IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA

Never thought I'd run into a real vinyl copy of this but ran across one last week. This album is both an oddity but also something any die hard RDM fan should track down. Getting a physical copy might not be that easy as it never came out on CD, and was very limited in its 1988 (some research shows the vinyl stampers say 1981) release. Why should we track this down? It is a very different take on the RDM of Contaminazione fame. Most fans thought they'd expired after their third album, but this release bears witness to where they were at in 1975. First, this album is very different from their previous three albums, with the first two as proto prog heavy guitar rock, the materpiece Contamanazione as intricate keyboard heavy symphonic prog and Giudizio Avrai as....well I guess space rock is the closest you could come. Not the full on furry freak space rock of Hawkwind, but an elegant and classically tinged space rock where most of the album consists of keyboard heavy quartet improvisations with guitar taking mostly a back seat. . Recorded live in 1975 (RDML 75) in front of a smallish audience, the listener might trend towards wistful and sympathetic. The band is jamming improvs and usually hitting the mark in front of a tiny crowd. The once mighty Rovescio Della Medaglia, owners of the largest self contained deafening sound system and light show in all of Italy hamstrung by getting all of their gear (a tractor trailer full) stolen after a show in Rome, effectively bringing the band to an abrupt halt. By 1975, the band was without lead singer Pino Ballarini who had to leave the country for Switzerland to restore some level of sanity, health and calm. The most recent member, Franco di Sabbatino on keys tries to hold everything together, with mostly successful but occasionally mixed results. Some of the jams are on the edge of almost disintegrating right in front of us, reminiscent of Jazz Odyssey from Spinal Tap, but right away they jump into a spirited improv that can take you places you'd never guess. Flickers of themes run briefly through some of the songs on side 2, just a whisper of Contaminazione material pops up a couple of times and disappears just as quickly. Bursts of guitar come and go quickly but the rhythm section ably tries to both follow and lead as necessary. There are no recognizable full songs on here as it is divided into five parts of the same name (giudizio avrai roughly means 'judgement you will have') Sound quality is very good, better than some live albums of the era. Highly recommended for major RDM fans, and for RPI fans, a brief view of a band taking a turn towards space rock just before breaking up-a curiosity rarely seen in Italy. 3.5 stars for RPI folks-a nice addition to a larger RPI collection. A treasure for RDM fans.

In the second half of the Nineties I discovered the captivating and varied Classic Italian Prog, due to the fact that more and more Italian labels started to put rare LP's on CD, as a reissue, from Zarathustra by Museo Rosenbach and DNA by Jumbo to Inferno by Metamorfosi, and Contaminazione (1973) by Rovescio Della Medaglia, generally considered as one of the gems of Classic Italian Prog. But their debut album La Bibbia (1971) is a totally different story, to me it sounds like a quirky blend of hardrock, psychedelia and experimental, with a lot of raw guitars and vocals, and without keyboards.

In 2011 guitar player Enzo Vita gave new life to RDM releasing a new album Microstorie with Roberto Tiranti (New Trolls) on vocals. In 2016 the new RDM (with Enzo as the only original member) released a new album entitled Tribal Domestic, a return to a progressive and symphonic rock sound as the third album Contaminazione. In 2017 Enzo Vita contacted bassist Andrea Castelli to form also a live-band to bring on stages once again RDM music. From this collaboration they released Contaminazione 2.0, recorded live in San Galgano and totally focused on their album Contaminazione. And now RDM presents a completely re-recorded and re-arranged version of the La Bibbia album from 1971, in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary.

Listening to this new version of La Bibbia I am pleasantly surprised how this new RDM line-up has changed that quirky blend of hardrock, psychedelia and experimental into a captivating Heavy Prog sound, well done! And everything on this 50th anniversary version is superior to the 1971 effort: the sound, the recording quality, the compositions, the interplay and the musical ideas. But the main difference between the 1971 and 2021 effort is the presence of keyboards.

Il Nulla (3:05) starts with sound effects and soaring keyboards, this is tasteful electronic music, topped with spectacular sequencing in the end.

