HOPO

Walking down the grey street totally unaware and impervious to the routine sludge around me, I stop at the crossroad and wait for the green light of change, so I can go on with my way. Then suddenly out of the blue, some man is waving hysterical arms and spewing Italian language vindictive at me, cursingly telling me that I am far from the knowledgeable progfan I may claim to be and inserting a sweaty series of RPI discs in my hands. Before I could even fathom what had just happened, poof! He's gone, swallowed by the mist. Even after 4 decades, I still feel like a kid in a candy shop, eager to taste some unknown hidden creations that somehow eluded my search engine. Hopo falls certainly in that category, as our Todd sent me both their albums on a hunch that I may enjoy them. Does he have flair or what? Not only is "Dietro la Finestra" (Behind the Window) a stunning piece of work, it also is a true hidden gem that deserves immediate recognition as well as monetary damages sent to the band as solace for the silence of our comments. Shame on us but so goes the world of Prog, a seemingly endless treasure trove of momentary eruptions of genius (now that's a prog tiltle!) and its courageous hunters searching the deepest jungled caves for them. Hopo made a debut in 1982 and finished off their quiet career with this 1991 jewel, a time span when prog was almost relegated to the delete bin , rescued in extremis by a series of revive flickers. The music within is preciously priceless, with extraordinarily gifted playing from all instrumentalists and a splendid vocal delivery from the husky Paolo Tovoli , fueled by those classic RPI melodies loaded with elements of drama, passion and creativity. All 6 tracks are in the 5-7 minute range, long enough to admire the pleasures within and whirl among the shimmering waves of amazing music. The title track wastes little time in setting the stage for the bliss to come and caressingly envelop the unexpectant listener, keyboardist Marino Baccini parping heartily on the synths, washing in some adroit mellotron and woozy organ, giving 6-stringer Carlo Poggini a cameo to sweep a heartrending solo into the mix, the first on many future interventions. A wake-up call indeed, this is gonna be good! Grazie Todd! "Un Uovo di Cristallo"(A Crystal Egg) keeps the pleasure-pedal foot firmly to the floor as the gentle flute flutters between the wispy strings , prepping the stage for a crushingly poignant lead vocal from Tovoli , paralleled by a brief rampaging Poggini lead, pushed along by clever bass rolls from Michelangelo Zorzit that keep things breathless. That's another one in the old onion bag, Todd! 2-0 the rout is on! Well, "Non Era un Fiume" (Not a river) is a scorcher, perhaps even the highlight here, with a muscular lead guitar painting the scape with lusty fervor, contrasting acoustic guitar and flute playfulness to heighten the drama, all urging along another simply regal vocal performance complete with nimble chorus 'nah nah naw naws'. This is so delicious I almost got hit by speeding car! 3-0, ball at midfield. "A Piedi Nudi" (Barefoot) is raunchier and offers up escalating performances from the gloomy guitars slashing amid the spacy grooves, providing some atmospheric respite, a series of loopy synth solos dancing within metronome drums and more elegant vocal exhortations. Shot off the woodwork! Close call, Still 3-0! "Un Minuto Solo" (A Minute Alone) deals more of the same recipe, an organ-ripped adventure that has slight jazz Allman Brothers guitar overtones, extremely gratifying to the instrumentalist fans out there. 4-0! "La Luna Gioca Ancora" (the Moon plays again) is a classy closer nicely decorated by the lighthearted mood so typical to the Italian musical culture (some see it correctly as effortless), massive swaths of acoustic guitar and stringed orchestrations (almost symphonic folk) because of the predominance of the vocal line and story. The final 2 minutes things get unrefined and torrential, a raging electric guitar flurry takes this into the stratosphere, a blistering foray into space and RPI history. 5-0 , the rout is on. Barely getting to the 40 minute mark (a big and perhaps my only peeve with RPI), the material -as well as the precious artwork- here easily warrants inclusion into the RPI big boys club with all the usual suspects. Outstanding and astounding masterpiece. Todd , you deserve an all- expenses paid trip to the "Boot". 5 diamanti

Little is known about this obsure band from Italy.It wouldn't surprise me if the even the biggest ISP collector isn't aware of this quintet.Through my search in the internet it was almost impossible for me to find a trace of the band's biography.''Dietro la finestra'' is considerded the best album of HOPO,but their debut ''Senti'' ,released in 1982, is also a very strong album with undenieable elements from the classic italian prog period of the 70's.

The CD release of ''Senti'' contains 12 tracks,that means the six tracks of the original release along with six more tracks recorded live in Florence by the same time.The first eponymous track of the album is a rhythmical pop/prog song of high quality not very far away from the poppier sound of the early 70's italian bands.First epic of the album is ''Per strada'',an excellent track in the vein of PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI and BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO with nice flutes,excellent work on the digital keyboards,mostly Hackett-ish guitars and a superb guitar ending theme very close to CAMEL's Andy Latimer style.''Nascondino...'' is a beautiful acoustic guitar piece of music.''Rana'' is another short prog piece of music with nice guitars close to CAMEL and weird water effects.''Crema'' is a strong song- oriented track with second-era GENESIS solos,a rhythmical yet complex middle part and stunning vocal performance by Paolo Tovolli.''Singolarita'' is influenced again by the british prog scene but after the middle section it transforms in a dark sounding track with great organ,strong drum work and alternating guitars between darkness and romanticism,a sound very close to BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO.

Among the live tracks is ''Mister rock'',an unreleased track of the band with little progressive interest as it is an average rhythmical rock song and nothing more.The rest of the tracks come from ''Senti''.The band does perform very strong with little changes on the tracks comparing to the studio versions but the sound of this live recording is just above average.

HOPO's ''Senti'' is an excellent album IMO and it is one of the best examples of how the ISP sound would become through the years to come.Strong influences from the biggest italian bands of the 70's combined with a more modern technology such as digital keyboards,''Senti'' just heads in the future.A very good addition to any prog rock collection...4 stars...

One of my favourite albums from the 90s, this great italian bands second album is a step up from their first. The album contains great symphonic rock in the great italian tradition, this is closer to the 70s prog than neoprog. The music has some similarities to fellow italians Nuova era with a very melodic approach and good singing in italian. The one thing that stops this from getting a 5 rating is that the production of the album is a bit thin and sounds a little bit plastic. One song or two is also just good, not great. A recommendation to all lovers of italian progressive rock.

My review is produced using this release: Private Pressing CAM 001 (limited edition 500 copies) distributed by Mellow Records

Rating:7,5/10

Extreme obscure band and release. But this "Dietro La Finestra" is one of the best reborn of RPI albums. It is true, in this album I listen echoes of Yes, Rick Wakeman solo career (Marino Baccini is a very Wakeman adept), Genesis, Quella Vecchia Locanda, Maxophone, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, Locanda Delle Fate. also the guitars a la Steve Howe are extreme good (is the instrument of the band) and good also the bass line (see "Un Minuto Solo", in particular) and technical also the drum partiture (but the sound is atrocious). In general the songs are mid tempos that emphatizes the romantic flavour of the songs but with intermezzi A la Rick Wakeman that they enliven everything. So this is one of the more ISP/ RPI albums of the 90's but also one of the more normal of the 90's. The recover of the Italian progressive tradition cannot pass, however, in second plan. Courious that, in the same time, this band have a high personality. In 1992 it will debut a similar band, Il Castello Di Atlante. And the RPI finally reborn.

Good LP. One of the albums of the reborn of the ISP/ RPI. Recommended for all who that they research the darker things. Even if, then, it goes well for all.