ZARATHUSTRA

Since I joined PA a few years ago I found several 70´s one shot bands that were latter discovered by progsters and often their sole work is considered by many as a masterpiece, or at least a lost musical gem. While I don´t agree with a lot of reviews about them, sometimes you really find something that is just right. Italian band Museo Rosenbach´s Zarathustra is definitly a fantastic album that I had the delight to finally have the opportunity to listen to. It ´s really hard to understand why such a terrific piece of progressive music went so unnoticed outside a small following they might had. A misinterpretation of the title song lyrics as some reviewers claim? Guess we´ll never know.

But the music inside is VERY good. Not perfect, but still very striking and convincing. Still impressive after all these years. I specially loved the Zarathustra suite, with its four parts and 20 minutes duration: bombastic, heavy and beautiful. Lots of early King Crimson and ELP influences here, and yet they came up with something very strong and fairly original. Excellent keyboards parts (specially the organ and mellotron), fine guitars and a versatile rhythm section. Vocalist Stefano ´Lupo´ Galifi is brilliant, with a very good voice and excellent way of delivering it. The production unfortunatly is not as good as it should for such task, but that´s something to be expected for the period. The remaining tracks are also interesting, although not as powerful and focused as the main theme of the record. But they showed that Museo Rosenbach could go very far if they had the chance to go on with their recording career. But, alas, this was not to be...

Conclusion: A record that I heard a lot of, mostly raving it, for a long time before I had the chance to actually buy it. And I can assure you all that it deserves almost every bit of its fame. If you´re into 70´s symphonic prog in general - and in the italian scene in particular - this is a must have. Rating: somenthing between 4 and 4.5 stars. Highly recommended!