JESTER

With the addition of the expressive lead singer Mario Guccio, Machiavel really came into their own. Genesis is obviously the main influence, but Machiavel were always a bit on the quirky side. The use of layered syntheisizer sounds and various tape/electronic effects definitely made them sound a bit apart from your usual bog-standard Genesis clone. Lyrically, they seem to enjoy indulging in a sort of dark surrealism, which adds harrowing undertones to "Wisdom" and "Sparkling Jaw". It does get a bit silly and mawkish with "In The Reign Of Queen Pollution", but that at least presents us with the image of a baby born with a gas-mask, nearly thirty years before a very similar image in the unforgettable "Empty Child" episode of DOCTOR WHO.

The surrealism carries over into the rather perverse cover art (check out the inner gatefold!), which gave me big time LA PLANETE SAUVAGE flashbacks.