FELONA E SORONA

Imagine if someone had found the essence of beauty (Sigur Ros comes to mind with their Agaetis Byrjun album) and then twisted it and shaped it, giving it a rougher edge. That is what Le Orme's Felona E Sorona is to me. The entire concept of beauty can be found within this album, but it won't let you just sink back into it. It will keep you on edge for the duration, making sure it sticks in your mind and doesn't fade away as "just another mellow album." This album is an Italian Symphonic Prog classic, and earns its status through and through.

I don't know much about the band, I only own this album by them, and I don't speak Italian, so I find it hard to give background information regarding this album, meaning I'll have to cut right to the music. On Felona E Sorona, Le Orme display an incredible knack for melody, as each song is chock-ful of delightful melodies that will win you over from the first listen. As I said in the first paragraph, however, there is much more to this album. There is a distinct edge to this album, notably in the drumming (which is excellent), that can keep you on your toes throughout. I also detect some mildly avant-garde influences here and there, if that appeals to you (as it does to me). The music is generally happy and uplifting, making this a good album when you aren't feeling your best.

Each musician gives his best here, but, unlike traditional British bands like Yes and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, it doesn't sound like extended solos throughout (to be honest, Yes and ELP don't always sound like that, but it is a big part of their music), but rather as one group of dedicated musicians who really come together and give their best as a cohesive whole. The keyboardist creates beautiful textures around which the songs build, the guitar furthers this effect, and the drums give the album the edge I described earlier. On top of these beautiful but edgy soundscapes the band creates come floating in the ethereal and dreamy vocals the singer imparts, which truly give the album the final touch it needs to be truly amazing.

This album is a concept album (reviews by our Italian members explain it much better than I could ever hope to), and you can truly feel that even if you don't speak Italian, simply by observing how the tracks flow together. This album would work as well as a single continuous song as it does divided into parts. Many times while listening I have missed when the tracks change from one to the next, something that rarely happens when I listen to music.

In addition to sounding good (really, really, really good), this album was quite influential (and not just in the Italian Prog scene), or at least it sounds that way based on my experience with progressive rock. I can here snatches of this album in Yes' Relayer, to name one rather famous example. This is an album that has everything I look for in music, from beauty (however disguised it may be) to edginess, from the ability to suck me in to the ability to hold me at a distance, from ethereal dreaminess to a down-to-earth type attitude, all rolled up into one brilliant album without a single extraneous moment. Some might complain about the length of this album, and it is true that it's short (only about 35 minutes), but there's really nothing left to add to it. Le Orme took all the good ideas they had and condensed them into a bite sized album, and what a bite it was. One of my favorites from the Italian Prog scene, a classic album worth remembering. Highly recommended.