IL RIVOLUZIONARIO

Very rare Christian-themed RPI on the light side

Alessandro Aliscioni is an Italian composer from Tolentino. He was born in 1951 and studied in Rome in the 1960s before embarking on a decades-long career which included teaching, then composing many musicals and soundtracks works. His inclusion here is a borderline case, based solely on the 1977 album "Il Rivoluzionario" which is of interest to RPI fans. The conceptual album covers Christian themes (with lyrics by Renato Biagioli) which was one of the side branches of the 70s Italian prog scene. It featured Italian pop and soft progressive rock with some of the common singer/songwriter and symphonic elements. I agree with our friend Mat who on his website compares the album to the soft symphonic album by Mario Panseri, called "Adolescenza", though perhaps not quite as impressive.

The album features a lighter prog rock sound centered around soft keyboards and piano, acoustic guitars, and laid-back vocals. There is a frequent and wonderful use of the violin as a prominent accompaniment, and while the playing is not as disciplined or technically impressive as say, QVL, it does lend a great folksy vibe. There are also some really nice children's choir vocals and female vocals adding richness to the sound. "Scribi e farisei" sees the rock component increased with a heavy bass line, hand percussions, louder drumming, and even some slightly more aggressive electric guitar work. A dramatic riff and the chanting youth choir bring more energy and sass to this track, one of the best. Other tracks sound more like soundtracks to plays which is what Aliscioni would be known for later. The orchestral sounds in the background are interesting, I'm not entirely sure if they are strings or synthesized strings of some kind, but they're not a typical 'tron sound.

Certainly not bad in any way, but this one is really for the more dedicated RPI fans looking for the deep collection. The music is OK but not particularly memorable and two stars is therefore appropriate I think.

Underground Italian composer, born in 1953 in the city of Tolentino.He studied harmonica at the school of Modesto Ricchi in Rome and participated in several concerts of his school.He composed his first LP for Edizioni Paoline under the title ''Celebriamo la nostra speranza'' and later he collaborated with the Pro Civitate Christiana for his second work ''Il Rivoluzionario'', based on the writings of writer Renato Biagioli.It was a groundbreaking work, as propably for the first time in Italy a Pop/Rock Opera was written before any lyrics were captured.

Musically this is actually a Pop Opera with numerous orchestral themes, romantic Italian vocals and choirs and minor Prog elements.The principles of the album are always set on Aliscioni's soft work on piano and keyboards, combined often with violin strings and sweet vocal harmonies, typical of the Italian language.Light symphonic and Folk elements through the use of acoustic guitars and some more flashy synthesizers are also present.Imagine a poppier version of PIERPAOLO BIBBO'S ''Diapason'' album to get the full picture.The music is often good, although very accesible and with a few cheesy moments, the production though is at a below average level, not really helping Aliscioni's composing talent.String parts are very depressive, on the contrary the multi-vocal parts deliver an optimistic view and as a result the album tracks alternate constantly between different emotional moods.As expected, most of the melodic lines are pretty nice with the familiar Italian romanticism in forefront, but the album lacks any killer pieces or even more some demanding music to be fully appreciated.

Aliscioni continued a long, fruitful collaboration with Biagioli after this album and his main activities can be detected in musical works for comedies as his major pursuit over his long career.

Very obscure and rare album.Italian Orchestral Pop/Rock, somewhat covered by late-60's Italian melodic Pop influences, heading for serious listenings only to fans of the style.