THE ESSENTIAL BOX SET COLLECTION

I can't believe I'm the first to review this 2010 box set!

Progarchive collaborator's have posted a plethora of reviews on Area's four studio albums, contained inside this collection, therefore I won't dilly dally and dawdle over the four studio albums.

Instead, I will confine my comments to the two live albums ensconced in this exquisite box set. But before I go on, suffice to say, Progarchive ratings on the studio albums are accurate...

Arbeit Macht Frei - 4.31

Caution Radiation Area - 3.95

Crac ! - 4.21

Maledetti - 4.04

My husband and I are rabid followers of Rock Progressivo Italiano rock. When I was a teenager, Rock Progressivo Italiano albums didn't exactly saturate the shelves of your average American record store. Recently, hubby and I morphed into musical anthropologists, unearthing scores of Rock Progressivo Italiano classics.

On my birthday, my sweet heart gifted me, AREA's "The Essential Box Set Collection!" The musical equivalent of a box of Godiva Truffles!

Area vocalist Demetrio Stratos is simply to die for for! Unfortunately Demetrio did die on June 13, 1979, which explains the low Progarchive scores for the two Area studio albums released after 1978. I'm sure the Area fan base was devastated!

Area decided to go on without a singer. Smart decision! Stratos was irreplaceable. So the next album was instrumental. And it's a good album, if you can separate yourself from the loss of Demetrio's vocals.

Demetrio Stratos was the Frank Zappa of vocalists. Don't get me wrong, Demetrio doesn't sing like Zappa, instead Demetrio experimented and twisted his voice similar to the way Zappa turned rock, pop, and Doo Wop on it's collective ear. I salivate at the thought of Demetrio joining Zappa's band or recording an album with Captain Beefheart.

Area had more of a Jazz Fusion sound then most Rock Progressivo Italiano bands. If you like Area's Italian take on jazz fusion then I highly recommend the Perigeo album "Azimut". But I digress... Included in Area's box set are TWO LIVE animals, and they are very different albums.

First up is 1975 live album "ARE(A)ZIONE" with a progarchives score of 4.08.

My god! What a voice Stratos has. I am sadden he died so early...But, I'm not overly distressed, because the incredible sounds Area left us with are out-of-this-world-wonderful!

ARE(A)ZIONE doesn't stray far from Area's jazz fusion roots. Short story- An amazing live, prog jazz classic. I think Progarchive's most prolific music critic "Mellotron Storm" summed it up best, when he wrote so elegantly in his review of ARE(A)ZIONE-

" I can just imagine being there back in the seventies in Italy watching this very entertaining band. There's one picture in particular of a young (teen?) girl being held up, above people's shoulders by several guys. She has this huge triumphant smile on her face with her arm up in the air, while the people around her are all laughing and smiling at this sight."

Yeah, that sums it up... And as an added bonus- Two of the songs (including the title song) never appeared on an Area studio release!

Saddled with a relatively low progarchive score of 2.81, the last album in the six album box set is "Event '76" Why the low score? Because "Event '76" was an improvised live album. That's right, Area made it up, on the spot, in front of a live audience. In the Mile Davis tradition of winging it, these guys risked egos, starting from scratch, Area created a one of kind, dissonant, jazzy, spectacular, atmospherically enchanting live experience. If you are like me? You want an album for every mood you experience. Event '76 fits my cooking beef fajitas and Mexican rice for family mood. Go figure?

I rate "Event '76" a 3.2, because it makes me happy. I'm not saying "Event '76" will forever rotate through your car stereo system, but I'll wager several souls find the feeling "Event '76" evokes fits perfectly at an unique and specific time in your life!

Pros. - With the exception of the absence of Area's 1978 album - "gli dei se ne vanno, gli arrabbiati restano" , this box set is truly an essential progressive rock classic. ( I immediately purchased "gli dei se ne vanno, gli arrabbiati restano" , after listening Area's Box Set.)

- These guys created a new way to hold CD's into the package, so they never fall out. They snap shut! I'm sure several of you guys have cursed the Prog Rock Gods while you watched your precious CD's fall willy nilly to the floor. Not with this collection! These Cd's snap shut!

- Area's Box Set packaging is so nice, and you get a groovy Area post card for an affordable price! OK, Area's box set is not as visually arresting or as impressive as Steven Wilson's Deluxe Book and Box Set- Hand. Cannot. Erase. But what do want for 5 bucks per classic CD?

- If you love Italian prog or jazz fusion, And you don't have any AREA albums, then this is The Box Set for you!

You get all the Area classics at once. Thank God the surviving members of Area had good sense not to release a greatest hits album or anthology. If you feel like We do, you want your albums uncut, untarnished, and original.

Cons- Only one con...The 36 page booklet is written in Italian! Listen people, I'm not trilingual! I don't speak three languages! Heck, I'm not even bilingual In case you didn't know, a bilingual person speak two languages.

What do you call a person who speaks only one language? That's right....American! I'm a silly American on a bargain basement budget.

"Area's International POPular Group" Essential Box Set Collection gets a 5 star rating from moi!

Essential masterpiece of progressive rock music!

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