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Il Trono Dei Ricordi - Il Trono Dei Ricordi CD (album) cover

IL TRONO DEI RICORDI

Il Trono Dei Ricordi

 

Rock Progressivo Italiano

4.02 | 108 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

J-Man
Prog Reviewer
4 stars The Italian progressive rock scene is notorious for its many short-lived acts who only released one album before disappearing into oblivion, especially during its heyday in the seventies'. In quite a few cases, these brief stints between obscure musicians have led to some of Italian prog's most notable masterpieces - Il Trono Dei Ricordi may have arrived a bit later to the scene than many of RPI's obscure classics, but this self-titled debut proves that they were every bit as noteworthy as many of the seventies' pioneers. Bombastic symphonic progressive rock is the name of the game here, and anyone who enjoys long and dynamic compositions is sure to be in for a real treat once they start cranking up this obscure gem from 1994. Il Trono Dei Ricordi is an excellent album from beginning to end, and it's really a shame that they stopped making music after its release. In short, this is an obscure gem that's sure to please any progressive rock enthusiast.

Despite being widely considered an Italian symphonic prog album (after all, the band is from Italy), Il Trono Dei Ricordi actually bears very little resemblance to traditional Italian symphonic prog; the music here has much more in common with neo-prog and early nineties' American progressive rock than it does with the pastoral sounds of most flagship Italian bands. The vocals are also sung in English, further ridding the band of RPI flavoring. The most obvious influences here are probably Pendragon (this one especially), IQ, Marillion, ELP, and Genesis. Il Trono Dei Ricordi wasn't the most innovative act out there, but they did have a knack for creating top-notch progressive rock epics, and this record is just filled with sheer brilliance. Although I would've liked to see more from this band in the future, I'm at least thankful that they've left us with this absolute monster of an album.

Il Trono Dei Ricordi opens up with the epic, twenty-minute "The King of Memories" - an emotional, bombastic, and complex journey through the very best that symphonic prog has to offer. The fluid songwriting and unforgettable main synthesizer melody open up the album with a 'bang', and I have no hesitation in calling this track a flawless masterpiece. The rest of the album gets a bit overshadowed by this legendary opener, but it's all excellent nonetheless. I especially dig the Genesis flavor in the 18-minute "Visions of the Daughters of Albion". This track is probably the other highlight, and it's yet another brilliant example of symphonic progressive rock done right.

One thing that I've always found astonishing about this album is the sheer strength of the musicianship. Even though this is only their debut record, every member in Il Trono Dei Ricordi successfully demonstrates that they are experts at their respective instruments. Keyboard player Alessandro Lamuraglia especially grabs my attention; his lush palette of piano, organ, and synthesizer tones always add just the right effect to the music, and he also delivers plenty of breathtaking solos throughout the course of the album. Alberto Mugnaini's singing style took a little while to get used to, but I've grown to really appreciate his Peter Gabriel-tinged voice. The production is also pretty good on Il Tiempo Dei Ricordi, and even though it's a bit too thin for my liking, it's powerful and commanding at all the right spots.

Il Trono Dei Ricordi is an excellent gem from the mid-nineties' that should please all fans of symphonic progressive rock; after all, what's there not to like about a four-song progressive rock album that nearly reaches the one-hour mark? This CD can be a pretty difficult find nowadays, but it's definitely worth hearing for any progressive rock aficionado. It's a shame that this obscure gem never saw any follow-up releases; Il Trono Dei Ricordi were indeed a very promising act. This debut is very worthy of 4 stars in my book, as well as an easy recommendation to fans of symphonic/neo-prog. Though unknown by the prog community at large, this is one of the best mid-nineties' progressive rock albums in my humble opinion.

J-Man | 4/5 |

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