LA COMETA

Well we have three (vocals, keyboards & drums) of the original members of that classic 1972 lineup on here. That's where the similarities end though. Mind you were talking almost 40 years later with this 2010 release so expectations shouldn't be too high. I must admit that I found this a tough one to get into at all.

"La Cometa" is a lightweight tune really with piano and vocals standing out. It does get fuller at times but I don't like this at all. "Nenae" is mellow with fragile vocals. I like it better late with those vocal melodies and that breezy sound. "Quando Moriro" is catchy and mid-paced with vocals. Not a fan (haha). Some violin as this has a Counrty flavour. "Aereoporto" has a reserved sound with vocals. It does pick up 1 1/2 minutes in. Best song so far.

"Makumba Hotel" doesn't even sound like the same band. Soft vocals, percussion and piano lead. It does get fuller and we get some guitar after 3 minutes. Easily my favourite tune on here. "Oratorio" is a Folk song while "Una Canzone" features what sounds like harmonica along with piano and violin. Vocals too but i'm not a fan. "Uomo Rosa" is like a Ragtime track. Yikes ! "Topolino Topel" is a short instrumental to end the record. An electronic flavour to this one.

I feel bad giving this once classic band 2 stars but I can't get into this one apart from one track. Fans only.

La Cometa was supposed to be Reale Accademia Di Musica's second album - it was shelved for unknown reasons and remained unreleased until 2010. Composed exclusively by Henryk Topel, La Cometa was recorded in 1974 by a transitional formation of the band; core members Topel and Frederico Troiani were joined by guitarists Enzo De Luca, Gianfranco Coletta and Pericle Sponzilli, drummers Roberto Senzasono and Stefano Fournier, bassist Carlo Bruno, guest violinist Toni Marcus and singer Micaela Grandi. Even Adriano Monteduro, whom had recorded his first solo album with the group, lends backing vocal duties and inspiration. La Cometa shares some qualities with that album, namely the wealth of acoustic guitar-centric material and shorter song development, but also hints at the previous greatness RAM achieved on their immaculate debut. I feel fortunate to have heard La Cometa and wish it were available in a physical format - the digital download will set you back a mere six dollars. Personally I want to give the release four stars but, being reasonable, it is a luxury and non-essential by nature.

The title track "La Cometa" swirls in with a freewheeling attitude, and is reminiscent of "Ognuno Sa" from the debut. Though the six-minute track is the longest on the album, it never really ventures too far from jammy blues so don't expect a mini-epic. The restrained "Nenae" is deliciously beautiful and my favorite from the first half. The backing vocalists particularly shine, as limited percussion and subtle bass play a more reserved role. "Quando Moriro," with its catchy chorus and playful fiddle, is enjoyable but somewhat one- dimensional. "Aereoporto" seems reflective and is the most 'progressive' of the bunch - check out the cascading guitar in 9/8 just after the second verse.

"Makumba Hotel" has a Spanish feel and creates some interesting tension to break up the album a bit. Though we may never know the original running order or if the album was ever completed as originally conceived, a few more bumps in the road like this couldn't have hurt. "Oratorio," by far my favorite song on La Cometa, is a Beatlesesque hymn and totally perfect in every way. Monteduro's angelic backing vocals provide the necessary balance to Topel's somewhat uncharacteristic crooning. If you do nothing else today, go buy this song and tell me your day didn't just get a little better. "Una Canzone" reminds the listener of the charismatic opener and has a little harmonica goodness going on. "Uomo Rosa" is an interesting honky-tonk and not my favorite here. "Topolino Topel" is a silly closer that sounds like a game show theme song. In all, La Cometa is a worthy addition to any RPI collection and a must for RAM fans. I could certainly think of a worse way to spend six bucks - you can't even buy lunch for that.

