CANI ARRABBIATI: OPENING THEMES... A TRIBUTE

Finnish organization Colossus has managed to establish itself as something of a high-quality brand name among connoisseurs of niche projects within the world of progressive rock for the last decade or so. Closing in on two dozen releases by now, it has issued albums and deluxe box sets commemorating classic movies, classic literature, and vintage and obscure artists as well as contemporary and well-known ones. Most of their productions consist of material catering for the tastes of those with a soft spot for vintage art rock in general and the symphonic variety of it in particular. CANI ARABIATI ? "Opening Themes" is a double CD issued in 2010, and like all the other projects that comes courtesy of Colossus it was released by the specialist progressive rock label Musea Records.

While more than two hours of Italian movie scores given an art rock treatment would appear to be an exercise aimed towards a small niche, "Cani Arrabbiati" does a good job of documenting otherwise. I would suspect most fans of instrumental art rock should find plenty of material to their satisfaction on this production, and in particular those fond of what one might describe as vintage-oriented arrangements. But the core audience of this double feature is most likely one less than stellar in size: Dedicated enthusiasts of older Italian movies or movie scores who prefer listening to progressive rock for their musical enjoyment.