prog, maybe a little less to fans of symphonic prog and other groups of the 70's italian scene, too much oriented towards a music dominated by keyboards.

A masterpiece of italian prog: after many hearing (and you need a lot of hearing to understand this work), I give 5 stars to it.

P.S. For VDGG fans only: If you want to hear the "italian answer to Peter".... what are you waiting for?

Best song: Aria

Nice ten-minute single!

Italy has provided us with some of the best voices in the world, well I know all is subjective and everyone has its favorites, but at least within the realm of progressive rock, I am sure some Italian singers are really recognized and loved by people of different parts of the globe. One of them, whose voice actually is hated by another considerable amount of people, is the mighty Alan Sorrenti, who was born in 1950 and whose first two albums are a clear example of experimentation towards progressive rock.

Anyway, that long introduction was just in order to add a few words to this short review. His second album which I really like was entitled "Come un Vecchio Incensiere all'Alba di un Villagio Deserto" and released in 1973, one year after his debut and brilliant "Aria". This second album features five songs including the title track which lasts over 20 minutes, but well, this review is not about that album, but about its single. "Una Luce si Accende" was the chosen one as the single song, so this "album" starts with that piece, and finishes with "A te che Dormi" also taken from the mentioned studio album. Both complete nine minutes of nice music.

The first one is a beautiful composition that has a cello creating a cute atmosphere, accompanied by Sorrenti's voice and his acoustic guitar. Seconds later piano enters and adds a new essence to the existent atmosphere. At half the song, it changes and explodes, his voice is sublime, strong and sensible, while the music sounds too experimental and builds new images. Then the track slows down again and for a couple of minutes, but again explodes and turns weirder. It finishes with a nice violin sound, an excellent song.

And the second track is shorter and less experimental. Acoustic guitars with soft vocals all over the song, maybe the experimentation comes with the vocals, where he is not pronouncing words but just sounds.

As almost all the singles I have reviewed, this one receives also two stars, despite I really like the first song, I believe nine minutes of music cannot be considered a good addition for any prog lover, I would actually recommend it only for Sorrenti and RPI lovers. Anyway?

Enjoy it!

Genius to some, dreadful to others--I understand both views

Alan Sorrenti was born in Wales and later worked from Naples, releasing a few prog albums in the early 70s before switching to commercial pop in 1976. He is the brother of Jenny Sorrenti of Saint Just fame, and his debut Aria is notable for featuring the famed violinist Jean-Luc Ponty as a collaborator.

Aria is an experimental album featuring vocals that can only be described as a free-form experiment, they dominate the music like some animated avant-garde poetry reading over folk/chamber music. Actually the music is more of a dark cloaked, ethnic folk and acoustic blend, with generous keys, creating a murky pool over which Sorrenti lays down vocals that are among the most interesting you will ever hear. As someone used to Italian vocals which have a reputation for being difficult (though rarely deserved in my opinion), I can tell you that this album will test your limits for vocal histrionics. Here Sorrenti's baying at the moon makes Peter Hammill sound like Cat Stevens. If that sounds harsh I suppose it is because I don't really like the Sorrenti vocals, though I'll endure them for the unique music presented here. The centerpiece track "Aria" opens very quietly and acoustic, you might think you're in for something like "Rivendell" or "Granchester Meadow." But it changes quite quickly as melancholic piano and cymbals are added along with the beginnings of Mr. Sorrenti's long, hallucinogenic vocal trip. He basically turns his voice into an instrument and he moves up and down the register in a way that can seem random, he explores places which seem out of his natural range, and he provides and endless repertoire of unusual noises, bleats, and groans. And he keeps it up almost constantly which is one of my biggest complaints. More restraint or some longer places to breath would have helped the overall piece. Then again, if you like his spiel here you are in for a treat. Bass and violin soon follows as the piece gets more tension filled and spooky. I think if you cranked this album on the big speakers in your garage, a neighbor would have the police there in about 5 minutes. Horns and organ make appearances as well as the track either overstays it welcome or you get lost in the waves, there's no easy way to predict who will like this and who will not. Side two is broken in to three shorter tracks which offer more diversity but still suffer from the overbearing vocals. There is beautiful melody and interesting progressions here but it is sometimes a challenge to follow them through the vocals. I enjoy difficult music and can find beauty in harsh places as you will know if you read my reviews, but I'm just not sold that Sorrenti is as amazing as others think he is:

