Banco

First released by ELP's Manticore label back in 1975 to showcase the band;this album draws on material from their first and second albums which are extensively re-worked with english lyrics(Metamorphosis,Leave Me Alone,Nothing's the Same and Traccia 2).With the addition of "Chorale","L'albero del Pane" and "Outside" this has to be one of the best progressive rock albums of the 70's.The arrangements and production are superb- if you've never heard this band before, you're in for a real treat!I was totally blown away when I first heard it and it still sounds fresh today.... miss this one at your peril!!

Good

Technical heads-up for potential purchasers; The glowing reviews shown here relate to an earlier Manticore label released album and not the album shown above. This album is a totally different album released much later in 1983 and re-released by Sony in 2006.I was a big prog rock fan in the early 70's and have been trying to catch up on bands i'd previously missed. This Italian band was recommended although to be fair it was their 'Darwin' album that was specifically suggested as a good starting point. I bought this instead!Now it's not a bad album but it's certainly not what i would call prog? It's quite symphonic/electronic in nature and has a very 80's feel which hasn't dated too well.There's very little info on the CD insert but the singer has a very good operatic voice and the album is generally keyboard heavy with some occasional bursts of guitar (i'd like to have heard more guitar).Sung entirely in their own language (maybe some French too?) it opens well with the very catchy 'ninna nanna' which has a fine hook and the 2nd track 'lontano da' maintains the standard but after these two tracks it becomes fairly average with quite a few ballads/ more restrained offerings. It closes with an instrumental 'traccia tre' but overall left me feeling fairly underwhelmed.