SUDDANCE

OSANNA are considered one of the best bands to emerge from the fertile Italian prog scene of the 1970s known not only for their excellent blend of various musical genres but equally for the live performances that made them stand out from the pack from the getgo. This band from Napoli formed all the way back in 1970 and was known for changing things up radically on each album with the 1973 magnum opus "Palepoli" still considered one of the greatest masterpieces of the entire progressive rock world however when it came to the followup "Landscape Of Life," the band was riddled with tensions and basically disintegrated in the midst of the recording sessions.

It probably should have been the end of the band for good but after a reconciliation, the majority of members decided to give it another shot and recorded the band's fifth album SUDDANCE only with long time keyboardist Elio D'Anna having been replaced by Fabrizio D'Angelo and bassist Enzo Petrone taking the place of Lello Brandi. SUDDANCE was a commercial flop although the music critics did seem to show some love for it. The album is very much like its predecessor in that it basically meanders all over the place only more so without any particularly memorable tracks. The opening "Ce Vulesse" immediately sets the album apart from any previous works as a pure jazz-fusion piece more in the vein of bands like Brand X than anything from the Italian scene.

While OSANNA had always incorporated jazz into its works, the saxophone squawks and fusion chord progression became even more pronounced on SUDDANCE although the folky Mediterranean flavors still seeped into the works. The album is noticeable less rooted in hard rock with less guitar heft thus making it the mellowest overall album in the band's 70s run. Despite the excellent instrumental performances of the band rounded off with Lino Vairetti's instantly recognizable vocal style, SUDDANCE does sound a bit more on the commercial side with less progressive meanderings and more focused tight-knit jazz-rock composiitons. The album is laced with funk grooves, clean guitar riffs and jazzy drum rolls with only the slower folky pastoral tracks deviating from the pattern. Some rock still emerges from time to time but only for fleeting moments.

Add to that the album's longest track "O Napulitano" which is just shy of 10 minutes doesn't quite have the music mojo to really justify its length which is pretty much the problem with the album as a whole. In comparison to the band's first three albums this one is quite dull indeed but if evaluated on its own terms it's not all that bad however there is no doubt indeed that OSANNA had fallen from grace and had become mediocre rather than top world quality of the Italian prog scene. For true fans such as myself, you will inevitably get to this album as it does represent the last leg of the band's original journey before all those rather lackluster reunion albums that would follow in the 21st century but as an OSANNA fanboy i do have to say that this is indeed the weakest of their original 70s run and i'm quite thankful that they realized that the magic was gone and time to move on.