La Creazione (6:21) delivers a lot of powerful rock guitar and vocals, but now blended with the distinctive Minimoog synthesizer sound.

L'ammonimento (5:51) features an interesting instrumental part with interplay between piano and guitar riffs. Sodoma XY (4:23) contains fiery guitars, blended with soaring keyboards

Il Giudizio (7:49) turns out to be the most varied and exciting compositon. From mellow with spacey synthesizers to a bombastic eruption with howling guitar, topped with powerful Italian vocals. Halfway an instrumental interlude featuring delicate interplay between the guitar and bass, obviously inspired by Toccata In D-Fuga(Bach).

Il Diluvio (5:50) is another strong upgraded track by the use of keyboards, this time a church organ sound, then an accelaration with the Minimoog, next the sound of a male choir, wonderful keyboard orchestrations and sparkling Grand piano runs, this is topped with emotional vocals, the final minute is total silence?.

This reissue also features 3 bonustracks, these are English versions of La Creazione (The Creation), L'ammonimento (The Warning) and Il Giudizio (Judgement Day), a nice addition to this very interesting renewed prog effort!

After two albums of a veritable proto-metal style of hard rock, the Rome based quartet IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA (The Other Side of the Coin) joined the ranks of the majority of Italian prog bands of the early 70s and added a fifth member, ex- Il Paese di Balocchi keyboardist Franco Di Sabbatino. This changed the band's sounds drastically and they were at last considered a symphonic prog band in the vein of PFM, Banco, Museo Rosenbach, Jumbo and just about every Italian band that jumped on the prog bandwagon. Not only that but the band suddenly got quite ambitious and started to collaborate with the famous Argentine composer Luis Enriquez Bacalov who had worked with the New Trolls and Osanna.

The result was the band's third album CONTAMINAZIONE which was long suite of over 13 movements primarily inspired by the "Well-Tempered Clavier" of J.S. Bach. While not truly original as this had been done before, this was first in England by The Moody Blues and Deep Purple and then later in Italy itself from the New Trolls and Osanna under the guidance of Bacalov. Following in the footsteps of these symphonic rock giants who made a prog rock tribute to the world of classical music, IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA released CONTAMINAZIONE in 1973 and immediately the album became a smashing success and their most famous effort which led to an English language edition released under the title "Contamination."

CONTAMINAZIONE was one of the most Baroque sounding albums of the entire prog scene and while the album was a hybridization of the J.S. Bach works musically speaking, lyrically the album was inspired by the alleged tale of an 18th century Scottish musician who claimed to be Bach's illegitimate son but unfortunately was not recognized by the composer as such. The album was also notable at its time for its amazing production modernity which allowed all kinds of new recording processes to be implemented. Oh and BTW the album actually has an official title that is quite lengthy: "CONTAMINAZIONE di alcune idee di certi preludi e fughe de 'Il Clavicembalo ben temprato' di J. S. Bach." The album features 13 separate tracks but in reality the entire 36 1/2 minute run sounds like one lengthy masterwork.

A complete change in style from the previous keyboard-free hard rocker albums, CONTAMINAZIONE is primarily dominated by vast arrays of keyboards ranging from Hammond organs and harmoniums to Eminent, VCS, ARP and Moog synthesizers. Likewise Ballarini's vocal parts are subdued as the album is primarily instrumental and literally rockin' the classics with some moments of hard rock returning for brief moments. The vocal lines that do occur are often designed to be part of the musical flow rather than actually convey the story but the overall lyrical theme does play a major role in the mood and feel of the entire work. Unlike the band's previous two albums, CONTAMINAZIONE was a major hit which led to an English version being created for international export and has become one of Bacalov's most famous works as well.

