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Area - Are(A)zione CD (album) cover

ARE(A)ZIONE

Area

 

Rock Progressivo Italiano

4.01 | 80 ratings

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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
4 stars What I love about this live recording besides the music are the black and white pictures in the liner notes. 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. There are five tracks, one each from the previous three albums prior to these concerts and two that aren't on any of their studio records.

"Luglio, Agosto, Settembre (Nero)" is from the "Arbeit Mach Frei" album. It becomes uptempo before a minute. Organ 1 1/2 minutes. It turns chaotic a minute later until it settles right down before 3 1/2 minutes with some reserved vocal melodies, organ and light drums. Here we go again a minute later. "La Mela Di Odessa" is from "Crac!" and is over 11 minutes in length. It's experimental to start with lots of dissonance. Drums come in and take over. Organ,guitar and bass all join in. Great sound ! Applause after 4 minutes as they stop. Then we hear one of the band members eating an apple into the mic while the crowd noise can be heard in the background. He's done in a minute then the music returns with spoken words which are at times theatrical while the band plays on. "Cometa Rossa" is from "Caution Radiation Area". It becomes uptempo. Organ comes in before 1 1/2 minutes as it settles right down. Vocals follow. Guitar and keys join in. It really kicks in at 5 minutes.

"Are(A)zione" is an original track and my favourite coming in at 14 1/2 minutes in length. Love the intro as different sounds come and go. The drumming is fantastic before 3 minutes. Keys join in. This sounds so good ! A calm after 5 minutes then it kicks back in a minute after that with guitar. This is the best part of the whole album for me. Bass 7 1/2 minutes in as it settles again. Demetrios starts to get involved vocally. It calms right down before 11 minutes with bass only then kicks back in. What a song ! "L'Internazionale" is actually AREA's version of the anthom of the "communist party" believe it or not, although i'm sure it never sounded like this before (haha). This is a killer track though. Incredible sound to open before it settles a minute in although the deep bass lines continue. It kicks in again at 2 minutes and the drums are relentless. Organ's turn and then it ends with chaos including some wild guitar.

I do prefer the studio versions of the first three tracks but those last two songs are amazing. Overall an excellent addition to any collection especially for AREA fans. Take a trip back in time.

Mellotron Storm | 4/5 |

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