III (VIAGGIO NEGLI ARCIPELAGHI DEL TEMPO)

Delirium are a Genova based group who formed in 1970 from the remains of a beat band called Sagittari. The original line-up included the famed Ivano Fossati who had left by this time, replaced by Martin Grice. Some consider this to be their finest recorded work although there are those who prefer the first album with Fossati.

The album begins with "Il Dono" which is one of the prettiest songs you'll ever hear. A fantastic, sentimental melody runs throughout in the flute and acoustic guitar. There are occasional loud punches at just the right moments to give the songs some drama, but then it goes back to relaxing with nice hand drums for rhythm. The vocals are warm and approachable. Half way through Vigo's mellotron lays some nice washes adding to the gorgeous sound, then near the end it picks up a bit. Great opener a la PFM. The title track is second and is harder edged with standard drums and sax. This one is quirkier rather than folksy with a GG/KC influence perhaps in the odd beat. Again the mellotron shows up but only sparingly which makes the effect even more welcome. "Fuga N. 1" begins with a sludgy bottom end sax combined with bass to create sort of a menacing heavy chug. Things degenerate into a sort of chaotic jazzy slurry with flute, strings, and sound effects. Then the organ and piano get some play which is very nice before the heavy groove returns. "Dio Del Silenzio" is another pretty piece of brightly strummed acoustic melody. "La Battaglia Degli Eterni Piani" has a varied intro, then gets heavy sounding like a mix of Sabbath and Tull with some heaviness in the vocal and lightness in the flute play. Then come some jazzy guitar chords and bass and the heavy vocals return. "Un Uomo" features piano, mellotron, acoustic in another lovely track with laid back vocals. "Viaggio N. 2" is another quirky number that sounds like a Giant influence initially with gibberish vocals effects but soon morphs into a quick paced jazzy beat. From there on the piece turns a bit fusion but strikes me as unfocused. A crash of thunder welcomes the closer "Ancora Un' Alba" followed by serene strings. The relaxing orchestrations are eventually joined by the band for one pleasant bit before the fade-out.

"Viaggio" is a good Italian album with some very beautiful sections scattered throughout and these parts are very endearing. But I was less convinced by their more dramatic, harder edged sections which seemed a bit forced and as I mentioned already, somehow unfocused. Fans of Italian prog who love saxophone and flute will likely enjoy this enough to purchase but I don't think of it as highly as some others do. Then again, the sheer beauty of the opening track is enough for an Italian zealot like myself put this one on the shelf.

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