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Gruppo D'alternativa - Ipotesi CD (album) cover

IPOTESI

Gruppo D'alternativa

 

RIO/Avant-Prog

3.50 | 38 ratings

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Bj-1
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars This band is an interesting one, releasing just one album during their fairly short-lived career with very little success. Gruppo D'alternativa's sound could easily associate them with the IPR (Italian Progressive Rock) movement in the early 70's due to their similar styles with band such as Il Balleto Di Bronzo or Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, but they also had a very experimental and odd style to them which can also compare them to the RIO movement active during the end of the 70's. Bands such as Stormy Six and "Desperate Straights" era Slapp Happy comes to mind while listening to this album, but whenever it was influential to those bands remains unknown to me. You could call most RIO dissonant and inaccessible, but Gruppo D'alternativa was a different story. This album, while still heavily reminiscent of typical RIO stylistics, is also quite melodic and structured at the same time, therefore they are a bit difficult to categorise properly. I would still consider it as a "Proto-RIO" album of sorts, but also a part of the IPR movement at the same time.

The song writing is quite dynamic and varied, with a neat somewhat Canterbury reminiscent touch to spice the music up a bit in places. The songs on each side of the LP seems to flow together to form two suites and the arrangements works well even though the material is very varied and even quite different from each other sometimes. The album is nicely put together to say it with other words. The musicianship is solid, although no particular instrument really stands out, and while the songs are a bit odd put together the technical competence from this band is very promising throughout. For such an obscure cult release as this, the production is quite good and all instruments are very clearly heard throughout. This album was reissued on CD a few years ago, although Im not sure about it's availability, but it should definitely be picked up if you are interested in bands such as Etron Fou Leloublan, Stromy Six, Mamma Non Piangere or Desperate Straights-era Slapp Happy, although these guys are far more accessible I would say. Recommended to any RIO/IPR enthusiast 3.5/5

Bj-1 | 3/5 |

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