ROSPO

John di Leo is capable of vocalisms that only Demetrio Stratos has been able to make before. His voice is the first thing that hits the ears of the listener. What's really amazing is how a funky-jazz song like "Kristo Si!" can be executed by that kind of instruments: violin, cello, contrabass and sax. It's a jazzy track on a typical blues sequence of chords that literally swings. And everything without any drum or percussion. The lyrics are sarcastic about Catholics and the ingenuity of people who believes in crying statues of Mary (an episode happened one year before the release).

"Rospo" (Frog), the title track has crazy lyrics, a percussive rhythm. Di Leo shows all his vocal extension. The track is about the tale of the prince muted into a frog. Of course seen from an unusual point of view: "Show me your heart..I want to be back a frog, TV hypocrisy, don't stop me now. You can't touch me inside".

"Nero Vivo" is another very rhythmated track, with jazzy accents. It slows down in the chorus to restart just after. There's a good sax solo, too.

"Zapping" a minimalistic track. It makes me think to Magma, but this is just a personal opinion. The crying violin can remind also to classic contemporary music. There's a short folky interlude, like a joke that's likely what justifies the track title.

"Sogni o Bisogni" (dreams or needs. There's a joke on the word "bisogni" that could be interpreted as "bi-sogni": double dreams) is back to the unusual rock that permits to easily identify this band. There are clues of Zappa that I think is one of the artists who have influenced the band.

"Tradimento" (Betrayal) Is opened by a contrabass harping. When it's joined by the other instruments it becomes the most progressive track of the album. The track is closed by vocalisms in the vein of Demetrio Stratos. It appears clearly that John must have studied these singing techniques. Those wishing to check can try Area or better, Demetrio Stratos' solo works.

"Deux Heures De Soleil" (ten hour of sun(shine)) is another very artsy song, hard to describe because of the many different changes. It crosses several genres and personally I find it psychedelic, too.

"Momento Morto" (Dead Moment - it's a way to name a short period of stagnation) is a rock moment on which John di Leo shows the possibilities of his bass pitch. His vocal extension is very wide. The time signature changes several times, in general 4/4 to 3/4 and back.

"Heroes" is an incredible version of the David Bowie's classic. The strings play like a keyboard and John sings leaving his vocalisms off but without trying to sound like the white Duke. Really a 5 stars moment. Making covers is one of Quintorigo's characteristics. They are great in the arrangements. During the years they have arranged, other than this, Deep Purple, Kraftwerk, Hendrix other than a full album of Charlie Mingus covers.

"We Want Bianchi" is the only track on which we can hear percussions (not drums). It's a Samba track. John sings just sounds that add rhythm to the percussion, then suddenly the song turns into swing and it's very close to the big bands. Tommy Dorsey would have liked it.

The album is closed by an alternative version od "Kristo Si!" taken from their first single. We can hear percussions (electronic). This version is bluesy and has something that reminds to Richard Wright's "Cuts Like a Diamond". In the and it's a slow blues based on minor chords, so I'm sure we can find a lot of other references. However this is maybe better than the "regular" version.

EDIT: There are no percussions. It's John's voice looped. Thanks to ZeroTheHero for the amazing information.

A bit more than 4 stars.