ADRIANO MONTEDURO & REALE ACCADEMIA DI MUSICA

Buyer beware!

This is not a second album of prog from Reale Accademia Di Musica but an album of soft rock songs by Adriano Monteduro backed by RADM.

The music is not too bad though; think of it as sort of an Italian James Taylor, CSN, or Bread album. Quality soft 70s rock with acoustic and electric guitar, piano, and decent vocals. Occasionally the music picks up and rocks a bit but mostly it's a chill-out affair. The vocals are very soft and pleasing, the guitar work delicate and the percussion competent where it is present.

The BMG mini-lp sleeve CD features a high-quality glossy gatefold album cover with an awesome Tolkien-esque fantasy painting of tree dwelling creatures in the forest. The album is only recommended to Italian collectors, fans of exceptional album art, and fans of Italian soft pop-rock music. It is good but it is definitely not what prog heads are looking for. Of course if you're like me you'll buy it anyway hoping against hope for more RADM. You'll get just a hint of a taste of their previous glorious album. For me personally, I think it's just charming enough to be a keeper.

This album has very little to do with the great debut of the band released two years prior to this work. The wording that James is using in his review are rather appropriate: it is an album from Adriano Monteduro backed with Reale Accademia. Only that from the original line-up, only two members survived (Federico Troiani and Roberto Senzasono). So, it is half of the band which is giving a hand to Adriano Monteduro.

The music one can discover here is more folkish than Italian symphonic IMO and it is quite misleading for the ones who thought of getting genuine and great music like we are used to with this genre.

Folk tunes like Buongiorno Nel Bosco are mixed with more straight forward rock (La Favola.). A bombastic feeling is provided thanks to some fine keyboards and when the whole cools down, I admit that the moving melody is superbly sung by Monteduro. It is probably the best and the most complex song from this album.

This work sounds definitely too folkish for me. Italian folk.not my cup of tea to be tell the truth (Le Figlie Dell'erba ). Pastoral atmosphere (Mezzogiorno, and Una Canzione, Suoni Di Umanitá) to close this quite album. Since I was expecting something totally different, I can't be really enthusiast about this recording. The rocking Le Montagne Nel Tramonto is still a good composition

Two stars. It is not because songs are sung in Italian that they do belong top the genre I praise so much: Italian symphonic. There is nothing (or very little) as such here.

It was Jeff Carney's five star review that made me want this one. I didn't even know Jeff did some reviews here, he's a guy a lot of us turn to when we want to know what version of a cd to buy. He is the "sound" expert. Anyway as others have mentioned this isn't really an RADM album but rather an Adriano Monteduro album with RADM backing him up as his band. This is Italian Folk music at it's best. I fell for it instantly which surprised me since i'm not big on Folk music. The Italian vocals and intricate guitar work are gorgeous to say the least.

"Buongiorno Nel Bosco" opens with acoustic guitars and vocals that create wonder. Drums, vocal melodies and electric guitar before 2 1/2 minutes. It blends into my favourite "La Favola Guardiano Del Bosco" as piano and atmosphere joins in. When the vocals come in I get this lump in my throat (gulp). It picks up after 2 minutes with drums and piano leading to the end. "Mezzogiorno" is vocal and acoustic guitar led. The vocal melodies are a nice touch. "Le Figlie Dell'erba" sounds so beautiful early on. Some backing vocals in this one too. Piano and drums after a minute. Electric guitar a minute later to the end. Nice.

"Viaggio Libero" has acoustic guitar and soft vocals to start. It does pick up some. Great sound when the piano and drums arrive. "Le Montagne Nel Tramonto" is laid back with vocals and electric guitar. A much fuller sound before 2 1/2 minutes. So good. "Preludio ..." has acoustic guitar and vocal melodies. Drums and piano before 2 minutes. Love this stuff. "Una Canzone" is a mellow acoustic track with vocals. "Suoni Di Umanita" ends the album with acoustic guitar and reserved vocals with drums and piano joining in.

A must for fans of Italian Folk. An solid 4 star record.

In 1974 some members of Reale Accademia di Musica worked along with other musicians as a backing band for an album of singer songwriter Adriano Monteduro. The line up featured Adriano Monteduro (acoustic guitar), Henryk "Enrique" Topel Cabanes (vocals), Federico Troiani (piano, keyboards), Roberto Senzasono (drums, percussion), Franco Coletta (electric and acoustic guitar, vocals), Enzo De Luca (vocals, acoustic guitar), Dino Cappa (bass), Tony Mimms (vocals), Michela Grandi (vocals) and Roberto Rosati (timbaillas). What resulted from the recording sessions was a nice collection of songs with soft rock arrangements, very different from the symphonic style of the Reale Accademia di Musica eponymous album. Nonetheless, the album was entitled "Adriano Monteduro e Reale Accademia di Musica" and co-credited to the band. It's a concept album where all the songs follow a common thread ad tell of a psychedelic dream, in some way captured by the colourful art work by Fausto Di Landro...

The opener "Buongiorno nel bosco (Il canto del sole)" (Good morning in the wood - The song of the sun) is a folksy ballad based on an acoustic guitar arpeggio. The lyrics and music conjure up the image of an enchanted wood at dawn: under the faint light you can see a hollow tree, three dark pandas, a sleepy red deer and a gnome who is carving lilac marionettes. Then the gnome starts to dance happily because he knows this is a holy day to celebrate on the banks of the river, under a magic oak tree. It's the wood of fantasy and other gnomes row merrily on their small pirogues to reach the place of the ceremony... Next comes "La favola del guardiano del bosco" (The tale of the guardian of the wood) that tells in music and words of the birth of the magic wood. Once upon a time an illuminated man came from a far violent place, he lifted his arms up to the sky and turned himself into the wood creating a paradise and setting everything in peace and harmony with a miracle of love...

"Mezzogiorno" (Midday) paints in notes and words a peculiar hippy style tableau with people running barefoot on the grass under a blue sky. The sun is shining, the bees are busily flying from flower to flower and your thoughts can follow the music and singing of wind and creeks... Then "Le figlie dell'erba (Festa magica)" (The daughters of the grass - Magic party) marks the arrival of some beautiful girls carrying baskets full of fruits and magical mushrooms. The dance is going to start, a band of old dwarves is going to play and everyone will be happy... Well, just a metaphor of the pop festivals of the early seventies!

The reflective "Viaggio libero" (Free trip) describes a trip through the magic wood where you can breathe freedom and happiness under the moonlight while the following "Le montagne nel tramonto" (The mountains in the sundown) reminds you that you are just living in a dream. The mountains at dusk are like shadows of faceless knights asleep and you fear that tonight they will ride away... Ghosts are hidden in real life all day long and you are aware that when the new day will rise the dream will fade out and reality will take over again...

The dreamy "Preludio a..." (Prelude to...) is a beautiful instrumental track that leads to "Una canzone" (A song), an acoustic piece about the healing, anti-depressive power of songs, friendship and love. When you feel that illusions, happiness and dreams are going to melt into a bleak daily life, just try to sing along some piano chords or a strummed guitar pattern (with a little help from a pinch of magic grass) to have a new go! Then "Suoni di umanità" (Sounds of humanity) ends the album suggesting that this was a fairy tale that could come true. Fantasies of a timeless world without cities while you are surrounded by the sounds of civilization... Why not?

On the whole, I enjoyed the album although I fear that many prog fans could find it a bit disappointing.