Italian progressive rock
If you’re familiar with progressive rock, chances are, you’re familiar with bands like Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis (before they turned to corporate crap), King Crimson, etc. But what isn’t too well known, is the progressive rock coming out of Italy. That country has a ton of great stuff, but the problem is the availability. Many of their albums are quite rare, but small labels, like Vinyl Magic and Mellow Records made many of these great titles available on CD, so you usually don’t have to pay more than $20 (while original LPs run you from $20 up to $350). The biggest barrier of course, is the fact many of these groups sung in Italian making it difficult to break them outside of Italy.
One of the best known progressive rock bands to come out of Italy is Premiata Forneria Marconi, or PFM, for short. They actually had the benefit of having international exposure because they recorded for ELP’s Manticore label and recorded in English (with help from Peter Sinfield, the same lyricist for King Crimson and later ELP). But their first two albums, Storia di un Minuto and Per Un Amico, both from 1972, were released only in Italy and sung in Italian, but both are very highly regarded as some of that country’s greatest prog rock.
The music, by far and large, is acoustic, with classical influences. Hammond organ, Mellotron, and Moog synthesizers added with guitar, vocals, bass, drums, harpsichord, violin, etc. Their first international release is Photos of Ghosts (1973), largely an English language remake of Per Un Amico. Basically it’s largely a pale remake, get the original Per Un Amico instead. There’s much more to say of PFM, as they released many more albums, L’Isola di Niente (1974) is another worthwhile album, but eventually they turned to a more fusion-oriented direction in the late 1970s, before turning to generic Italian pop in the 1980s. But because too much can be said of Italian prog, let me give you a list of more Italian prog albums you should try:
– Le Orme: Uomo di Pezza (1972)
– Le Orme: Felona e Sorona (1973)
– Banco del Mutuo Soccorso: Banco del Mutuo Soccorse (1972)
– Banco del Mutuo Soccorso: Darwin! (1972)
– Banco del Mutuo Soccorso: Io Sono Nato Libero (1973)
– Osanna: L’Uomo (1971)
– Osanna: Palepoli (1973)
– Cherry Five: Cherry Five (1975)
– Locanda Delle Fate: Forse Le Lucciole Non Si Amano Più (1977)
– Goblin: Roller (1976)
– Corte dei Miracoli: Corte dei Miracoli (1976)
– Museo Rosenbach: Zarathustra (1973)
– Il Balletto di Bronzo: YS (1972)
– Jumbo: Vietato ai Minori di 18 Anni? (1973)
– Ibis: Sun Supreme (1974)
– Sensations’ Fix: Fragments of Light (1974)
– New Trolls: Concerto Grosso Per 1 (1971)
– New Trolls: UT (1972)
– New Trolls: N.T. Atomic System (1973)
– Cervello: Melos (1973)
– Semiramis: Dedicato a Frazz (1973)
– Celeste: Celesta (aka. Principe di un Giorno) (1976)
– Acqua Fragile: Acqua Fragile (1973)
You’ll notice that many of these albums were released in 1973, the reason for that was it was the best year for Italian prog rock. If you want to know where to get some of these albums, try these:
Yes, Amazon carries many of these great Italian prog titles, as CD reissues. Often some people review these titles too, and you might even notice my name there.
– GEMM.
GEMM is not a dealer, but an outlet to many different record dealers where you can get titles at competitive prices. You get tons of dealers domestically and internationally, so of course, price of shipping will vary, same for how long it takes to get the item delivered. Lots of Italian prog found there, even original LPs!
And if you want to find some personal sites that review Italian prog, here are some sites to try:
– Tommy’s Forest of Progressive Rock
Tommy Schønenberg out of Norway reviews tons of prog rock, well known, and obscure, and plenty of Italian (PFM, Banco, Le Orme, Goblin, Cherry Five, and Il Balletto di Bronzo are some of the groups featured there).
Many different prog reviews from many different people, including Italian prog artists.
And if you’re looking for sites dedicated exclusively to Italian prog, there’s:
Private collector who gives you a list of bands, labels, and albums. Includes scans of original LPs as he has them available.
Someone out of Sweden decided to do a web site entirely on Italian prog. Includes bands and reviews of each album. Warning: the site doesn’t get updated very often.
Now for the be all and end all of all things prog rock, there’s:
– The Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock
If it’s prog rock, it’s likely to be listed here. Lots of Italian bands. List of bands, country of origin, complete discography (when known by the contributors), and opinions.
There is so much to learn about Italian prog, so explore those sites, and explore others. Try some of these albums, you might be surprised.