VERITÀ NASCOSTE

With the ambitious ''Smogmagica'' Le orme tried to approach a wider audience,but the album was very flat and uneven.So the band decided to change some of the negative points,starting with recruiting new guitarist Germano Serafin instead of Tolo Marton and continuing by writing material closer to their earlier style.These facts were taped on their work ''Verita nascoste'' from 1976.

The presence of the guitar has now a more distinctive role and is added where needed and not for the sake of the guitar dominated grooves.The sound is softer,closer to works like ''Uomo di pezza'' or ''Collage'',but there are also plenty of rhythmic parts as in ''Smogmagica''.The delicate organ sounds and the atmospheric synths of Tony Pagliuca in the classical style return to offer moments of untold beauty and Tagliapietra voice continues to be very romantic and warm.Mellow vocal-led acoustic passages are again a basic ingredient of the band's style.Serafin has also his personal moments with a couple of really good solos.The result is a typical Le Orme work:Rich musicianship full of classical influences,romantic vocals and deep ethereal soundscapes.

''Verita nascoste'' is another trully good album in Le Orme's discography,this work fails a bit compared to masterpieces like ''Collage'' or ''Contrappunti'',but it contains a mass of inspiring moments to please any fan of Italian Prog.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.