FOUR DAISIES

A Milan-based band led by Marco Galletti (keyboards),ARCANSIEL started in 1982 as ''Sprouts'' covering mainly GENESIS songs.By mid-80's Galletti had already written some original material,while the band was renamed to ARCANSIEL,featuring also Gianni Lavagno on drums,Nico Clerici on bass,Piero Zancanaro on clarinet/sax and Claudio Baretta on guitars.It was the time for ARCANSIEL to start performing live,while they also recorded their first LP ''Four daisies'',released on Contempo Records (re-released two years later on CD).

The album holds some similarities with the style of mid-70's GENESIS and MARILLION,but it also has a strong personality,mainly to the use of the saxes of Piero Zancanaro.Their sound is definitely out of fashion,regarding the year of the album's release: Galletti's organ passages are clearly in the vein of TONY BANKS,his synth parts are also well-crafted and the guitar work of Barretta tends to 80's UK prog sound with a FLOYD-ian reference with nice melodies and catchy grooves.Zancanaro is definitely the pleasant surprise here.His melodic sax solos are full of emotion and delicacy,adding the band a touch of originality.Vocals,held by Galletti as well,are not the strong point of ARCANSIEL,without being an obvious weakness.My conclusion:The album is balanced between some trully fantastic memorable tracks and some mediocre ones,so ''Four daisies'' has more than a few good moments to be part of your collection.Recommended.