OLD ROCK CITY ORCHESTRA

"The Magic Park Of Dark Roses" is the third album by Old Rock City Orchestra and was released in 2018 on the independent label Avanguardia Convention. In 2016 original bassist Giacomo Cocchiara left the band and the other members decided to continue as a trio. So, the line up on this work features just Cinzia Catalucci (vocals, keyboards, percussion), Raffaele Spanetta (acoustic and electric guitars, bass, vocals, additional keyboards) and Michele 'Mike' Capriolo (drums, Glockenspiel, percussion) although during the recording sessions they were helped by some guests such as Laurence Cocchiara (violin) and Chiara Dragoni (flute). The atmospheres and the overall sound are darker than on their previous albums but this is due to the subject matter of the concept: a spiritual, metaphorical journey through a dystopic world drenched in esoteric symbolism and alchemical formulas... According to the liner notes, all the lyrics were inspired by some poems by Kalina Doncheva while the beautiful art work was provided by Lucy Ziniac and tries to describe the musical content with images and colours.

The title track opens the album and lead us in a mysterious, magic park where the cold winds give way to an eternal springtime, a land out of time and space where dark roses grow, a kind of limbo that attracts everyone... Here the lyrics give us just a faint hint of the strange panorama. Organ passages, electric guitar riffs and calmer piano parts conjure up a psychedelic atmosphere and the soaring vocals of Cinzia Catalucci help us to stir the imagination and to draw a personal picture of the surreal, occult landscape'

The following 'Abraxas' is a nervous track that depicts a man who has lost his way and asks for help. The title of this piece refers to a mystic word that was believed to have magical properties and was inscribed on ancient charms and amulets. The early Gnostics personified the word as their Supreme Deity and here the goddess is the one who shows the way to the magic park... Next comes the melancholic 'The Fall', a piece that describes the pain a man experiences for his broken dreams and failures at the end of his days. The music has a slow pace and strong Oriental flavours' Well, it's a beautiful day and Bombay's calling!

The Gothic 'Visions' conjures up the image of a mysterious park in the night, full of stealing shadows and dangers. The protagonist seems like sleepwalking when suddenly the voice of a wizard shows him the way out and the light' Then the following 'A Night In The Forest' tells us of another strange meeting in a dark forest, this time is the turn of a woman dressed in black who whispers to the protagonist that life is like a nightmare...

The short, frenzied 'The Coachman' describes in music and words a carriage that takes the protagonist to the world of shadows. The coachman here is a kind of Charon, the mythological ferryman of Hades who carried the souls of the newly deceased across the rivers that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead... Then come the mysterious atmospheres of 'A Smell Of Heart And Soul Entwined' a piece where dreams, temptations, spells and desires are evoked as in a magic ritual...

The disquieting 'Thinkin' 'bout Fantasy' marks the meeting with a peculiar storyteller while the following 'Soul Blues' is a bit lighter and tells about the importance of friendship and its healing power by describing the meeting with another mysterious character coming out of the blue. Then the beautiful instrumental 'Golden Dawn' closes an album that is really worth listening to...

Even if the concept might be a bit hazy, the music is excellent and you can fill the gaps of the storyline with your own imagination. On the whole, I think that this is a very good work!

Back To Earth is the second album by Old Rock City Orchestra, a band from Orvieto that began life in 2009. It was released on the independent label M.P. & Records in 2015, three years after the promising debut entitled Once Upon A Time, and confirms all the good qualities of the previous work. The line up is still the same and features Cinzia Catalucci (vocals, keyboards), Raffaele Spanetta (guitars), Giacomo Cocchiara (bass) and Michele 'Mike' Capriolo (drums). The overall sound draws on what now is called classic rock, all the tracks are played with enthusiasm and vitality, they're sprinkled with a touch of psychedelia and heartfelt melody and could recall bands such as Jefferson Airplane, Affinity or Circus 2000 without sounding out of date...

The opener "When You Pick Up An Apple From The Tree" is a nice track where the beautiful voice of Cinzia Catalucci is used just as instrument and takes you high on a light flight across a starry sky. Every now and again it reminds me of The Pentangle and is enriched by the electric violin of the guest Laurence Cocchiara that adds a baroque touch to final result. It's linked to the following "Feelin' Alive" where the atmosphere becomes darker and where the music and words depict a girl who lost her soul in a rainy night and now is overwhelmed by sorrow and desperation. She needs help, she needs someone to teach her that there's always time for the last goodbye to life and that suicide can't be a good way out from her troubles...