While it seems that IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA had found its true calling as a symphonic prog band after all and experienced much coveted success with its first foray into the style, the band suffered a major blow shortly after the release of this album by having all of its unique specialized equipment and instruments stolen in one of the most famous musical heists in prog history. This devastating blow crippled the band so much that even as it was poised to become one of Italy's major prog players, instead the band was forced to call it quits in utter defeat. A very sad occurrence by any means. While CONTAMINAZIONE remains a divisive album for many who claim that this classical meets prog rock hybrid has been done way too many times and that it sounds cheesy, in reality i think IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA did a really excellent job at keeping this Bach inspired album feeling more like an Italian prog release of the 70s rather than just a tribute to a great classical composer.

I may be in the minority but i actually prefer the hard rock / proto-metal style that preceded on the band's first two albums "La Bibbia" and "Io Come Io." Sure they were raw and primeval in their approach but also utterly unique however despite joining the ranks of New Trolls and others, CONTAMINAZIONE is a very well executed album release that showcases the band's ability to completely reinvent itself into the world of symphonic prog and crafted an amazingly beautiful album that focuses on just enough blatant Bach runs to keep the connection well established but obfuscates his influences enough to make the album sound unique. The star of the show on this one is clearly newbie Franco Di Sabbatino who cranked out some amazingly keyboard moves. I'm also one of those who avoided this album for the longest time due to the nauseating album cover art but in the end there is no denying that this is a beautiful tribute to J.S. Bach set to 70s progressive rock. The album has continued to attract audiences throughout the decades and now is even on Bandcamp with a remastered 2.0 edition.

IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA (The Other Side of the Coin) released its debut "Il Bibbio" in 1971 and offered a differing approach from the majority of Italian prog bands of the era by not including a keyboardist and instead delivering stellar prog workouts in the context of hard rock. The debut was raw and exhibited the spirit of proto-metal albeit with the passionate operatic vocal style that would be the staple for the Italian singing style. The band followed up with its rather short debut with an even shorter sophomore effort titled IO COME IO ( I like i, like in this case meaning "similarly to") which was just short of the 29-minute mark but a more accomplished slab of heavy rock than its predecessor.

While following in the footsteps of "La Bibbia" as far as stylistic approach, this second offering focused even more on the proggier aspects of developing the tracks with crazy hairpin turns, a broader diversity of musical motifs and a wider ranger of dynamics that included less frenetic guitar attacks that allowed the band to create a bombastic sound in live settings. This second album only featured four track, two of which were two part suites. Once again the basis of the style was crafted by the hard rock attack of Enzo Vita on guitars, Stefano Urso on bass and Gino Campoli on drums and although lead vocalist Pino Ballarini still offered the occasional flute sounds, the main emphasis was on crazy guitar riffing, time signature complexities and the lyrical content that focused on Hegelian phenomenology.

A much more accomplished album than its debut, IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA mastered the art of modern prog at this stage and although Italian prog fans seemed to prefer the symphonic aspects of the more popular bands, IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA was still quite known for their energetic live settings that delivered some of the loudest and most powerful sound systems that the entire Italian scene would experience. The band utilized a 6000 watt Mark system that set them apart from all others and allowed one of the most unique early heavy metal styles of Italian prog. The ultimate theft of this equipment in 1973 was actually what caused this band's demise.

IO COME IO is a powerhouse of heavy prog with blistering guitar-oriented rock fortified with some of the knottiest prog workouts that the Italian scene had to offer even on par with bands such as PFM and Banco and only limited by the instrumentation which consisted of a mere three piece but nevertheless exquisitely placed. Perhaps this could even be considered Italian garage prog with its raw and unfiltered sound only delivered through the lens of a highly sophisticated thematic structure and musical proficiency. The entire thing is quite unique and much more inventive and demanding than even the debut. The album sort of served as a bridge between the raw and unadulterated heaviness of the debut and the full symphonic prog sound that would be heard on "Contaminazione" after the addition of keyboardist Franco di Sabbatino.

While "Contaminizaione" is the attention hog in this band's canon simply for the fact it adheres to the standards of symphonic prog rock of the era, this second album is also brilliant in its own way and very unique in that the stylistic approach of Italian symphonic prog played in an early proto-metal style is almost unheard of. This album excels pretty much on every level. The performances are top notch and the compositions are cleverly inspired and utterly unpredictable in their labyrinthine delivery system. While clearly a stripped down band approach it's simply amazing how talented the three instrumentalists were in crafting complex prog in such a limited setting. Likewise Ballarini's vocal style was on the same level as any of the top dogs of the era. This is really an excellent album that gets overshadowed by the albums that bookend it but in reality this is an unforgettably imaginative slice of heavy prog that should be experienced.

IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA (The Other Side Of The Coin) was one of many early 70s prog bands emerging from the scene in Rome. This group was formed in 1970 when three members of the beat group I Lombrichi continued on to forge new musical endeavors. While singer Sandro Falbo was amongst those three, he was soon repleaced by Gianni Mereu who would also be replaced by flautist Pino Ballarini who also served as the new lead signer. Best known for their Italian prog classic "Contaminazione" from 1973, the band released two earlier albums and was one of the few Italian prog bands that opted not to include keyboards in its lineup at least for the first two albums. The result is one of the heaviest prog rock sounds in all of the Italian 70s scene.

The basic rock trio instrumentation of Enzo Vita (guitar), Stefano Urso (bass) and Gino Campoli (drums) provided the basis for a 60s heavy psych sound that was turned up a few notches. The band was famous for its powerful and memorable performances and had a specialized sound system that allowed them to play their live sets at maximum value. Something like The Who of the early Italian scene, the band competed in the 1972 Festival of Avant-Garde Music and New Tendencies in Viareggio which caught the attention of the Italian RCA label and led to this debut album LA BIBBIA which also came out in 1971. This debut showcased the ambitious nature of the band and although primarily a hard rock album with prog as a secondary ingredient, the album manages to deliver enough knotty workouts and hairpin turns to sound like a fully developed prog band for 1971. It was the unfortunate theft of the band's expensive equipment that ultimately led to its demise.

LA BIBBIA which means "The Bible" showcased not only the band's instrumental ambitiousness but also its attention to lyrical complexity. The original album was recorded live in the studio and was released with a distinctive round medallion-shaped booklet that narrated the Biblical themes. While sung in Italian like most of the 70s prog acts, the album was noted for its extreme heaviness for a prog band in Italy given no keyboards although the compositions do exhibit some of the traits that the symphonic prog bands implemented such as the passionate operatic vocals and extended musical compositional approaches. The album was considered quite pretentious and narrate episodes from the Old Testament ranging from the Nothingness to the Great Flood. It was one of the earliest concept albums on the Italian prog scene.

While the band may suffer from the absence of keys in the symphonic rock department, IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA delivered a more diverse than usual stab of guitar-oriented hard rock with beautifully melodic songs that offered the occasional use of flute sounds but basically this is a razor-sharp proto-metal style album that focuses on blistering guitar riffs, bantering bass grooves and hefty drumming workouts. There are also moments of psychedelia as with the opening sequence of "Il Nulla" as well the closing short track "Il Diluvio" which is more like a representation of a thunderstorm. The album is quite short just missing the 33-minute mark. While not a best seller, LA BIBBLIA helped the band gain momentum and released a second album of the same style before adding a fifth member, a keyboardist and recording their most famous work "Contaminazione."

This album is better than most ratings reflect as it showcases a more talented than usual band of the Italian prog scene that was several steps ahead of the average beat band that had not yet turned prog. While completely in the hard rock genre paradigm sonically speaking, the composiitons reflected the complexities and symphonic prog aspirations of contemporary Italian prog bands. Perhaps the subject matter for a debut album was too ambitious since a short 33-minute album only feels like it's getting warmed up before it abruptly ends but the band delivered a decent set of five fully developed proggy hard rocks (followed by one ambient sound collage). Supposedly LA BIBBIA begins the journey of a philosophical journey that concludes with "Contaminazione." The band was certainly on the nerdier side of the lyrical spectrum. Overall a decent if not brilliant debut from one of Rome's earliest heavy prog rockers.

