SADAKO E LE MILLE GRU DI CARTA

As happened with some of my colleagues on Progarchives, I was contacted by Logos to review their last work, "Sadako E Le Mille Gru Di Carta". But, when I was contacted I was a bit busy, at the moment, preparing some other reviews planned before. So, it only now was possible for me to check and review this album. So, here they are my public apologies to the band. Though, I knew the band already through their previous studio work "L'Enigma Della Vita", which was actually one of the albums I was preparing to review. Actually, it was the object of my previous review here.

Logos was formed in 1996 only by three people in a Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Le Orme and The Nice line up base, (bass, drums and keyboards). At the time, they played mainly songs of Le Orme, Premiata Forneria Marconi and Banco Dell Mutuo Soccorso. When a guitarist came in the band, they started to compose own songs and recorded their first album "Logos" in 1999. "Logos" and their second album "Asrava" were written with the same line up. But, their last two albums "L'Enigma Della Vita" in 2014 and this one were released after a long hiatus of time. During those years Logos had seen a lot of line up changes, but a pool of different experiences worked well towards the same project and vision.

So, "Sadako E Le Mille Gru Di Carta" is the fourth studio album of Logos that was released in 2020. The line up on the album is Luca Zerman (lead vocals and keyboards), Claudio Antolini (keyboards), Fabio Gaspari (vocals, guitars, bass and mandolin) and Alessandro Perbellini (drums). The album had also the participation of Elisa Montaldo (vocals), Massimo Maoli (guitars), Federica Zoccatelli (saxophone) and Simone Chiampan (drums).

"Sadako E Le Mille Gru Di Carta" is a conceptual album based on the events lived by a Japanese child, Sadako Sasaki, who survived to the Hiroshima's nuclear attack for 10 years at the age of 2. Sadako was luckier than the thousands of people who lost their lives in those interminable moments. However, she died ten years later of leukemia. But, during her years in the hospital, Sadako accomplished a feat that raised it as a symbol of peace. She made a thousand origami cranes to could make the wish of peace in the world. She became a symbol of the innocent victims of the nuclear war.

Musically, we have six pieces with different references to the classic prog rock that had so many fortunes especially in the 70's, a decade of great experimentation and creativity. The album is a state of the art set of performances. This is rock progresivo Italiano at its best. The band was able to deliver a masterfully crafted keyboard work throughout the album supported by a solid and creative rhythm section. The keyboards provide majestic orchestrations, memorable solos and epic progressions too. The impressive, lush style recalls the great masters like Banco Dell Mutuo Soccorso, Le Orme and Genesis as well as Rick Wakeman, classical music and the symphonic rock in general. The vocals in Italian, a traditional characteristic of almost all Italian prog bands are great as well, rich in nuance, emotion and drama.

The album begins with a short instrumental piece, "Origami In SOL". It opens with keyboards in evidence providing a powerful and intense opening. It sounds is prog, wide, emphatic and catchy, a mix between the past and present. It certainly pleases the admirers. "Paesaggi Di Insonnia" is an enjoyable and unpredictable piece with many moods. It's supported by a great rhythm in the same vein of Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso expressed in its instrumental moments. These are eleven minutes of elegant, dynamic and well arranged music. "Un Lieto Inquietarsi" is a lenghty track. Logos prefer to perform in long pieces. It's a great instrumental fugue and music for the mind to follow. This is quite an evil piece of music, at least the first half. The second half has a more optimistic feel. "Il Sarto" is a beautiful ballad. It's full of emotion and sounds genuine and rich. This is a suite embellished by the voice of the guest Elisa Montaldo. It's a pastoral track, rich in the classic RPI sound of the 70's, but sounding modern. "Zaini Di Elio" is a returning to the first tracks. This isn't retro music. Logos doesn't sound like it's trying to emulate the sounds of the 70's as so many modern bands seem to do. Rather, they use those sounds as a template for modern prog music. "Sadako E Le mille Gru Di Carta" is the main piece, the real suite on the album. It concludes the album in a high way. These are almost twenty two minutes of great music with the sadness of the death with notes that bring to us the sound of the nostalgia and chills.

Conclusion: "Sadako E Le Mille Gru Di Carta" is a great sucessor of Logos previous work "L'Enigma Della Vita". This is RPI at its best. If you have in mind the classic RPI, this is what you can expect from this album. This is a conceptual album based on a very moving true story. The album is skillfully played and produced. In some passages the keyboard sounds remind me of the old Rick Wakeman, with the usual little touch of Genesis influence which is a characteristic of the RPI sound, but the story is so dark that the music must be dramatic and intense too. This is a gentle and muscular, multifaceted, imaginative and profound progressive rock album. So, it's an album very recommended to all RPI lovers.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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