"Creating a blend of folk with a melodic, avant-garde jazz backdrop, Sorrenti has rendered a vocal tapestry on par with anything Van Morrison or Peter Hammill has had the energy to commit to tape. Aria is a blend of the most sophisticated form of symphonic folk I have ever heard. At times Sorrenti weaves his way through his tunes like an emblazoned Peter Hammill with VdGG, only to recess back to the solitude of a melancholy troubadour, evoking images of a soul in suspended animation." -Fantasyman, RYM

This is an atypical RPI album that was as bold and challenging as other acclaimed works like Battisti's "Anima Latina" or Battiato's "Sulle Corde di Aries." While not a favorite of mine I recognize the tortured genius (or is the pointlessly irritating and self-absorbed)? I can only recommend the album to those interested in the most challenging approaches to music, to lovers of the weird and the avant-garde. At the end of the day I feel it has the potential for brilliance, but rather than tempering the vocal a bit he just drives it into the ground. It's a tough album yet still a good one, and perhaps more. Read my friend LinusW's wonderful review which while different from mine I completely accept---there is beauty here, it's just going to take me more time to find it.

Can't tell whether this is a rarity or a major classic in the Italian prog history but at least I was was very pleased to hear it, without knowing anything about the artist in advance. There are relatively many reviews on this (so, it is a classic, I suppose?) - I'm just giving my own first impressions. The album consists of the near-20-minute epic title track and three tracks between 5 and 8 minutes. Quite soon I had one specific artist in my mind: PETER HAMMILL/ VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, especially on the wide range of singing (which has been compared to TIM BUCKLEY's most far-out works too) and on the overall attmosphere, which is a bit eerie and haunting. What a great harmony between the cover art and the music!

Unlike in VDGG there is no sax, but Jean-Luc Ponty's appearance as a violinist gives more or less the same flavour. You hear also hammond, accordion, trombone, trumpet and synth harp, but the vocals and acoustic guitar of the leading man remains in focus. The music has some kind of spontaneity and deep emotional impact just like Hammill in the early VDGG. Some parts are not so 'nice' listening but the interest is kept pretty well all through the epic, as well as on the three shorter tracks. One really needs to listen to this music many times before knowing it well. Hopefully I'm still to find many more levels and emotions in this album.

01. Aria

Well, we started Alan's trip with beautiful guitars and a blowing wind. Meanwhile grouped with the keyboard, melodies and voices. The voice of Alan is very beautiful, is kind of a falsetto all the time. This large first part of the melody is crooked, and full of hairpin bends of feelings. The bass line of Vittorio Nazzaro is strange, but good. The range is increasing at an unprecedented and immersive. Alan's vocals are totally sick (laughs) in a way that I had not seen it before. The violin of Jean Luc Ponty appears here and there at various times. Shortly after 8 minutes the track falls a little in speed with the guitar in the foreground dictating a syncopated rhythm, but calm. A cue for the voice of Alan that still crazy. After only 9 minutes and a half is that the drums kicks in to let the music with a face of 'real music' (laughs). The drummer Antonio Esposito has a good feeling, with quick turns. Keyboardist has much to 'blame', he's responsable for a good part of the sound here. At 12 minutes the track changes again, this time with the acoustic guitar solo of Nazzaro, while Alan makes a hallucinating rhythm. Of course, the violin of Jean is everywhere. One more change at 16 minutes and the calm takes over the heart of our beloved singer. I could not find the lyrics of this track, but it does not seem to repeat any verse, and he did not stop singing any minute (laughs). At the end a percussion 'balmy' takes the violin 'burning' in delirium.

02. Vorrei incontrarti

Pretty introduction, I think that into our digital era the two tracks would be nice if they were together (Aria and this one) seems natural to me. Acoustic guitar, the vocals this time throughout the first part is sweet and melodic, after only two minutes in a part of vocalizations is that it is affected a little. And in this crazy infects till the accordion from Albert that appears, giving a good mood for the music. The whistle ends unscathed.