Ok I felt like I needed to do a 3 star review to hopefully bump up the dreadful 2.29 score that this album has. Why? In my humble opinion, I felt that 2.29 is not justified. This album is actually "good". Not great. Not a classic by any means and most certainly not in the same league as their first s/t album. And one could argue that this is not really a progressive album like the first s/t album. This is more in the vein of the 2nd album from 1974.

You can find out the full story on why this album was not released for over 35 years on the italianprog dot com web site. But this is a treat to be able to have a never-heard 1974 album available. Most of the time, those "never before released" albums tend to be "a drag".

However, there's some good songs on this album. I feel there's actually a few great songs on this album. It's an uneven album with a few "skippable" tracks (skip over after you heard them 1 time) but there's a few songs that are beautiful italian prog/folk.

For a few of those beautiful tracks "Nenae" and "Oratorio", I'm reminded of a few of the mellow tracks from Nuovo Idea's "Mr. E Jones"(another album worth seeking if you've never heard it) and Gruppo 2001 along with a few in the vein of the 1974 Adriano Monteduro album w/Reale Accademia.

Those 2 are great songs with vocal harmonies and nice melodies that make lots of those italian songs from the 70's stand out.

The other really good song is the "Makumba Hotel" with it's breezy/airy wordless vocal harmonies and argentine/south american overtones. It's infectious. Sort of reminds me of the 'South American Getaway" that was the background music on Butch cassidy and the Sundance kid when they were in South America towards the end. You know the music where the vocal harmonies are going "Ba ba baaaa ba" :-)

Cool tune.

Just those 3 songs alone make this a justifiable purchase for $5.99 which you can get on amazon.

I've heard this album several times and those 3 songs stand out.

As per the others, "La Cometa" (the opener) has a "cool melody" but it gets old very quickly and runs out it's pleasure after 2 minutes and repeats itself for the next 3-4 minutes. The other songs (which is about the other half) are either skippable or "mediocre" and forgettable. The last song is dreadful and I agree with the reviewer here that it sounds like the music from a cheesy 1970's game-show.

I'd bark and howl at the moon in anger if I paid $20-25 for this. However, for $5.99, I snort like a happy pig and purr like a happy cat at the 3 good/great songs I mentioned and only growl at the not so good songs.

I'd give this about a 2.8 round up to 3 stars.

Worth a listen. You can go to amazon and listen to 30 second sound samples for each song on this album. Should give you a sample.

I sure hope there are other "never-before-released" albums from 1970's in the vaults across Italy by many of these bands.

BTW, I would like to mention the brand brand new albums by Reale Accademia in 2008/2009 titled "IL LINGUAGGIO DELLE COSE" and "TEMPO SENZA TEMPO" (where Adriano Monteduro has resurrected a band under that name) are horrible albums. Almost "techno" with drum machines and literally no melodies.

I found out from the italian prog website on a recent interview with one of the original members of Reale Accademia (who was the lead guy on their 1972 album) that Adriano used the name of "Reale Accademia Di Musica" for these 2008/2009 albums without the permission of the original members from the 1972 band. Be very careful with those 2 albums. Buyer beware.

This "La Cometa" album even ranks below "TEMPO SENZA TEMPO" on this website. I feel that's an unjustified joke because "La Cometa" is so much better in every sense of the word. Don't let that 2.29 rating scare you from at least going to amazon and zipping thru all the 30 second sound samples of "La Cometa". Also, youtube has 2 of the songs from "la cometa" in it's entirely including the ""Makumba Hotel" album. It's worth typing that into youtube and giving it a listen and then deciding if it's worth buying the album (or at least just a few songs from the album).

An astonishing release of important archival recordings by the masters of melodic Italian folk rock; Reale Accademia Di Musica.

If you "get" these guys, this is going to be one of the best finds you'll ever encounter. Imagine that their 1974 album with Adriano Monteduro was a double album and that's about what you're in for here.

There are some certified classics amidst this lost collection. "Aeroporto" has that perfect blend of symphonic and folk that made the second album so brilliant. And "Una Canzone" is actually an alternate version of the track that appears on that same album, but here violin takes a prominent role.

