ESPLORARE

Well I took Finnforest's advise and purchased this a couple of months ago. PROCESSION were a band I fell in love with, well I guess I should say the debut album in particular is what blew me away although the follow-up was good too.The vocalist Gianfranco Gaza was one of the few singers who could bring tears to my eyes simply with his voice. Sadly he passed away in the eighties so he's not on this particular release from 2006. In fact only the guitarist remains from those seventies albums.The new vocalist does Gianfranco proud though, i'm very impressed with him.The music here is pretty much all the songs from their two seventies releases plus a couple of more. Does it work ? Well as Jim said "Yep" it sure does. I do have some issues with it though, in particular the too smooth sounding sax and flute on the one track but overall I enjoyed this alot.

"C'era Una Volta" is laid back and something you'd hear in a smokey club back in the day. Piano leads early then the guitar cries out. Flute replaces the guitar before 2 minutes then it picks up with vocals. Some nice guitar comes and goes. It calms down then we get sax after 5 1/2 minutes. "Uomini Di Vento" opens with drums and guitar. Organ and flute join in then vocals.The flute comes and goes. The guitar 2 minutes in sounds great. "Un Mondo Sprecato" is my favourite and I raise a glass to Gianfranco who may not be singing but his inspiration can be felt from the new vocalist. Just a gorgeous intro here as reserved vocals, bass, drums and gentle guitar lead. Gulp. When the tempo picks up check out the bass ! It settles back as contrasts continue. "Esplorare" opens with bass and vocals. Great sound 1 1/2 minutes in as guitar and flute stand out.The bass continues to shine. Sax follows then the vocals replace the sax.

"Il Volo Della Paura" is mellow early with acoustic guitar and flute leading the way.Vocals a minute in. It kicks in after 1 1/2 minutes and the vocals become more passionate and I love the electric guitar that follows. Beautiful stuff. "Suite 1" is the other track that is amazing although this is like a medley with one song blending into the next. Lots of atmosphere early then the guitar comes in after 1 1/2 minutes and drums and bass follow. An explosive sound then wind can be heard. Cool. Gentle guitar then vocals follow.Vocals are passionate 3 1/2 minutes in then it kicks into gear. It turns heavier and more intense 6 minutes in then the tempo picks up. A calm after 9 minutes then it kicks back in as the tempo and mood continue to change. "Suite 2" turns heavy quickly and the drumming and synth work are outstanding. A change after 3 minutes as it settles and we get some vocal melodies too. Another change 6 1/2 minutes in as it turns aggressive with guitar,organ and drums. Passionate vocals a minute later. "Fiaba" features gentle guitar as flute joins in followed by drums and vocals. Some chunky bass too.

It is what it is (haha). An album that goes over the same old ground yet at the same time it "sounds" very good yet is still vintage. A low 4 stars and i'd suggest you check out the original albums first.