03. La Mia Mente

Guys, it eerily reminded me Dança Das Borboletas from the first solo album by ZÉ RAMALHO which reminds me too much Astronomy Domine, opening track of The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967) from PINK FLOYD. Highlight to the bass, great line. In this song I'm not sure if there is a letter or Alan simply sings whatever comes to mind (as the track name suggests).

04. Un Fiume Tranquillo

We've started with a tense melody in the cello of Tony Bonfil and a good piano line. And once again we are bombarded from all of the sides with vocals and melodies without end of our beloved Alan Sorrenti. At 4 minutes he puts fire in it with a guitar base, the drums together, good base for some madness. Return the birds, we are in the square (imagine!), But something is not right, perhaps a madman on the street trying to kill someone with a knife in his hand? Perhaps only someone in the street with his head on fire for your thoughts and deadly dangerous if not cleared his thought, it can be bad, very bad.

This album is without doubt very different, a little crazy sometimes but in a good way.

Intriguing and very beautiful, Aria is a slightly convoluted listening experience that stays with you for quite some time. Alan Sorrenti manages to evoke both subtle and confronting soundscapes with remarkable depth and precision at a detail level, which makes the album a different experience every time, and succeeds in taking you to different states of mind depending on what mood you're in.

Melancholic and meditative at heart, but with an underdog edge and passion that makes the music soar from time to time, positively vibrating with a tense, direct presence. Part of this success lies in Sorrenti's stunning vocal talents, with an acrobatic fragility that tells a story of its own regardless of the musical backing. He twists and turns the meaning and expression in every word - sometimes simply because he can.

Dominated by the twenty minute long title piece, it's hard to pinpoint any specific musical direction. Perhaps it's best described as a foundation of spacey folk and Italian melodrama drawing on a number of ethnic influences, which then builds up and descends into excursions of other styles. Never is this more apparent than on the epic song Aria. Humbly starting with understated guitar and sweet and mellow keys with a windy, cold effect in the background, the mood is set instantaneously; wistful, lonely, rainy and autumnal. Meandering slowly onwards, the song efficiently envelops in a series of dynamic percussion subtleties, naked piano runs and expressive, meaningful guitar phrases. The composition is so accurate, so natural, so very carefully applied you wilfully get lost in its intricacies. And all of a sudden the song's picked up speed in a near-symphonic mini-crescendo, with a strong base of organ and a whirling, individualistic violin performance from Jean-Luc Ponty (wonderful addition), neatly complementing and accentuating Sorrenti's spontaneous vocals. Further down the road, Aria captures the spirit of the first six or so minutes, but flesh out the influences and styles even further. It visits familiar, mysterious symphonic forays of bands such as Museo Rosenbach, Celtic as well as Latin delicacies, Battiato-esque percussion and even dares an approach to almost jazz territory. And all of the time maintaining that dreamy, complex style that makes it all so fascinating.

With the exception of Vorrei Incontrarti, which has a decidedly more romantic, ballad-like and simpler edge, the rest of the songs follow the same pattern as Aria. Perhaps never as successfully, emotionally charged or as accurately, but still with the same artistic goal to them, in taking something familiar and turning into something new, explorative and way more colourful and daring than it appears at first glance. This is the strength of the great progressive Italian singer-songwriters of the seventies, and this might very well be one of the best examples of it, far removed from the sentimental sweetness often associated with the country during later decades.

4 stars.

//LinusW

After the huge success of the single "Tu sei l'unica donna per me", an easy melodic pop song from his previous album LA. & N.Y., Alan Sorrenti released in 1980 the album "Di notte", more focused on easy pop songs than on disco music. The single chosen to promote the album was "Non so che darei" but the success was not so huge as "Tu sei l'unica donna per me". With "Non so che darei" the artist took part to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 and classified in sixth position. The album features also an English version of this song an other pop songs that I fear can't be of any interest for prog lovers. After this album the career and the personal life of Alan Sorrenti passed through a long period of crises from where he, at least artistically, never re-emerged.