Paolo Siani & Friends feat. Nuova Idea -
Castles, Wings, Stories and Dreams


(CD 2011, 48:09; Black Widow Records BWRCD 131-2)

The tracks:
  1- Un Dono(2:13)
  2- Wizard Intro(3:03)
  3- Madre Africa(7:54)
  4- Questa Penombra č Lenta(6:57)
  5- Chimera(4:23)
  6- The Game(10:38)
         - a. Wizard of your Sky
         - b. Mickey's
         - c. Jump
         - d. Wizard of your Life
  7- Cluster Bombs(6:43)
  8- This Open Show(3:16)
  9- C'era una Volta(2:59)

Black Widow Records


Every band that incorporates an electric violin steals my heart right away, so it is a good move by Paolo Siani (formerly of Italian band Nuova Idea which never really raised to prominence after which Siani kind of dropped off the prog radar for three decades) to invite one of his violin playing friends to come along to perform on this CD that incorporates the best of Italian prog. Another good move is asking not one, but two friends who play the Hammond organ because then, Paolo is assured of the interest of many prog lovers. The first thing however, that you notice when playing Castles, Wings, Stories And Dreams is the guitar. I am not sure if this is Siani himself or one of his friends, but what I am sure about is that this guitarist is regularly going apeshit on his strings! Then the Hammonds come in to finish the job and the prog lover is left convinced that this CD is well worth his time. And it is indeed. The nice combination of short and long songs doesn't bore the listener for one moment and even the Italian singing doesn't hurt as it is just part of the high quality musical show this group of friends present us with. Good stuff indeed.  

***+ André de Waal (edited by Robert James Pashman)

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