REALE ACCADEMIA DI MUSICA

Reale Accademia di Musica were formed in Rome in the early seventies and rose from the ashes of another band called Fholks. In 1972 they released a very interesting eponymous debut album with a line up featuring Henryk "Enrique" Topel Cabanes (vocals), Federico Troiani (keyboards, vocals), Pierfranco Pavone (bass), Roberto Senzasono (drums, percussion) and Pericle Sponzilli (guitar) who left the band soon after the recording sessions replaced by Nicola Agrimi. The album was produced by Maurizio Vandelli and the overall sound features pleasant melodies and pastoral acoustic passages. This work doesn't shine for its originality and lyrics sometimes are a little bit naive but it's well played and recorded and I'm sure that Italianprog lovers will love it.

The opener "Favola" (Fairy tale) is soft and dreamy. Delicate pastoral melodies depict an enchanted world of songs and fairy tales where time calmly "weaves its story"...

Then comes the long and complex "Mattino" (Morning) which is about the end of a happy childhood when dreams are blown away by the cold reality. Music starts softly, lead by piano and vocals... "Open your eyes / Mind that your childhood is over / And you have no time to dream anymore... The simplicity of ingenuity will burn like a candle...". After a piano interlude the music becomes tense and rhythm takes off for a beautiful instrumental ride through reality. When music calms down again it's time for a new awareness... "Now you are a man / And as a man you have money, a job, dignity and a woman who warms you but... / Even heaven can't give you back the happiness of childhood...".

"Ognuno sa" (Everybody knows) is a melodic ballad inviting you to live like a thoughtless child, dreaming of endless roads towards the blue sky... "Life is a flower that you can pick up if you want, when you want it / Because it's the only gift that you can have for nothing in exchange / And if you want you can give it to the people who love you, to the ones who are with you...".

On the next track, "Padre" (Father), the atmosphere is definitively more troubled and heavier. It's a complex piece featuring intense instrumental passages and heartfelt vocals. Lyrics are about the generational gap... "Father, you ask me what I think / You ask me where I want to go, how will it end... You never think to your way of living, walking in circles and killing your dreams...".

"Lavoro in città" (Work in the city) is a beautiful track in three parts. After a short piano intro music drives you in a nightmare. Lyrics depict an ill world where machines have taken over and freedom is the bed where you sleep in. Fritz Lang's film "Metropolis" images come to mind... "The radio can't sing / It shouts that my civility is dying by now / Around me there are faces of people scared like me...". The atmosphere of fear and alienation melts in a dreamy invocation for a peaceful and simpler life, full of magic songs and sounds... "Everything is divine, you know / Just if you want it / And if you want it, it will be so...". The third part is a lively and jazzy instrumental finale.

Last track "Vertigine" (Dizziness) concludes the album with a full tank of dark and heavy energy. Electric guitar riffs and organ patterns underline gloomy lyrics. Long rivers are carrying clouds of gas and a threatening shadow is approaching... "You door is close but you know that you can't stop it / It's coming here, it's coming here!".

An excellent addition to your Italianprog collection!