ANTOLOGIA

Era Di Acquario

Rock Progressivo Italiano

3.24 | 28 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

It's nice to finally see some MP3s of the more obscure Italian bands, and Era Di Acquario are definitely second-tier, but a good addition to any RPI collection. Three stars all the way.

"Antologia" is a Jekyll-and-Hyde album...you have the excellent pastoral side and and the rockier stuff; the latter of which doesn't always work and actually takes this down from a possible four-star affair. The middle chunk of the album (well, the CD) contains their best material, largely instrumental, prog-lite if you will. Not necessarily a good representation of the rich symphonic heritage to come of out Italy during this period, but I suppose a comparison to Celeste or Blocco Mentale wouldn't be out of the question (although this holds a candle to neither).

This was actually one of the first RPI albums I discovered, and was taken to it immediately due to its accessibility - which is not to say this is pop music by any stretch of the imagination, but it is about as catchy as the genre gets. Good music to have on while the wife's around. Another quality that so enamored me to this album some ten years ago is the way it sounds: many RPI albums from this period suffer from lackluster production, tape hiss, sibilance and the like; "Antologia" is beautifully recorded and produced, with deep bass and shimmering acoustic guitars, full vocals and properly-recorded percussion. No doubt the backing of RCA had much to do with this, but again there is just not a lot of information about the band available to say for sure.

Once the heavy-hitters like PFM, Le Orme, and Banco have all been added to your collection, this wouldn't be a bad place to start for some of the second-tier stuff. I almost regret to give "Antologia" three stars because the acoustic material is so enjoyable, but the lack of consistency and weakness of the New Trolls-inspired rock tracks dictate that rating. Still, a worthwhile listen and unique entry into the world of Italian Prog.

coasterzombie | 3/5 | 2012-10-16

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