UNO COME TANTI ALTRI

Luciano Laurini from Monfalcone Italy will be an obscure name even amongst RPI aficionados, but he is one of the many Italian musicians who released religious inspired albums in this period. While most are far from the lofty heights of Il Balleto di Bronzo or the recognition level of PFM, they represent another significant branch of the RPI movement. Laurini is interesting because he claims to have written this album in 1971 before hearing the work of the progressive bands like Banco and Orme. This would predate much of the RPI heyday and make the album all the more impressive for its progressive touches, light as they may be. The album wasn't actually issued until 1973.

A superficial spin of this album can make you think it's just a beat-rock/folk release, but fans of genre will note the familiar sounds on repeated plays. There is much more going on than first meets the ear. The base of the sound is created by Luciano's warm and reassuring voice, superb acoustic guitar work, and background synths. From there things are filled in nicely with dancing flutes and marvelous choir vocals: men, women, and children if I'm not mistaken. This adds so much and is one of my favorite aspects of the Christian Italian works. Elevating the album further is the conceptual aspect, the repeating motifs, intricate arrangements, along with the great chops of the bass player and drummer. The rhythm section is mostly quite restrained, but when they do blast off there is another dimension here well beyond the typical Italian singer-songwriter thing. There is hand percussion sections as well as grooving that approaches the quality of a good fusion act. There is even a section of slightly spooky narration and percussion that has a bit of an avant garde edge, not very typical of albums like this. For me the album brings to mind artists like Claudio Fucci, Franco Maria Giannini, and Stefano Testa. There is such a passion and ambition running through these songs, and it moves effortlessly from folk to rock to melodic progressive to religious, providing musical variety while accommodating the recurring musical themes.

This is a joyful and affirming album that is a must for fans of RPI's religious branch. Just do not expect the wild and crazy prog rock as this is the soft-prog realm. If you enjoy that kind of prog you should find Laurini's debut charming and beautiful.

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