ILLUSIONS ON A DOUBLE DIMPLE

A quote for Atavachron answers for me all the things about the ELP/Triumvirat connection: Triumvirat was for ELP the same thing that Aerosmith is to Led zeppelin. This comparison summarizes all the defects and virtues of both offsprings.

My first contact with Triumvirat wasn't very good: I bought Pompeii by impulse (and under the influence of a review in an old 70's brazilian rock magazine). Although the first track and the instrumental ones are very good, the album as a whole sounded too cheesy to my ears. Some years after that I found a copy of Spartacus in my local second-hand albums' seller and bought it moved solely by the interest I always had in Roman history. And that album sounded so good to me! The drums and bass work were very different from Pompeii's. This was in 1992, when there was no internet to supply my need for information about music.

In the 2000's I was informed that Triumvirat albums were remastered and released again, even here in the Third World, by a reasonable price. Imediattely I bought Spartacus. After recovering for the delight of hearing this old masterpiece, I started looking for other albums by the same line-up of the band and found Illusions on a Double Dimple. Bought it immediately and get exactly what I wanted to hear: the melodic voice of Helmut Köllen, the superb drums of Hans Bathelt and the ELPish key work of Jurgen Fritz. I prefer the first suite to the second, but both are very rewarding. If you're a fan of keyboard driven prog rock, don't hesitate: buy right now this wonderful piece.

Is this music original or just a wanna-be ELP german trio? Of course ELP are the greatest influence of Triumvirat, and I think it is very difficult to like this band if you dislike their major inspiration. But they weren't mere clones. I think Triumvirat was more melodic than ELP, and this is a good point to them. They can show their own signature sound at some points (and Spartacus is very different of our regular ELP album). Maybe Illusions on a Double dimple is too ELPish to some tastes, but I can hear a band that struggle with their influences to create their own music. Sometimes they did it, others didn't. I think Le Orme achieve full success in maintaning the trio format (in their three most know albums, e.g.) and creating their own distinctive music, while Triumvirat fell somewhere in the middle of this way. But nobody can say that the music in this album and Spartacus is bad. It is great!

Do you like 70's keyboards? Go without hesitation to this album and the next one. You can't stand with ELP? Run like hell from Triumvirat. Second league prog, but a team who sometimes get up to the first league and make some surprises confronting the great ones. 3.5 stars that, in PA criteria, can get a 4 star rating.