EQUIPE 84

Only interesting exceptions are on the B-side: "Dr. Jekill", above all, an instrumental nice jazzy piece with good keyboards and sax. "Signor J." has a darker and serious feel; it features recitative vocals, atmospheric keyboards, piano and noises... not bad.

In the closer "Senza senso" you can listen to good percussions work by Paolo Siani (NUOVA IDEA and then EQUIPE 84 member from 1976) and a great electric guitar solo by Alberto Camerini (who worked, among others, with CLAUDIO ROCCHI). Very nice number.

Not enough though to grant a full 3 stars treatment.

Stereoequipe is by no means a masterpiece. Not in year 2011 anyway. But back in year 1968, maybe it was. This album has a semi-classic status in the scene, I have been reliable informed.

The music relies heavily on The Beatles. But Equipe 84 is by no means a The Beatles clone and they have not stolen a single thing from Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club either. They could had done it and done a safe deal with this album. But they choose not to do that. Instead, this album also relies heavily on albums like Revolver too with some sitar playing and Indian references. That with a nod & a wink to George Harrisson.

The Beatles is mentioned here. But the album really comes across as a mix of them and Italian pop. That is the core of this album. The music here is adventerous and is exploring what must have been new avenues and sounds back in 1968. This album too must have been a pioneering album when it was released. Credit where credit is due, in my view.

Yes, some of the melodies here are very light hearted Italian pop and I am sure the lyrics refers to love, love and love. It is the mix of The Beatles and Italian pop what makes this album such a good album. And it does help when the bonus track is a song which surely must have been a huge hit back then. I guess this song was released as a single, went to the top of the charts and then hurridly added to the subsequent pressings of the albums as the thirteenth track. The name of the track is Tutta Mia La Citta and it is a superb song. Re-release it now and you will probably have a top ten hit. I have played it to many people and we all agree it is a sure hit.

In short; this is a good album which I am sure deserve a classic status. It is not a Rock Progressivo Italiano album by any imagination. But it is still an enjoyable listen for the open minded listener who know how to spell the word cheese and does like a bit of cheese too now and then. This album makes me smile.

3 stars

"Nel cuore nell'anima" is an interesting Lucio Batisti's evergreen, in this case played with no great magic but with a great feeling. Now we see that the recording is really good, considering that the tapes remained in mothballs for 20 years. Interesting is calso "Tutta mia la città", Italian version of Move's "Blackberry Way". Case recording and tapes we note too the keyboards and drums to a great Silvano Bolzoni, in some cases very exuberant. "4 Marzo 1943", a great song of Lucio Dalla is another pearl of this CD, in this case in an uncensored version. And the final Bono and Cher "Bang Bang", sung in Italian is another good song. "Mercante senza fiori" is a noticeable song also for the fact that between autors is present Gianni D'Errico.

So this is an important sound document and a good live CD also for Progsters.

This beat group was one of the most popular bands in Italy in the 60´s and early 70´s and in 1974 released a prog record called Sacrificio. With the help of several guests (including a couple of musicians from band Nuova Idea) the Lp was released in 1974 and proved that this outfit had more talented than most people wanted to believe. Of course the music here is not exactly symphonic rock, nor it is in the same league as names like PFM, Banco or Le Orme. Still, Sacrifio was a bold and risky move for such stabilished outfit. And the results proved quite worthy.

The creepy, droning, 3 minute intro made me wonder if they went too far, but from the second track onwards the record is made of high quality prog rock. The group fortunatly kept their knack for great melodies and strong hooks, and yet the songs here are much more complex and elaborated than anything they had released so far. The title track is a good example of a very fine prog rock song, while Un Cavallo... Un Amore and Mercante Senza Fiori show them working beautiful acoustic passages. There is good use of vocal harmonies, orchestrations and even some flute and brass. Production is very good for the time.

Except for the the aforementioned intro, there was no fillers to be found in this CD. The mix of progressive rock, folk and italian popular music made it a truly succesful experiment. It is only a shame that this band did not follow this path afterwards. However, they proved their point and Sacrificio was, at least, an artistic success. It stood well the test of time. And I´m glad I found this little prog gem. If you´re into the italian prog scene of the 70´s you should check this out.

Equipe 84 as Dik Dik and Formula 3 is another band that plys song by Lucio Battisti and plays in Lucio Battisti's albums. So Equipe 84 is more famous because these relations with Lucio Battisti that for the music. Music that is aged in good manner, because good. But, in definitive view is simple Beat. Not American or English but an Italian view: A mix of American and English POP, Beat, Rock but in this case without Proto Prog component, because close to POP.

Speaking of the songs in this compilation in this site, site devoted to Prog is not important: would mean that this is the true Equipe 84. I repeat: I do not know the Prog phaseof this band. And the Beat phase of Equipe 84 was too distant to Prog.

Equipe 84 were one of the most famous Italian beat bands of the 1960s. Like Giganti and Dik Dik they made a brief but fruitful foray into the burgeoning RPI scene of the early 1970s. This album would be their most determined (and only real) effort at joining the scene and while they never truly succeeded in being recognized as such, it is a wonderful album nonetheless. It features good songwriting, great melodies and vocals, and lots of typical RPI instrumentation like organ, piano, flute, and strings, all very tastefully arranged. The sound is crisp and lively, the performances emotional and convincing. Perhaps to gain some cred on the scene they enlisted several collaborators like Ricky Belloni and Paolo Siani from Nuova Idea, Alberto Camerini, Hugo Heredia, and Gianni D'Errico. If you don't go into "Sacrificio" expecting "Darwin" or "Ys", you might find it to be the delightful gem that I did.

As if to make clear this album was a departure, it begins with nearly 4 minutes of droning noise, sound effects, and whispers which increase in pitch and oscillation for a disorienting and weird effect. Quite the opening! The title track is next and it's great! Majestic organ and the odd repeating guitar motif, along with the creative drumming lend a stifled feeling that breaks free only occasionally into the lovely chorus. "La Montagna Sacra" continues in strong fashion with a great brisk acoustic guitar and a really jumping rhythm with lively bass and drumming, along with occasional wispy synth playing. Over this the vocals are very good, relaxing, melodic, typically warm and romantic Italian singing. A nice mid section features heavily distorted electric guitars contrasting the vocals and keys. "Un Cavallo Un Amore" is a short but fantastic piece of classically influenced acoustic guitar, a la Steve Howe's "Mood for a Day."

Side two begins with the wonderful "Mercante Senza Fiori" featuring dramatic songwriting and superb guitar strokes, along with some nice use of strings and cool bass lines. Such warm, inviting music! "Se C'e" mixes an upbeat ditty with a slower and gorgeous melodic vocal over a huge keyboard sound. "Dicono" closes the album with more thunder effects and a big, lush keyboard intro. The remaining tracks are less proggy and more typical to Italian melodic pop, but even those are handled with so much class, with marvelous melodies and interesting arrangements.

While "Sacrificio" is not as overtly progressive and challenging as some of its peers of the period, it is an immensely beautiful and likeable album if you give it a chance. If you crave complexity and dissonance, look elsewhere. If you love great melodies and want to enjoy some beautiful RPI of the more traditional school, try "Sacrificio." The CD was recently issued in a limited edition of 700 as a Korean mini-lp sleeve. The colorful color art looks great on the outstretched gatefold, and the inside includes the original band photos and lyrics. They also include a reprint of a color drawing plate that must have accompanied the original vinyl release. I can't give this fine music less than 4 stars personally, but if I was rating solely on how progressive it is I could not give more than 3.