Personnel Arthur Brown – vocals Vincent Crane – organ, organ bass pedals Sean Nicholas – bass guitar (1968) Drachen Theaker – drums (album) Carl Palmer – drums (US tour) Jeff Cutler - drums (second US tour only)
Discography 1967: Devil's Grip / Give Him a Flower 1968: Fire / Rest Cure 1968: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown 1968: Nightmare / Music Man / What's Happening 1988: Strangelands (recorded 1969) 2002: Tantric Lover (CD, UK, Voiceprint Records), original year: 2000 2003: Vampire Suite (CD, USA, Track Records) 2007: Voice Of Love (CD, Zoho Music)
is an Italianprogressive rock band that achieved a high level of popularity in the 1970s, with success in both the British and American charts. They were the first Italian band to have success abroad. Between 1973 and 1977 they released 5 albums with English lyrics for the international market. They also had several successful European and American tours, even playing at the popular Reading Festival in England and appearing on a very popular national television program in the U.S.A.
Le Orme ("The Footprints") is an Italian psychedelic and progressive rock band formed in 1966 in Marghera (Venice). Their first record was for the tiny Car Juke Box label, in 1968. They earned two gold albums, a discography critic award, an England Tour. Le Orme's most famous work, the concept album Felona e Sorona, was issued in English in collaboration with Peter Hammill of Van der Graaf Generator. Le Orme's last three works (Il fiume, Elementi and L'infinito) show a return to a classic progressive sound, and form somewhat of a trilogy pivoting on the "becoming" of the human being.
The 1966 founders of the band were Aldo Tagliapietra (voice, guitars), Nino Smeraldi (guitars), Claudio Galietti (guitar, bass) and Marino Rebeschini (drums). After the single "Fiori e colori" (1967), Rebeschini left and was replaced by Michi dei Rossi. In 1968 they issued a second single, "Senti l'estate che torna". At the same time a new musician, Toni Pagliuca, joined the group. This line-up was responsible of the first LP, Ad gloriam (1968), a pop-psychedelic work that scored little success. The following year, Gallietti left also, and Le Orme found what was to be considered their "classic" line-up, which issued their most renowned progressive LPs of the 1970s (Uomo di pezza, Felona e Sorona and Contrappunti). The last two works saw the collaboration of producer and piano player Gian Piero Reverberi. The group split up in the early 1980s, but reformed in 1986. In 1992 Pagliuca left the band, and was replaced by Michele Bon. Discography Ad Gloriam (1968) L'aurora (1970) Collage (1971) Uomo di pezza (1972) Felona e Sorona (1973) Contrappunti (1974) In concerto (1974) Smogmagica (1975) Verità nascoste (1976) Storia o leggenda (1977) Florian (1979) Piccola rapsodia dell'ape (1980) Venerdì (1982) Orme (1990) Biancaneve (1995) Amico Di Ieri (1997) Il fiume (1999) Elementi (2001) L'infinito (2004)
Members:
Aldo Tagliapietra, Michi Dei Rossi, Toni Pagliuca, Tolo Marton, Germano Serafin
Lucio Calegari - electric & acoustic guitars; tambourine; vocals
Paolo Negri - keyboards & piano
JC - lead & backing vocals
Enrico Garilli - bass
Ricky Lovotti- Hands, Feet, Snare Bassdrum & Tom, Floor Tom, Sticks & Cymbals
Andrea Concarotti- drums
Patrizio Borlenghi- flute
WICKED MINDS is a young Italian band, and "From the Purple Skies" is their debut album. In the CD press kit their music is described as seventies' Hard Rock with psychedelic and progressive elements and is compared to Warhorse, Arzachel, Waterloo, and a few other bands, which are unknown to me.
I liked most of the albums that I received for my review this autumn, and I have even forgotten when I heard something ordinary for the last time (not counting the latest by Yoke Shire, of course). This gladdens me very much, though I feel I must be especially objective when writing one positive review after another. Which demands from me much more attention when listening to music, so I often resort to a few repeated listens, which, in its turn, takes more time than usual. Reiterations in the reviews are also inevitable in such cases. And how would I avoid them, without losing the authenticity of my words, if I meet the same phenomenon in different works? As you will see below, the situation around the purity of a style on this recording and those on the latest albums by The Black and Zess are identical. (By that, however, any similarities between the bands are ending.) Well, Wicked Minds present the listener ten songs with English lyrics, all being at once filled with the distinctive English spirit and what I would call the '70s' magic. Really. Apart from the band's own compositions, there are the renderings of Pentagram's Forever My Queen and Uriah Heep's very first hit Gypsy. I think I'd better tell you right now that both of them sound heavier than the originals and are more diverse than them, at least. Otherwise I would have called in question their inclusion in the album, which, by the way, is monstrously long at 78+ minutes. I don't find the outfits that are mentioned in the CD press kit as being kindred with Wicked Minds to be really suitable for the comparison. Whereas the names of the band's real teachers in absentia are too well known to leave them overboard: Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, and Pink Floyd. The album opens with the title track, on which the band as if decided to show that they are easily able to be on par with their favorites. Having managed to unite the three different styles into one cohesive whole, they played the mixture at an extremely high speed. This is progressive Hard Rock, not Prog-Metal, and I don't know any Hard Rock band that would have played as fast as Wicked Minds did on the opening number. It is performed so masterfully and is so impressive that the fact of its derivativeness loses any relevance. The Elephant Stone displays a similar picture. However, the Pink Floyd influence is absent, while the band's original compositional thinking becomes more apparent. There is a rather long episode with purely symphonic textures, provided by passages of acoustic guitar and solos of Hammond, which does not evoke any associations, to say the least. Apart from the last cut (and not counting the renditions, of course), all the following tracks are absolutely free of influences, and just all of them without exception are outstanding, from any standpoint. All the terms and epithets I've used when described Zess's sudden turn to a completely original sound are topical in this case, too, though I must add that the level of progressiveness of Wicked Minds' music is much higher. The style is either progressive Cathedral Metal with elements of symphonic Art-Rock as on Across the Sunrise, Forever My Queen, Rising Above, Queen of Violet, and Gypsy or a balanced blend of these genres as on Drifting and Space Child. Both of the latter songs feature a guest flute player, as well as Return to Uranus. This 18-minute epic is like a container of all the textures, original and derived, that are available on the previous tracks. Finally, I'd like to mention that the band's keyboard equipment consists exclusively of vintage models: Hammond, Moog, Mellotron, Rhodes, and Grand Piano. They are used nearly everywhere on the album, so I would say its sonic palette is unbelievably rich in symphonic colors. Generally, the music is so inflammatory and driving that I can't stop myself from playing the CD at least once a day.
The conclusion on Wicked Minds' debut outing won't be verbose. Although some derivativeness has been found, "From the Purple Skies" is the most impressive and simply the best progressive Hard Rock album I've heard in many years.
