MAXOPHONE

One of the more original "one album wonder" bands from the RPI boom, Maxophone adeptly shift from dark King Crimson-ish realms to classical/operatic majesty to brief moments of pastoral beauty to ELP-esque keyboard showboating with an adeptness that is impressive to behold. Forget the two bonus tracks, which are from a rather more commercial and simplistic single the band released the year after putting this one out (I don't include such things in my ratings anyway), this album is a prog rock technical showcase from the opening notes of Paese Al Mondo to the majestic choral outro to Antiche Conclusioni Nerge. Those who are exploring the RPI scene should mark Maxophone out as a stop on their prog tour of Italy.