Italian progressive rock
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Italian progressive rock scene was born in the early 70s, mostly inspired by the progressive movement in Britain, but with certain features of its own that makes some sources mention it as a separate musical genre.
In the early-to-mid-70s, Italy was one of the European countries most interested in this genre; many English bands such as Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator and Gentle Giant were discovered by the Italian public before they had consolidated a fan base in their home country. Consequently, progressive Italian groups were prolific. Some received worldwide attention, such as Le Orme, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Area and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. Most of the bands, however, were mainly known inside Italy.
As CD reissues started appearing and the Internet made information flow easier during the 1990s, the Italian bands were discovered and rediscovered by a number of progressive rock fans internationally. Reissues proved so successful that several recordings which were never released at the time received their first pressings on CD in the 1990s and 2000s. The "discovery" of Italian progressive rock by foreign fans also led to bands such as Celeste being re-evaluated as core bands, despite the fact that they were virtually unknown in Italy at the time.
The 1990s also saw a resurgence in bands performing progressive rock. The first of the well known bands to do so was Ezra Winston, but other groups such as Finisterre, Deus Ex Machina, Delirio Sonoro and Moongarden soon established themselves as well respected progressive rock acts. More recently La Torre dell'Alchimista and La Maschera di Cera have carried on the Italian progressive rock tradition, sporting a very 1970's style.
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Hallmarks
Italian progressive rock encompassed a number of different styles. The Italian progressive scene produced a large number of bands releasing one record before disappearing into obscurity. This was the case with highly-regarded bands such as Cervello, Museo Rosenbach, Alusa Fallax, Apoteosi, Murple, Alphataurus, Gruppo 2001, Locanda Delle Fate, Maxophone and Semiramis.
One very noticeable defining feature of Italian progressive rock in the 1970s is the extensive use of Mixolydian and Dorian scales, rather than just the more common Ionian and Aeolian modes (or, major and minor). Every PFM album contains at least one Mixolydian or Dorian song.
Symphonic rock bands
Italy's symphonic rock boomed in 1972, after the successes of Van der Graaf Generator's Pawn Hearts, which was number one in Italy's charts for 12 weeks early that year. The scene more or less ran dry by the end of 1975. [1] Owing to the difficulty of making a living as a rock band, many bands from Italy released only one or two albums before disappearing.
The most popular bands, such as Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Premiata Forneria Marconi and Le Orme, played symphonic rock heavily influenced by classical music, against the backdrop of the Italian canzone tradition.
Bands like New Trolls, Osanna, Metamorfosi, Alphataurus, Semiramis and Biglietto per l'Inferno had a harder edge, but still with traits of the symphonic tradition.
More experimental bands
Franco Battiato's 1970s output showed influences from electronic music. While his first albums can be called symphonic or progressive rock, his work became increasingly inaccessible, incorporating musique concrète and serial music. The willingness to experiment culminated in L'Egitto prima delle sabbie in 1978, where one chord is repeated throughout each LP side. After this, he turned more commercial, eventually earning huge national success.
In the latter half of the decade, several bands more directed towards contemporary music or RIO emerged, such as Picchio dal Pozzo, Opus Avantra and Stormy Six.
Newer bands
Bands such as Finisterre, La Maschera di Cera, Deus Ex Machina, DFA, Germinale, Bread For Teethless, Mary Newsletter and Il Bacio Della Medusa have made an impact since the progressive scene experienced a slight revival in the 1990s.
Timeline
Before 1971
English progressive rock bands such as Genesis were popular in Italy. In 1970, releases by Italian bands, however, still favoured American-style psychedelic rock, such as Osanna, Le Orme and Il Balletto di Bronzo.
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso had already refined their progressive rock sound, as is evident from their recently released Live record recorded that year, but they did not release anything until 1972.
1971
In this year, New Trolls released the seminal Concerto Grosso per i New Trolls, a collaboration with Luis Enriquez Bacalov. It was a mix of canzoni, rock and classical music, and helped put symphonic rock on the map in Italy. Other notable releases were I Giganti's concept album Terra in Bocca, Buon Vecchio Charlie's self-titled symphonic rock album, and Le Orme's organ-based album Collage.
1972-1974
In 1972, a creative explosion suddenly occurred, with PFM, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Il Balletto di Bronzo, Le Orme, Quella Vecchia Locanda, Metamorfosi, Museo Rosenbach. Ibis, Il Rovescio della Medaglia, Alusa Fallax, Alphataurus and more releasing their most acclaimed works.
RIO and minimalism, 1974-1980
In this period, the number of the typical symphonic albums released decreased dramatically, already by 1975–1976 the Italian style of symphonic rock was close to being annihilated. Perhaps as a replacement, there emerged a quite differing wave of avant-garde music, often with links to RIO and minimalist music. Examples are Stormy Six, Picchio dal Pozzo, Franco Battiato's Clic! and Pierrot Lunaire.
Concept albums
- New Trolls' Senza orario senza bandiera, which was the first true concept album in Italian music history, being published as early as 1968.
- Le Orme's Felona e Sorona, about two distinct, distant planets- one full of love and warmth, the other cold and dreary.
- Banco del Mutuo Soccorso's Darwin!, about Darwin's travels to the Galapagos Islands and his theory of evolution.
- Metamorfosi's Inferno, based on Dante's Inferno.
- Museo Rosenbach's Zarathustra, based on central parts of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy.
- Murple's Io Sono Murple, the story of a penguin who is taken into captivity.
- Blocco Mentale's POA, based on the preservation of nature.
- Il Rovescio della Medaglia's Contaminazione, based on Bach's Well-tempered Clavier.
- Alusa Fallax's Intorno alla mia cattiva educazione, the story of a boy with a strict upbringing who struggles to follow his own destiny.
- I Teoremi, the album simply called I Teoremi, is one of the rarest Italian prog-era albums.
- Il Balletto di Bronzo's Ys, a narrative alluding to the legend of the mythical city of the same name.
- Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno's Per... un mondo di cristallo, about an astronaut who returns to a lifeless Earth.
- Stormy Six's Un biglietto del tram, based on events from the last years of World War II
See also
