THE BOOK OF DREAMS

One of the greatest entries of the new millenium,MANGALA VALLIS are an Italian symph prog rock band,formed in 1998 in Reggio Emilia.They begun as a trio,featuring experienced musicians like Gigi Cavalli Cocchi on drums/percussion,Enzo Cattini on keyboards and Mirco Consolini on guitars/basses.No less than three singers helped with the recordings of their first album,among them we meet ex-''Acqua Fragile'' and ''P.F.M.'' vocalist Bernardo Lanzetti.The debut ''The book of dreams'' came out in 2002,based on the novels of the famous French writer Jules Verne.

The admiration of MANGALA VALLIS for 70's progressive rock becomes clear from the very first note of the album,especially GENESIS' influences are constantly in the repertoire.Eight memorable compositions are what MANGALA VALLIS have to offer,delivering amazing keyboard work,sensitive guitars and excellent vocal arrangements.SPOCK'S BEARD also come to mind with these nice grooves, multi-vocal parts, moog soloing and alternating acoustic/electric guitars,while Matteo Setti sounds a lot like NEAL MORSE.The second vocalist in the line,Vic Fraja,sounds a lot like PETER GABRIEL at his best,while his voice backed up by the shining mellotron parts and Hammond organ are on of the most enjoyable and inpiring parts of the album and exactly when GENESIS stick in your mind.Lanzetti needs no introduction,his magnificent voice in the beautiful ''A new century'' is a highlight of progressive rock.A very balanced album filled with beauty,sensitivity and positive energy,''The book of dreams'' is a work straight coming out of the 70's ,that will please every prog fan out there.Simply awesome and absolutely essential!