DUE

Personally and in general I do not like Italian Bands singing in english..I believe that Italian lyrics are rich by themself; This band is an exception, they really have done a great job in "Due" with the incorporation of the old Italian prog music tradition adding english vocals, beside Luca has an exceptional voice, and that really help them, more than ever Pink Floyd creeps inn without beeing the main influence, magnificent long jams of music in this solid second release. Having said that, I hope futures releases would be in Italian. Highly recommended.

Well actually this issue deserves a 3 stars and an half score, however being quite derivative and not too much modern...nevertheless -unlike in some circumstances concerning a few music passages of their debut album- there is no trace of any mellow melodic lines ( often included typically by every Italian pop progressive band of the early seventies within their whole production);I like to point their lyricism out, especially talking about their orchestration inside the main suite (entitled "The darkness for the light"): such track is quite personal and convincing too and let us forget that sense of "70's oldness" (always present within some albums of Italian bands like Nuova Era). Instead talking about the depth of their introspective music passages, these latter are sometimes replaced by a direct approach, without any "baroque loom";even though at the end the track "L'altra aurora" (reminding me of "Wind and Wuthering " by Genesis) and also their last suite "Due", are easily "acknowledgeable" among the Italian musicians of the Prog Scene nowadays as their attempt to make a renewal of the Classic Progressive genre of the seventies, in the direction of a "baroque/symphonic" Italian New Progressive wave of the early eighties (Do you remember for instance the albums by Ezra Winston in the same period?!?). However, apart from these considerations, such references are well hidden in their new elegant production, despite of this latter being quite ordinary, and at last the album is remarkable !!

Suggested, even though it is not completely essential!!

Four stars and a half really. I agree with Gabriel, I prefer Italian lyrics even when this point could be a limit to penetrate in the English markets. I like "Due" more than the first H2O album (very good indeed), maybe 'cause compositions are quite better (specially last track, the homonymous "Due", is superb).

This stuff seems to me, sometimes, closer to neo-prog realisations, perhaps due some neo cliches or the notorious GENESIS influences or even the language, but -at the same time- the Italian symphonic vintage taste is never lost. So, I guess it's an album from a refined band to recommend to every prog fan.

"Due" is the second album of this promising contemporary italian trio, after the well acclaimed debut "Unopuntosei" issued in 1997.

In their music they blend a strong symphonic prog with many melodic parts and lyrics completely sung in english (with obnvious italian accent to my ears) and sparse Gentle Giant's occasional flavour as in the opener "Prometheus Breath" (7,11 mns). No particular italian-way is recognizable, at least not in this second release.

The five compositions are all of a considerable length between 7 and 16,32 minutes long and deliver many shifting moods with many variations on keyboards instruments as grand piano, moog and mellotron-like-atmospherical sounds. Mellow acoustic guitar enriches the music as in "L'Altra Aurora" (8,45 all sung in english, despite the title in italian language), while fiery electric guitar's excursions give the sound a more modern appeal thanks also to the good interplay with bass, drums and mini-moog. Just listen for example to ""The Darkness for the Light" (10,07 mns) or to "Stop" (7,07 mns).

The small epic "Due" is about 16,32 minutes long. It opens with soft piano intro and gentle vocals reminding, a little, to Genesis who are a clear reference (sometimes delivering a true neo-prog tendency), instead of the obvious ELP (speaking of famous trios). From the fourth minute you can hear also to church organ and harpsichord interplay, then uptempos and exciting variations.

All in all is a very good album which only lacks in production, in my opinion. None of the three members are credited for drums and in fact drums are, somehow, a weak point here, even if not always mediocre. Generally the sound smells of demo recording tape (and so the cover art, unfortunately) and this is the main reason of a three stars rating, instead of a full applause and tribute for the excellence status!

3,50.

It's hard to believe it's been almost 4 years since I reviewed their debut. Anyway the follow-up for this Italian band is similar in style to the debut but no guest female vocals this time. H2O are a trio of keyboards / vocals, guitars and bass with a guest drummer. I agree with Andrea Cortese that there is nothing on this album that hints at it being Italian.The vocals are in English and the music is sort of slow to mid-paced without a lot of dynamics. Lots of tempo shifts as these longs tracks play out.

"Prometeus Breath" is mellow to start with reserved vocals. It does kick into gear with synths as the tempo continues to change back and forth and vocals come and go. "L'Altra Aurora" is pastoral early with piano coming in at 1 1/2 minutes. Reserved vocals 2 minutes. It does pick up 6 minutes in.

"The Darkness For The Light" opens with piano as reserved vocals join in. It kicks in after 2 1/2 minutes to a full sound. Guitar leads 4 minutes in and there's lots of synths too .A calm 6 minutes. "Stop" opens with piano and synths. Drums follow and vocals arrive before a minute.The guitar and synths lead 6 minutes in then it settles with soft vocals. "Due" opens with sparse piano as almost spoken vocals join in. A classical flavour arrives before 5 minutes. A calm 8 1/2 minutes in and reserved vocals and piano follow. Guitar before 11 minutes. It ends in a mellow way with piano.

A tough listen for me really. There's not much at all that I can harvest from this record that I actually enjoy.

Four years after the very good ''Uno punto sei'' H2O returned with their sophomore effort simply entitled ''Due'' on Kaliphonia.The trio of Andreotti, Malaguzzi and Prandi wrote another album, using the same formula as on the previous one, five long and semi-long tracks, clocking at 50 minutes as a whole and featuring again Lino Prencipe on drums.

This time though the band chose to abandon the Italian lyrics and create compositions exclusively written with English lyrics, thus having a stronger GENESIS influence than links with the Italian school of Prog and another reason is the district GABRIEL-esque color of Luca Prandi's voice.However the quality of the material has not changed or dropped a bit.Melodic Symphonic Progressive Rock as performed by GENESIS or PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI with alternation between multi-layered passages and soft sensitive musicianship.The vocal moments charactertize the more emotional side of H2O: music passages filled with delicate piano, soft HACKETT-like electric touches and romantic non-accented vocal delivery.As aforementioned these are combined with some trully complex, mainly-keyboard-driven instrumental excursions with occasional breaks and a strong amount of interplays.Prandi's keyboard parts are extremely inspired ranging from TONY BANKS-like solos to bombastic symphonic themes.Malaguzzi's guitars come close.Very good solos under a slightly distorted sound and also some good heavier riffs.All tracks are extremely tight, melodic and captivating with an emphasis on the symphonic side of Progressive Rock.

Unfortunately nothing has been heard around this talented trio since this release and it seems that the band dissolved silently as it appeared in early-90's.''Due'' is another fine album by this good Italian group, strongly recommended to all lovers of Symphonic Rock and Italian Prog...3.5 stars.