AMPERSAND

Apparently Izz had hit the stride with the first pair of released albums, as the band started to become a regular visitor of famous Prog festivals, beginning with Progfest 2002, where they shared the same stage with Thieves' Kitchen and Prog/Fusion veterans Kraan and The Muffins.The Galgano brothers thought that some of material not included in the previous album was too good to be left aside and decided to offer it to the public under the title of ''Ampersand''.Just one week before its release in 2004, Izz would make another significant performance in Rosfest 2004 next to acts such as Jadis, Salem Hill and Sonus Umbra.

The leftovers from ''I move'' are supported by a bunch of live tracks in an album that is pretty interesting without reaching the best moments of Izz'es normal studio albums.While the previous efforts of the band were basically deeped into Neo/Symphonic Prog with huge pop sensibilities, ''Ampersand'' sounds mostly as a collection of Prog-Pop tracks with quirky instrumental workouts and less emphasis on symphonic orchestrations.You can turn around the band's main influences and this one comes as if THE BEATLES turned Prog, influenced by GENESIS, YES and GENTLE GIANT.The acoustic guitars come in evidence, the cinematic textures are a basic content and the lyrical moments seem to be among the leading forces of the album.Even so, this is way too far from typical, crappy Pop material.Izz complemented their sound with nervous synthesizers, some dramatic instrumental lines with a GENTLE GIANT-like complexity and lots of light, Neo/Symph Prog elements close to the principles of MOSTLY AUTUMN, early PAATOS or BREATHING SPACE.As for the live tracks, these are recorded in three different venues and come basically from the band's previous albums with ''Star evil gnoma su'' being an absolute stunner in this live version, Progressive Rock at its best form, complex, naughty, intricate and melodic.The biggest surprise comes from the ''Molly's jig'' track, a rural instrumental piece with some supporting lines by electric guitars and keyboards, originally included in Paul Bremner's 2004 album ''Wombsong''.

Do not leave this work by Izz aside.The band seems so talented that even these Pop-inclined pieces are covered by an inventive, proggy flexibilty.Close to the sound of BRIGHTEYE BRISON's early material or SPOCK'S BEARD more accesible compositions and warmly recommended.