3.5 rounded down

"Tribal Domestic" is a studio album that was released by historic Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia in 2016 on the Cramps - Sony Music label with a line up featuring founder member and main composer Enzo Vita (guitar) along with John Macaluso (drums), Cristiano Micalizzi (drums), Gianluca Catalani (drums), Fernando Petry (bass), Nalle Pahlsson (bass), Rino Amato (keyboards), Vivien Lalu (synth), Chris Catena (vocals), Pino Ballarini (vocals), Jannes Stark (guitar) and the Orchestra Filarmonica Calabrese directed by Alexander Frey. This work mainly comes from the initiative of Enzo Vita, as can be guessed from the art cover where he's portrayed in the forefront with is guitar ready for action while in the background you can see many gears and wheels turning to support him. It marks the return of Il Rovescio della Medaglia to the complex structures of the band's heyday after the disappointing pop rock oriented 2011 album "Microstorie"...

The opener "Tribal Domestic Suite" is a long, complex piece divided into nine parts respectively subtitled "Le note degli idoli" (The idol's notes), "Tributo agli dei" (Tribute to the gods), "Raduno dei vecchi" (Gathering of the old men), "L'ultimo dei sogni" (The last of dreams), "La notizia" (The news), "Il diario" (The diary), "Simbiosi" (Symbiosis), "La chiave inglese" (The wrench) and "Il crepuscolo delle illusioni" (The twilight of illusions). In my opinion, it's an excellent piece, composed by Enzo Vita and arranged with the help of Rino Amato, where the guitarist and his group of rock musicians perfectly interact with the orchestra. The music flows without drops in tension as the lyrics, well interpreted by Chris Catena, conjure up images halfway between a confused stream of consciousness and divertissement. Shocking, alarming articles about a world where solidarity and freedom crumble provoking rash reactions, the sad reflections of a man on the brink of a personal crises leading to madness, the search for balance and the refuge in an inner-self able to create its own world, regret and bewilderment and finally the image of a man running barefoot in the evening without the tools to fix up his life...

"L'origine" (The origin) is another beautiful track where orchestra and rock instruments interact. The mysterious incipit sets the atmosphere, then the music and lyrics take us on inner journey to the origin of life. Birth is a big bang for everyone, it's the moment of the perception of the whole, a truth we progressively forget giving names to things and identities to persons...

On the instrumental "Mutazione X" (Mutation X) Enzo Vita's guitar is in the forefront and takes the listener on a fiery ride through the hard rocks of Sodom and Gomorrah and to the atmospheres of Il Rovescio della Medaglia 1971 debut album, "La bibbia", although with an updated sound. Then it's the turn "La sacra eternità" (The holy eternity) explicitly inspired by "La bibbia", in particular by its last two tracks, "Il giudizio" (Judgement day) and Il diluvio (The flood). Here, introduced by a dark marching beat and a hint of liturgical choir, the music and lyrics describe the protagonist's soul entering the afterlife where it joins the whole, beyond good and evil. It's a place where there's no one to judge, no measure or need to invent anything, here come those who have the dignity of looking straight in the face their own oblivion, beyond the sky and the sea, because the eternity is holy...

"L'apocalisse" (The apocalypse) is the only track featuring the vocals of Il Rovescio della Medaglia old singer Pino Ballarini. It's an ironic piece that blends hard rock, classical influences and a touch of operetta evoking a daily, raging apocalypse in a world where media confusion rules. In a story containing many other stories, restlessness carries away the protagonist, on the wings of madness, towards a place where he can enjoy a panoramic view on his memories and regrets... Last comes the sparkling instrumental "Proclama II" (Proclamation II) that concludes the album with a lively beat and electric guitar fireworks.

On the whole, an excellent work that marks a rediscovered creativity for Enzo Vita and his new and old companions.

