UNOPUNTOSEI

One of the new Italian bands, with an PFM,Gentle Giant influence. I also hear Pink Floyd, specially on its english/second. Fantastic use of guitar with a solid vocal...I certainly will follow this band in the future..Highly recommended!!

H20 defy all those pundits out there who still cling to the belief that only the 70's were progressive. "Unopuntosei" evokes a certain musical beauty not unlike LOCANDA DELLE FATE and Le ORME exhibited throughout their music. Although H20 do get into some pretty energetic and highly complex playing, they are able to gracefully blend in slower mood and tempo swings which will amaze you. Unopuntosei is both electric and acoustic throughout and creates highly symphonic , deep thought provoking music. This is a highly professional and well executed album with great dynamic sound and speaker separation. Vocals are excellent (Lyrics in Italian) and are in a matching pastel replica to the music itself.

Reminds me of Banco, Deus Ex Machina, Finisterre or some of the better Latin Americans like Tempano - the polyrhythmics and challenging digressions are not there, but instead there is very clean, clear symphonic instrumentation, great vocals, and enjoyable melodies. I'm ready for the next release!

H2O are an Italian band who play a fairly light brand of Symphonic music. There are no outbreaks really, lots of keyboards and acoustic guitar often done at a slower pace. They're a three piece band consisting of vocals, keys, bass and guitar, with a guest drummer and female vocalist.

"H2O" is uptempo with lots of keys until the male vocals come in and it settles down. It's fairly laid back until late in this 11 minute opener. "Lo Specchio" is quite mellow and sad with male vocals, a guest female vocalist also takes part.

"Metareus" is filled with lots of time changes and mood shifts with some weeping lead guitar late. "Il Cimitero Degli Elefanti" is the almost 20 minutes closer. Again slower paced with lots of mood changes and an emphasis on keyboards and guitar.

Good album but nothing that would make me consider giving it 4 stars.

Hmm, more neo type Italian stuff that was so common in the late 90's.

Having said that, it's a pretty good listen. Some very Genesis like atmospherics, especially the second song, but throughout as well. The second song is also notable for the lovely female vocals. The 3rd track brings in some more complex and more upbeat passages. The first track is a statement of intent that really gives a good feel for what you will hear. The final, epic, track is a good summing up of all that has gone before featuring both darker and lighter parts and a quite euphoric ending.

As a whole this is fairly slow paced, easy going prog. A bit more texture than typical English neo prog, but fairly ordinary for Italian prog. At their best they remind me a bit of Locanda Della Fate, though with weaker vocals, though the vocals here are far from bad. Just not very distinctive or powerful (though as I mentioned, the female vocals are quite nice on the second track).

Overall, a fairly non descript work, but probably on par for that period. Though they were a bit late in the 90's Italian prog resurgence to really make any impact. Still, fairly enjoyable for me, a solid 3 stars. There is much more to hear before this, but good if you like 90's Italian neo type stuff.

A strange and widely unknown story around this very good Italian band.H2O were formed in 1976 in Milan, composing and playing progressive rock, but -as with a mass of bands around the same period- they weren't lucky enough to sign a contract.The band continues performing live till' late-80's,when they disbanded.1992 sees the meeting of founding member/guitarist Rocco Malaguzzi with the leader of Kaliphonia Label Raoul Caprio.Thus,a new chapter begins for H2O.Four compositions from their old material are re-worked and finally pressed in 1997 on the album ''Unopuntosei''.

The album runs at almost 50 minutes and the tracks' length range from eight up to twenty minutes. Romantic,mainly mellow progressive rock of the old Italian style is what ''Unopuntosei'' offers to the listener,as we expect from a prog band living and composing in mid-70's Italy.H2O's sound is mostly based on the keyboard work of Luca Prandi,who use a variety of analog keys like organ and mellotron along with his baroque-influenced piano lines and the dynamic synthesizers.Melody and delicacy are the main elements of this work with some nice interplays, tasteful keys all over and some acoustic passages of lovely beauty.Malaguzzi uses his electric guitar when it's appropriate,supporting Prandi's keyboards or delivering some smooth solos.Vocals are in Italian and they also let loose a romantic feeling of old Italian prog touching your ears.Closest comparisons would possibly be SITHONIA or even CONSORZIO ACQUA POTABILE, FOGLIE DI VIETRO and TAPROBAN.Fans of keyboard-oriented symphonic rock with an emotional touch should add this one in their collection.Another fine example of decent Italian progressive rock.