IN HOC SIGNO

1. Is this album introducing us to the "new" Bill Bruford--young drummer extraordinaire, Shanti Colucci? (Answer: We shall see!)

2. What if the lineup(s) of mid-1970s JEAN-LUC PONTY (Aurora, Imaginary Voyage, Enigmatic Ocean, and Cosmic Messenger) and that of late 1970s BRUFORD (Feels Good To Me, One of A Kind) merged? (Answer: It would sound like a lot of this album!)

3. What if George Duke or Jan Hammer had played with Jean Luc Ponty, Allan Holdsworth, Jeff Berlin, Dave Stewart and Bill Bruford? (Answer: It would sound like much of this!)

4. What would a progressive rock album trying to seriously and intelligently convey the concept of Christian Europe's mediæval Crusades sound like? (Answer: This!)

5. Isn't it great and wonderful that intelligent, talented, young musicians of today are getting into playing/performing prog?! (Answer: YES! It's awesome!)

6. What is in the air/water/food of Italy that so many great prog albums are being released there in the past couple years? (Answer: Unknown/Yet to be determined.)

Perhaps later I will go through a detailed, song-by-song, moment-by-moment account of my experience while listening to this incredibly rich and diverse album, but for now just suffice to say that I consider this not only a masterpiece of progressive rock composition but also a masterful rendering of a very challenging historical concept and a breathtaking and refreshing introduction to a brilliant and virtuosic group of young musicians. There is certainly room for these guys to grow (i.e. better transitions within songs, better vocal layers/harmonies, let those amazing end-of-song jams play out instead of fading them out on the mixing board) but then, what "classic" prog "masterpiece" from the 70s is without its flaws. (I know that I have yet to meet a flawless album.) Mega kudos to Igor, Mattia, Flavio, Marco, Shanti, and others. I hope you will consider staying together to do some more prog?you are so talented!

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