"Io come io" is the second album by Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia and was released in 1972 on the RCA label with a consolidated line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Stefano Urso (bass), Gino Campoli (drums) and Pino Ballarini (vocals, flute). It's another concept album in a hard rock style that in some way confirms qualities and flaws of its predecessor, "La bibbia". The music is full of energy but the overall sound quality reflects the hurried recording sessions and an approximative production. To explain the concept, the liner notes quote some lines from German philosopher Hegel... "In philosophy the determinations of knowledge are considered not unilaterally, only as determinations of things, but together with the knowledge to which they refer, at least together with things; i.e. they are taken not merely as objective determinations, but also as subjective determinations, or rather as determinate species of the mutual relation of subject and object...". However, do not worry! Despite the ambitious liner notes and the subject matter (an introspective quest for Truth), the lyrics are not abstruse nor pretentious and Hegel's thought here is filtered and interpreted very loosely and with a particular hippy style point of view...

The opener "Io" (I) starts by the sound of gong, then drums and electric guitar set a tense atmosphere. The music and lyrics evoke strange visions. Things and people, places and feelings come through the mist of time, something is coming closer. It's the memory of a past experience, a shadow. It's a man who once taught to the protagonist the secrets of life, he was old then but now he's much younger than the protagonist himself. It's like in a strange dream where the protagonist has to face the thought of life and death, he has yet to understand how beautiful life is and he trembles because he can't understand what death really means... "You say that everything I said to you is true / But I'm scared when you say you don't know how good it is to die!"...

"Fenomeno" (Phenomenon) is a long track divided into two parts respectively subtitled "Proiezione" (Projection) and "Rappresentazione" (Representation). It begins by a strummed acoustic guitar pattern broken by heavy electric guitar riffs and a choir that could recall Il Balletto di Bronzo's "Ys". The music and lyrics conjure up the image of the protagonist lost on a mysterious road, wandering in a thousand directions without a clue, desperately trying to understand what's false or true. The world around him is empty, amorphous and lifeless, in the morning there's no sun, in the evening there's no moon. After a calm middle section, suddenly the rhythm rises. The protagonist can see a light and someone calls him, a door opens for him... "Time, space, now I no longer live / Am I the real me?"...

The cathartic "Non io" (Not I) opens the second side of the original LP. It begins with a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio and soaring flute notes, the atmosphere is peaceful and dreamy. The music and lyrics depicts the new awareness of the protagonist who can see his past days unfold behind him. Now he hates money and reflects about the true values of life such as the love of a mother for her children. Naked, barefoot, the protagonists wants to go where the sky ends and the sea begins in search for ideals that can't fade away over time like beauty or richness... "I still want to go on my way, where the sky joins the sea / Leaving alone behind me that man who has no truth...".

The last track, "Io come io" (I as I), is divided into two parts subtitled "Divenire" (Becoming) and "Logica" (Logic) and marks the achievement of the inner journey of the protagonist. He's found the light and the light is burning in him like a sun that will never die. The positive energy of the long instrumental coda describes the power of Truth and self-awareness...

On the whole, an interesting concept and a good work.

"Contaminazione 2.0" is a live album by Il Rovescio della Medaglia that was released in 2020 on the independent Jolly Roger Records label. It captures a very particular performance of the band with a line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Pino Polistina (guitar, backing vocals), Nicola Costanti (piano, keyboards, vocals), Carmelo J. Arena (synth, Hammond, vocals), Andrea Castelli (bass) and Andrea Bruni (drums). In fact, the album was recorded at Abbey of Saint Galgano in Chiusdino, Siena on September 11, 2018 with the help of a string quartet formed by Federico Galieni (violin), Francesco Gemo (violin), Emanuele Guadagni (viola) and Katie Bruni (cello) plus the special guests Vittorio De Scalzi (flute) and Marco Fusi (Scottish hornpipes). As you can guess from title and the art work by Carmelo J. Arena and Piera Arena, it's all centred on Il Rovescio della Medaglia's 1973 album composed with Maestro Luis Enriquez Bacalov, "Contaminazione"...