While it might not reach the consistent heights of the second album, this archive release is essential for any committed fan. As usual, the musicianship is stellar. And by that I don't mean that players are spinning virtuoso solos left and right. I mean that the collective goal of the melodic content attaining its desired dynamics and emotional depth is brilliantly served.

"Uomo Rosa" is a bit of a departure with its "old-time" flare and "Topolino Topel" is different than anything they ever did on the first two albums. The latter almost sounds like music for a quirky commercial. Entertaining, but it's the first seven tracks here that will really warm your heart if you can't get enough of the melodic brilliance that these guys brought to the table

Criminally underrated, much of the music from Reale Accademia Di Musica is timeless. That quality is evident on the best material here.

In 1974 the same team of musicians that contributed to the recording sessions of the album credited to Adriano Monteduro and Reale Accademia di Musica, with the exception of Carlo Bruno on bass and the help from Pericle Sponzilli and others, recorded for the RCA label another album, "La cometa", that was supposed to be the first solo effort of Reale Accademia di Musica's vocalist Henryk Topel Cabanes. Nonetheless, during the seventies it was never released and the tapes got lost. As told by Henryk Topel in a 2013 interview for the site italianprog.com, the band split up soon after the release of their first eponymous album and they tried to survive in the music business as session men? "La cometa was recorded for RCA in 1974 soon after the record we made for Monteduro. The record company gave us much money for it and each of us decided to try his own solo career, some even took off for exotic countries and everything ended...". Before parting ways, the musicians from Reale Accademia di Musica contributed to the recording sessions of the 1975 album entitled 1930: Il domatore delle scimmie for the Italian pop singer Nada... Then the curtain fell.

It wasn't until 2010 that a tape with La cometa sessions re-emerged from oblivion and was finally digitally released under the name Reale Accademia di Musica on the Pinball Music label, as recalls Henryk Topel Cabanes in the aforementioned interview: "the master, whose only copy was kept by my old friend Stefano Fournier (who also took part in the recording) laid forgotten for many years. Not long ago I requested the rights to Universal, owner of all the historic material of RCA, and they told me they didn't have anything left, so I had the old tape remastered and brought it to light again...". Then, in 2013, a physical, remastered edition on CD and vinyl was released on the Poliedizioni label with a different art work. So, now we have the chance to listen to it...

The opener "La cometa" is a blues-rock piece inviting you to ride the tail of a bizarre, shining comet of sugar and silk, capable to transform every man into a poet and to change his mentality... Then it's the turn of "Nenae", a nice acoustic ballad with a dreamy atmosphere and romantic lyrics portraying a beautiful girl running free with bright, dancing colours in her hair. She leaves behind her mystical traces of love...

"Quando morirò" (When I will die) is a lively country rock piece. The lyrics evoke happiness and joy, the right song to play during the funeral of the protagonist, a man always ready to have fun... Next comes "Aereoporto" (Airport) that depicts in music and words the feelings of a man who is going to take off on a nightly flight...

"Makumba Hotel" is a beautiful instrumental track with an exotic atmosphere full of nocturnal suggestions. It could be a perfect score for an Italian film of the seventies... Then the calm "Oratorio" (Oratory) evokes memories from a childhood spent in a Catholic institute underlying the contradictions of a religious education.

"Una canzone" (A song) is a different version of a piece about the healing power of music recorded for the album Adriano Monteduro e Reale Accademia di Musica. The following "Uomo rosa" (Pink Man) could recall The Beatles of "When I'm Sixty-Four" or "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and describes a peculiar, unreal character, a kind of erotic reverse of real people who dances for a while and then melts into the night? The short instrumental "Topolino Topel" (Mickey Mouse Topel) ends the album with a light touch and a rag time pace that could recall a silent black and white comedy film.

On the whole, an uneven work containing some interesting pieces and weaker ones but that is worth listening to.