IL PAESE DEI BALOCCHI

This is without doubt one of the best integrations of rock and classical music I have heard. Many bands have tried and failed at this, but Il Paese Dei Balocchi managed to create a sonic ambience where both the orchestra and the rock instruments sound fresh and crisp. A remarkable achievement.

The album starts with a short classical piece played with rock instruments. It's jagged, dark and full of bite. It quickly and suddenly changes to an equally urgent string ensemble, sounding a bit like Stravinsky in his neo-classical period. The violins mellow out near the end. 2.34 minutes in and I'm completely overawed already.

And on it goes for another 35 minutes of sharp instrumental rock and prog rock, balanced against classical chamber orchestra, choral vocals and beautiful songs such as Conzone Della Speranza. Everything is very cinematic, as if we're going through different scenes of a play. Even some Floydian atmospherics are present, as on Evasione. In fact, this whole album has something of an Atom Heart Mother feel.

After the wonderful church organ finale of Ritorno Alla Condizione Umana, a complete shock follows with the addition of the two extremely cringeworthy pop bonus tracks. They are placed right after the original album and you don't have more then 2 seconds to press stop so be quick!

A remarkable album that is probably too eclectic to win over the prog masses any time soon, but a highly recommended listen for lovers of classical music and symphonic prog.