In 2011 I heard an album of an Italian band on the internet that had a big impact on me, so I just wanted to get that album in my CD collection. However, buying it appeared to be rather difficult and even to date I didn't manage to get a copy of the eponymous debut album recorded by La Coscienza Di Zeno. The band were founded in 2007 in Genoa and they named themselves after a well-known Italian novel written by Italo Svevo (1923). On their first album I noticed several musical influences from many neo-progressive rock bands like Pendragon, IQ and Pallas, but I also heard influences from a lot of Italian prog acts like Le Orme, Locanda Delle Fate, Maxophone and Metamorfosi. Finally they used elements from the music of progressive rock bands from the seventies like Yes and Genesis. Fortunately their record company sent me their second album Sensitivita, so this time there was no need to put so much effort in obtaining this album. When I heard Sensitivita for the first time their previous album immediately crossed my mind and the same kind of feelings came over me, because the musical style is quite similar to their debut. I even more realized why I so much wanted to possess it. Just like on their first album Gabriele Guidi Colombi (bass), Andrea Orlando (drums), Stefano Agnini (keyboards), Alessio Calandriello (vocals), Davide Serpico (guitars) and Luca Scherani (keyboards, bouzouki) recorded some great compositions that will be loved by many prog heads. It has the same kind of musical references as La Coscienza Di Zeno. However, I got the idea that this time they were even more inspired by the albums recorded by Genesis in the early seventies. It's mainly the sound of the keyboards that refers to these albums. It's not that strange if you know what kind of keyboards they used: several analog synthesizers, a Solina String Ensemble and a Mellotron. The guest musicians play instruments like the flute, violin and cello which often push the music in the direction of Genesis' style. Even the albums that Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) recorded in the Italian language at the start of their career often came to mind while listening to this CD. This is probably due to the singer who excellently sings in his mother tongue. All seven tracks are of a very high quality level, even close to perfection. All the many instrumental parts on the keyboards and the guitars are performed in an excellent way and make sure that you won't lose your attention. After their strong debut that I hope to possess one day, the band returned with another outstanding album. As I said before it comes close to perfection and is therefore highly recommended. As far as I'm concerned Sensitivita belongs to the musical highlights of 2013! ****+ Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
