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Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra CD (album) cover

ZARATHUSTRA

Museo Rosenbach

 

Rock Progressivo Italiano

4.33 | 1006 ratings

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Figglesnout
3 stars Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra

This one's a classic, some would say, but more importantly, it served as my intro into Italian music. I don't want to say too much because there's not too much to say...tight compositions and well performed romps of power and blast (yes, in contrast to a lot of other Italian prog, this is a very heavy album) are what make up this album's main suite, and the following three tracks. Whereas other Italian albums tend to favor softer, more melody-driven compositions, on this album, Museo Rosenbach focused much more on delivering a semi-rock-opera with powerful riffs throughout--as well as a large bit of keyboard and mellotron, which is both a plus and a minus as it both gives the album that "vintage feel" as well as.well, giving it that "vintage feel"; it really all depends on what you go for. The album suffers from some mild production problems, which really tend to screw up the dynamics in the music's foreground; the recording quality itself is nothing near supreme--even for 70s standards. The vocals often go from very withdrawn to very suddenly loud, and, on larger stereos (although this is hardly noticeable on a computer or small stereo) there is a rather inordinate amount of fuzz that persists on being heard throughout the album.

Now, the music:

The title suite (Zarathustra, in five parts) is a melodic blend of heavy organ/mellotron and guitar dominant sections, and odd, more piano-driven, softer sections. Some might call this dynamic, while others may in fact just call this lousy and predictable. Either way, on this album at the very least, it's enjoyable and relatively effective. The latter three tracks on the album that are not part of the Zarathustra suite are--in my opinion, worth the price of ordering the album alone, and are better on all fronts that the Suite itself (which is not to say that it is bad, for it certainly is not!). While the album is certainly acceptable, it actually tends to sound more like a "fun" romp--circus prog or something of the sort, than it does "Italian Prog". This is likely because of the fact that Italian Prog is usually softer, less predictable, and, well more complicated (another thing this album doesn't necessarily have going for it, as most compositions are in 4/4 with some 3/4 and 5/4 moments and mostly easy riffs--though this never detracts). The album is definitely worth owning; however, with the reservation that it is not necessarily a true representation of the genre as a whole. This does not stop it from being good, however--so if you're thinking about going for it, do so, as it serves as a decent example of good Italian Prog.

Album: 7.8/10 on my scale: which is something more like 3 Stars on this scale.

Figglesnout | 3/5 |

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