LA GRANDE CASA

This joyus record is introduced by Alberto Radius' percussive acoustic guitar and is picked-up by Gabriele Lorenzi's bright-sounding synthesizers, setting an airey but powerful and romantic mood on 'Rapsodia di Radius'. The nutty 'La Ciliega non e di Plastica' is a questionable second cut with a bit of White Album silliness and blues slop but 'Liberta per Quest'uomo' reaffirms this band's prog tendencies, showing a booming symphonic influence and lots of Italian-style sentiment. The emotional 'La Casa Grande' has slight Brazilian colors and sad contemplations, 'Cara Giovanna' is a shameless gushing-heart love song, and 'Bambina Spagliata' ends on a tribute of voices, synths, guitars, drums and Sergio Leone's visions of the American west. Not an easy record to start with on your Italian prog journey and, at worst, it is an uneven affair, but it is a lovely collection of songs and probably deserves its cult status.