INTORNO ALLA MIA CATTIVA EDUCAZIONE

Definitely one of the best classic Italian albums I've heard so far. This one has it all: great beauty, emotional performances, thoughtful arrangements, and great playing. It just has that indefinable spirit and extra oomph that capture my heart.

This is a great album that is not well known but should be as I believe it to be in the first tier of Italian bands. It's a marvelous conceptual piece about a young person raised in a restrictive environment who eventually has to rebel against it all. Formed in the late 60s, Alusa Fallax had the typical Italian experience of releasing some singles, playing live mostly in the Italian festivals, recording their opus, and then eventually breaking up. It took Alusa longer than some to split but a second album was never released although they did work on material for a second album. The guys were accomplished and educated and eventually moved on to other things in the late 70s.

Conceived as a stage show concert, all of the songs are connected so you have two unique suites of music (really one on CD) that flow ridiculously well. This is not one of those albums you memorize quickly and thus it retains its excitement and its newness with each listen. It has a distinct avant-garde feel to it, more so than some of its peers. They do mix clever musical surprises but it never gets outright silly or juvenile, and while things do seem chaotic I have the feeling that the albums excursions were not only planned but agonized over. Nothing sounds like filler here and that's one of my benchmarks of a great album. Classical elements are mixed with rock and jazzy passages, acoustic instruments are mixed with electric seamlessly, vocals sections balance well with the instrumental ones. The playing is very capable but not flaunted for ego. The keyboards are prevalent and perfect here, the vocals are warm and passionate, and the quality guitars/bass/drums are accented by touches of flute, sax, and hand percussion. I love how the keyboards are layered on the first track, you have some in the foreground with these soft misty ones slowly rising and falling in the background.

Compared to some of the English heavy hitters and the top Italian acts like PFM, Orme, and Banco, this album may be less sophisticated in some ways and have lower sound quality due to the lower budgets. But what it lacks in those areas it makes up for in my view by being far more charming, sentimental, and intimate. In that way I would compare it to the splendid Apoteosi album. While not perfect, I find the sound to be adequate and definitely good enough not to detract from my enjoyment.

Keyboardist Massimo Parretti gives a nice interview in the CD booklet where he lists some of the bands influences as side B of Abbey Road, Jesus Christ Superstar, Debussy, Ravel, Stravinski, Varese, Santana, Chicago, ELP, Floyd, Tull, Genesis, The Who, Joe Cocker, Crimson, and APP. He also lets fly with a colorful and scathing review of the music industry from the mid 80s on and what he sees as the dismal quality of what was fed to the public.

Quite recommended to any lovers of adventurous classic symphonic music and absolutely essential to anyone putting together an Italian genre collection. The Vinyl Magic mini-lp sleeve CD reissue is a beauty with good sound and a nice booklet including the lyrics, some artwork, and the Parretti interview which is printed in Italian and English. Get the remastered version and play it loud many times. You will fall in love!

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