GENERAZIONI (STORIA DI SEMPRE)

E.A. Poe are one of the many one-shot bands of Italianprog scene of the early seventies. They came out from the surroundings of Milan and the line up featured Giorgio Foti (keyboards, vocals), Beppe Ronco (guitar, mandolin), Lello Foti (dreums) and Marco Maggi (bass). "Generazioni (Storia di sempre)", a concept album about the generational gap, is the only album they had the chance to release before disappear from the scenes. It's a real pity because this album proves that they were a very promising band blending classical influences with jazz and rock in the same vein of Le Orme, BMS and PFM.

The opener "Prologo" begins with recitative vocals on a suggestive piano background... "Now we say stop to the kings, to the warlocks, to our artificial paradises / We want to believe in what we feel / Throw into the face of the past the sin of an apple / Imposed or, like you use to say, inherited / All we want is nothing but to live / Be it right or wrong...". Lyrics are committed and the passionate words sound like a statement of their purposes, then bass lines start to pulse and to pump tension in while the electric guitar set off on a jazzy path backed by piano...

"Considerazioni" starts with a catchy bass line, then the other instruments come in adding tasteful sounds and colours while evocative lyrics depict the metaphorical wall that divides the youth from older people, the awareness and the happiness to break down that wall, even committing errors...

On the next track "Per un'anima" (For a soul) the tension fades in a bittersweet acoustic ballad... "How many hopes into your white face / That melts into the mist of the past / How many souvenirs into your blind eyes / That have seen so many things in such a hurry, you know / Perhaps you were running after what you were feeling inside / Without knowing the price to pay / I don't know why you are running away from life / Life is gone away to be replaced by remembrance...".

"Alla ricerca di una dimensione" (Looking for a dimension) remind of some works of Le Orme and features excellent classical inspired organ passages. The atmosphere is tense and solemn while lyrics try to depict the reasons of the fight against an oppressive reality that can't be accepted... "I look at new born baby... He grows up in hurry and with him grows the wish to kill us all / He doesn't respect the authority / Because of his instinct and because of his love for freedom / Rebellion, what absurdity / He dies along with us and there's nothing left by now / He looks at the other people as if he was reading inside himself an unknown story / Perhaps he can't believe it / He can't accept it as if it was just nostalgia... We say to him just wait that time runs over you / And you will understand...".

"Ad un vecchio" (To an old person) is a wonderful symphonic track that seems coming out from "Felona e Sorona". Lyrics are about the errors committed by older people and the impossibility to believe in politicians that are the expression of a generation that pushed the people into the madness of war.

"La ballata del cane felice" (The ballad of the happy dog) is more relaxed. It's a ballad featuring strummed acoustic guitars and mandolin. Lyrics are about love as a traditional value... "Happy dog running after its tail / Close the ancient circle of a game / And when you'll reach it / That's love...".

The final track "Generazioni" is another symphonic track featuring beautiful organ and piano passages and melodic soaring vocals... "Generation, the never ending story / Strange lost meetings / That you can't find again..."...

On the whole an excellent album, even if the sound quality is not flawless.