The location of the concert is surrounded by a magic aura. The Abbey of Saint Galgano was a Cistercian Monastery whose construction began in 1220 around the site of the former hermitage of the saint, in the valley of the river Merse, between the towns of Chiusdino and Monticiano, in the province of Siena, Tuscany. It's a place full of mysticism and spirituality, despite having been deconsecrated since 1789 (the first year of the French Revolution), and is related to the Arthurian cycle of the Sword in the Stone. In fact, nearby lies the hermitage of Monte Siepi where, according to legend, Saint Galgano retired to life as a hermit in 1170 and, as a symbol of peace, stuck his sword into the rock, where it is still today. The roofless walls of the Gothic style 13th-century Abbey church still stand and it's exactly inside those walls that the stage was set...

"Contaminazione", a concept album telling the story of a mad musician who think to be the heir of Bach, was conceived for rock group and orchestra and it's not easy to play it live. For this concert the band re-arranged and played the whole work without the orchestra and in a "rockier" but effective way, with amazing harmony vocals and the classical touch of the string quartet. The sound quality is perfect and all the musicians involved showcase great technique and passion. The result is astounding and, in my opinion, this live album should be considered a good complement to the original one...

As bonus tracks, on the Cd were included three other pieces taken from Il Rovescio della Medaglia's debut album, La bibbia, that were recorded on May 5, 2019 during a concert in Barberino Tavarnelle, near Florence.

On the whole, a great document of the band's vitality on stage.

An English version of Il Rovescio della Medaglia's 1973 excellent album composed and recorded in collaboration with Maestro Luis Enriquez Bacalov, "Contaminazione", was released in 1975 on the RCA label for the international market with a different art cover where the name of the band was reduced to its acronym, R.D.M. (following in the steps of Premiata Forneria Marconi that became P.F.M. for the Manticore albums). The album was retitled "Contamination" and features adapted English lyrics that do not exactly translate the original versions but just follow the same plot that is summarized in the liner notes. In my opinion, the result is not completely convincing and I prefer by far the original Italian album where the vocals sound in some way more natural and fit better the pieces. The music, of course, is great...

Fifty years after Il Rovescio della Medaglia's debut album, "La bibbia", the band's founder member, guitarist and main composer Enzo Vita gathered around him a group of talented musicians and completely re-arranged and re-recorded it with the new line up featuring, along with the leader, also Marco Pisaneschi (drums), Davide Pepi (guitars, backing vocals), Nicola Costanti (keyboards, lead vocals) and Nicola Castelli (bass) plus the guest Caterina Costanti (flute). The new album, entitled "La bibbia 50th Anniversary", was released in 2021 on the independent Jolly Roger Records label and stems from the work of accomplished, experienced musicians familiar with up to date recording techniques while the debut album was the fruit of the passion of young inexperienced youth. If compared with the original old LP it sounds far better and gives new life to compositions that were filled with enthusiasm but penalized by the hurried recording sessions and an approximative production...

The instrumental opener "Nothingness (Il nulla)" is shorter and completely different from the original from 1971 (in fact it's credited to new guitarist Davide Pepi). It's an atmospheric, spacey track that leads to "La creazione" (The Creation) where you can appreciate the great keyboards work and creative drumming that reshape this piece about the creation of World, Man and Woman as told in the Genesis. The sound is richer, clearer and more refined than on the 1971 album. The new vocalist is perfectly up to the task, as in the following "L'ammonimento" (The warning), a piece dealing with the powerful reaction of God against the claims of the Devil...

The instrumental "Sodoma X Y" takes the place of the old "Sodoma e Gomorra" re-elaborating the old piece representing the busy, ruthless contemporary civilization. The new version adds colours and spacey flavours while maintaining the same raging energy. Then it's the turn of the brilliant rendition of "Il giudizio" (Judgement Day), a piece where the music and words depict Man waiting for the sentence of God on his final day on Earth. The last track, "The Great Flood (Il diluvio)", is a brand new piece (credited to Nicola Costanti) that replaces the original finale. It ends the album with a dark, gloomy atmosphere evoked by the church-like organ in the forefront while the English lyrics describe a great deluge and the waters sweeping away the Evil from the world...

The CD version of the album is completed by three bonus tracks, "The Creation", "The Warning" and "Judgement Day", alternative versions of "La creazione", "L'ammonimento" and "Il giudizio" sung in English.

On the whole, an excellent work.