FELONA E SORONA

I knew that someday I would have to discover for myself what all the fuss was about with Rock Progressivo Italiano. That day came about two years ago now when I decided for my first foray into RPI "Felona E Sorona" would have to come home. From the first listen I was impressed and pleasantly surprised. For an album that is basically keyboards, bass and drums along with vocals (only some acoustic guitars and no electric guitars), I enjoy this album quite a bit.

The concept has been discussed before but in brief it is the story of two planets, one prosperous and glorious the other destitute and plague-ridden, whose fates become inverted. Though I don't understand Italian more than the odd word, I like Aldo Tagliapietra's vocals and so I don't care about the language barrier. More so, I'm glad to hear him sing in his native tongue.

Largely keyboard-based, there's an array of sounds produced by synthesizers, organ, and piano. The drums are also pretty intense at times, especially near the end of "Sospesi nell'incredibile" where I swear the drummer is seeing ants crawling over his kit and trying to smash each one!

Acoustic guitar makes its appearance on "Felona", a cheerful song describing, I presume, the glorious planet. It's a short but very uplifting song that segues into "La solitudine di chi protegge il mondo". Most of the songs are pretty short, around three minutes or even shorter, but there's a variety of music and good use of keyboard sounds (I find "Attesa inerte" interesting for its 1980's video game synthesizer effect).

The whole album is actually rather short but well thought out. I have found that my enjoyment depends a lot on my mood. Sometimes I think this is an exciting and brilliant piece of work while other times I find parts a bit vacuous with rather empty parts. It's all part of the mood in some of the songs. From every bit of sparseness comes something beautiful or rewarding.

I don't know if this is the best album to hear for an introduction to Italian prog but it impressed me enough to go out and check out two more bands. Recommended!