UNA VITA UNA BALENA BIANCA E ALTRE COSE

My Esteemed friend and PA colleague finnforest suggested in no uncertain terms that this unknown RPI pearl deserves my unheralded attention. So I went out and purchased it for a pittance (good timing, finn!)mainly because I am a sucker for mellow pastoral prog , especially from Italy, a language which I speak and understand. Loathe am I to disappoint him but after an initial cursory audition that failed to rouse any kind of opinion; I gave this one some breathing room and slated it for a special night. Well I got a new car today so I feel exhilarated. The opening 16 minute epic "Una Vita" is an outright gem (how could I have missed this, I may need to de-wax my ears!), a gentle little romp that offers up various moods from clearly vaporous to outright rifling like machine gun, fantastic bass throttling the impassionate vocals from lead singer Stefano Testa (who handles piano and rhythm guitar) and some suave female backing vocals. Certainly this style lies clearly in Italian folk canzoni (songs) , combined with rich neo-classical orchestrations, leaning heavily (like some tower in Pisa!) on massive vocal/lyrical content , always keeping things interesting. The tone can even get experimental at times but always reverting to their melancholia drenched folk songs in dreamy contexts. Some symphonic moods and a forlorn flute put this one to rest. A superb piece of music, well deserving of applause, though perhaps not everyone's cup of espresso! "Risveglio" is a short hypnotic piece that allows the gentle flute to tremble in overt fragility. Testa croons plaintively as the strings sweep in the background, sweet sadness meandering with impunity. The ragged piano exhaustively leaves the scene. "La Ballata di Achab" is more cabaret with simple vocal theatrics laced with accordion, recalling the Moby Dick novel's finest ironies. This style of music has a tendency of leaving me mildly amused but not contented, so I skip this one. "Notturno" starts off with a breezy acoustic guitar playing with a swirling flute and immediately inviting in the pastoral vocals, another story, another drama. A short Italian love song "Difficile Chiamarti Amore" is lovely though not prog by any stretch and the next one has an almost country feel before resolving to propel itself forward (yeah that's progressive!), bass and drums shuffling nicely. The finale keeps this short , gorgeaous and simple. So I will too, superb opener and ender that makes this a multi star "generale". Grazie finn ! 4 white whales