The following "Rain On A Sunny Day" and "Mr. Shadow" are two tracks full of obscure energy where the music and lyrics evoke deadly shadows looming large on the horizon. They lead to the bitter-sweet "Melissa", a delicate, acoustic song that was inspired by the 2012 Brindisi School Bombing, a bomb attack occurred in Italy on May 19, 2012, when three gas cylinder bombs hidden in a large rubbish bin exploded in front of the Morvillo Falcone high school in Brindisi, killing Melissa Bassi, a 16-year-old girl, and injuring five other students.

Then "Lady Viper" lights the fire of a nightmarish vision evoking an evil, deceiving creature prowling for money and honey. It leads to the suggestive "My Love", that describes in music and words an irresistible need, the urge to join someone or to get something so precious you can't live without it...

"Tonight, Tomorrow And Forever" is about the relativity of time and feelings and here the music and lyrics invite you to catch the day, freeing your mind and leaving behind fears and sorrow. Next comes the dreamy, reflective "Why Life" that in some way blends hope and regret, dreams and awareness of the limits that real life can draw around you. The long title track, "Back To Earth" ends the album with a melancholic mood and an ethereal stroll down memory lane that maybe the beautiful art work by Lucy Ziniac can describe better that all my words...

On the whole, a good album in black and white played on the tightrope of nostalgia but with a close look at the present.

Italian band OLD ROCK CITY ORCHESTRA was formed back in 2009, and released an initial EP the following year. This first selection of material was well received, and in 2011 they started working on their full-length debut album "Once Upon a Time", which was released in 2012 through the Italian label Musiche Particolari & Records. Since then they have also released a second studio album, "Back to Earth", in 2015.

Vintage rock honing in on a late '60s and early '70s sound is the chosen hunting ground for the Old Rock City Orchestra, with blues based, carefully psychedelic-laced rock as their specialty and a slight tendency to throw in some jazz and jazz rock-tinged elements on occasion too. There's a good blend between compositions highlighting the lead vocals of Spanetta and material that is more suited to give dominating spots to the instrumentalists in the band, and the album is actually fairly widespread in terms of the different varieties of music explored too, even if most of them appears to share a common stylistic foundation. All in all, a CD that merits a spin by those with an interest in blues-based psychedelic rock as it was made sometime around 1970.

Old Rock City Orchestra began life in 2009 in Orvieto on the initiative of Cinzia Catalucci (vocals, keyboards) and Raffaele Spanetta (guitars). After some musical experiences in other bands they focused their attention on the composition of original songs inspired by progressive and psychedelic rock bands from the late sixties and early seventies. Later the line up was completed by Giacomo Cocchiara (bass) and Michele "Mike" Capriolo (drums) and, after a good live activity and a first demo recorded in 2010, in 2012 Old Rock City Orchestra released their first full-length album, "Once Upon A Time", on the independent label M.P. & Records. The overall sound of the band draws abundantly on the influences of the past and Jefferson Airplane or Affinity come to mind but the enthusiasm of the musicians involved in this project is great and the result is a fresh album of timeless songs that in my opinion is worth listening to. Well, if you like Italian bands such as Circus 2000 or Wicked Minds have a try!

The opener "Stand Up" is a lively track where the beautiful voice of Cinzia Catalucci invites you to leave behind "bad guitars" and voices of out tune in the name of good music... "Stand up! / I'm the queen of your life / Stand up! I compel you, stand up!...". The following "Another Flower" is a kind of dreamy walk through the "gardens of hope" where a new born flower blossoms. This track is enriched by the sound of the electric violin of the guest Laurence Cocchiara.

On "Black Hand In The Sky" the rhythm rises again. A dark cloud appears in a starry night and covers the light. It's just moment, the the wind sweeps away the black hand of darkness and the light shines again. Well, this track recalls Jefferson Airplane while the lyrics make my think of a short story by the Italian writer Dino Buzzati, "La fine del mondo". The energetic "UFO" is in the same vein and conjures up the apocalyptic vision of a threatening starship, an iron ball coming from Mars.

"This Is The Last Day" is a heartfelt blues with a slow pace celebrating the last day of a woman with her lover. The sudden surge of energy of the middle section and the finale gives you the chance to imagine what can happen between the two lovers. Next comes "Once Upon A Time Rock'n'Roll", a joyful tribute to the story of r&b... "I remember Molly and Lucille / Jerry, Chuck Berry and The King / Listen to them and you'll loose control...".

"I Want To Keep On Dancing" is another good track about the magic power a music that can make you fly high. On the following "Tonight With You" Raffaele Spanetta takes charge of the lead vocals for a night ride under the rain on the swirling flute notes provided by the guest Chiara Dragoni. The sweet, dreamy ballad "Swan Of The Lake" features a string trio and concludes the album. Well, I think that this band has a good potential although in their song-writing at times they showcase a too derivative approach. I hope that in the future they will dare a bit more looking for a more original style. I'm looking forward to their next album!