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Stormy Six - L'Apprendista CD (album) cover

L'APPRENDISTA

Stormy Six

 

RIO/Avant-Prog

4.05 | 82 ratings

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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
4 stars STORMY SIX were one of the first Rio-Pro bands. I'm not sure why they aren't mentioned more, especially after enjoying this remastered cd all this week. They originally started out very much as a Pop(Beat) band in the mid sixties, even opening for the ROLLING STONES on their first ever tour of Italy. When it came to recording their first record though, they had changed to a folk band singing political songs. So their first 5 albums are very much in the Folk genre. Most feel that this album "L'Apprendista" is their most progressive record, with the next one "Machinna Maccheronica" being the most Rio-ish and Avant Gard. So yes, this is a good place to start with this band. In the liner notes it says the band was listening to a lot of KING CRIMSON, HENRY COW and especially GENTLE GIANT during this period. They were in particular playing "Interview" a lot, and the GENTLE GIANT flavour comes out at different times during this recording. I have to say the sound quality is perfect, crystal clear.

"Buon Lavero!" opens with these cool, intricate sounds before vocals arrive a minute in. The tempo picks up a notch and it sounds great. It goes back to the original melody and the contrast continues. Some nice violin 3 minutes in, and check out the drumming a minute and a half after that. The drumming and violin play are definite highlights throughout this album. "L'Apprendista" is led by the violin and vocals and it sounds amazing. Actually, as the violin plays the cello also plays a different part. Nice. The vocals stop 2 1/2 minutes in and the drums come to the fore. You have to hear this ! Vocals return 5 minutes in. "Carmine" opens with vocals,acoustic guitar and violin before some xylophone arrives. Marching style drums follow with some good bass lines. Sax after 3 minutes, as the intricate and beautiful sounds continue. "Il Barbiere" opens with a collage of sounds that come and go quickly, like GENTLE GIANT does it. Vocals arrive a minute in with more of a melody as well. Violin, drums and vibraphone lead the way as the vocals have stopped. They return 6 minutes in and check out the drumming towards the end of this the longest track on here.

"Cuore" is a restrained song with violin and cello interplay, although a much fuller sound comes in after 2 1/2 minutes. "Il Labirinto" is my favourite song on here. This one sounds a little different than the others as there is more bass and bottom end,even the vocals are deeper. It's slower paced with some terrific organ followed by some tasty sax 3 minutes in. I like the way these themes are repeated later in the song. The sax goes from being very smooth to almost dissonant at one point. More fantastic drumming. Fabulous tune. "Rosso" is my least favourite song and fortunately the shortest at 3 minutes.The vocals are so serious and the violin is mournful. "L'Orchesra Dei Fischietti" takes a while to get going as different sounds come and go. It sounds like there is a party going on in the background. It finally gets going 2 minutes in. This is catchy with some sax solos followed later by some GENTLE GIANT-like vocal harmonies 5 1/2 minutes in. Violin and drums follow as the bass throbs.

A must have for Rio-Prog fans out there. Even fans of Italian music will find plenty to like on this amazing recording.

Mellotron Storm | 4/5 |

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