3VEL - Strange Shape ($14.99)
Titles are arranged alphabetically with the latest additions highlighted in yellow.
3VEL - Strange Shape ($14.99) 
Strange Shape is the 2000 second CD from an Italian instrumental jazz-rock ensemble. “The style is light, jazzy, mellow and inoffensive, very professionally played and produced, with all the rough edges smoothed out. Guitarist Maurizio Neri is an exceptional player in the context of this style, and interestingly enough plays mostly acoustic and classical guitars (electric on three tracks). They are at their best when they go for a more quiet and introspective sound. At their most energized, they have a more generic sound reminiscent of the lighter side of Pat Metheny or John Scofield, albeit acoustically driven. An exceptional tune is their cover of Il Baricentro’s Akua (from Trusciant). The bass, drum and keyboard work are fully supportive of the guitar’s lead role.” [Exposé]
Riflessioni (1998) is their first. The band is a quintet of guitar, keys, bass, drums, and percussion, with Neri playing exclusively acoustic and classical guitar on this one. The music is again instrumental, mellow, light jazz-rock.
Abiogenesi - Io Sono il Vampiro ($16.99) out-of-stockAbiogenesi play very good Italian early-1970s style symphonic progressive featuring keys (primarily Hammond organ), flute, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, and Italian vocals. Le Notte di Salem (2000) is their third album, which features guests Gigi Venegoni (Venegoni & Co., Arti e Mestieri), Marco Cimino (Arti e Mestieri), and Clive Jones (flute and sax of the band Black Widow). This echoes the work of I Teoremi, Biglietto per L’Inferno, Le Orme, and other classic Italian prog bands.
Io Sono il Vampiro (2005, 64-minutes) is the soundtrack to an Italian horror movie, which is a bit of a mystery as it doesn’t sound at all like a soundtrack. In fact, most of the songs have vocals. Gigi Venegoni and Marco Cimino are again among the guests. The music is melodic prog mostly in the 1970s vein, but not as retro as some bands. The album includes a cover of Camel’s Never Let Go (which is not the only song showing a Camel influence), plus a Uriah Heep and a Black Widow cover, all translated into Italian.
Accordo dei Contrari - Kublai ($16.99) 
The 2011 second CD from Accordo dei Contrari is killer progressive jazz-rock. Richard Sinclair sings on one song, giving it a Hatfield and the North feel.
Acqua Fragile - Mass-Media Stars mini-LP ($19.99)
Acqua Fragile - Acqua Fragile (Esoteric) ($16.99) The Italian prog band Acqua Fragile made two albums: their self-titled 1973 debut and Mass-Media Stars (1974). The band is well-known because their singer was Bernardo Lanzetti, who later joined PFM. The Acqua Fragile albums are classic Italian prog albums in their own right, displaying Genesis, Yes, and Gentle Giant influences and paralleling PFM to some extent. They are sung entirely in English, Lanzetti having lived in the United States. We feel these albums are underrated. Some people don’t care for Lanzetti’s voice or the high-pitched backing vocals (it was the 1970s), and the lyrics, well, something was lost in translation. But there is musical magic here. The mini-LP version of Mass-Media Stars is the 2011 Sony cardboard sleeve edition. The mini-LP version of the first album is the BMG edition, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve. The others are the newly-remastered 2011 editions on Esoteric, with booklets featuring fully-restored album artwork and a new essay plus interview with Bernardo Lanzetti. Start with Mass-Media Stars.
AdiB - Spinning Like a Top ($15.99) This is the band Assolo di Bongo, who’ve decided to shorten their name. Their 2001 debut Primetime was a spirited romp of high-energy instrumental prog rock. On their follow-up Spinning Like a Top (2006), they are still an instrumental keys/guitar/bass/drums quartet but with guests on cello, sax, trumpet, trombone, and percussion on some tracks. This album is even better. AdiB blend a little fusion into their nimble progressive rock. The music touches upon the complex fusion-prog of Deus Ex Machina or DFA in spots, but AdiB are always more melodic and are invigorating rather than fatiguing. Ultimately, the sax and brass are not that prominent, and this is just a great instrumental prog album with sophisticated arrangements and stellar playing, highlighted by the 11-minute title suite.
Algebra - JL ($19.99)Algebra are an Italian band who released one album previous to this one, 1993’s Storia di un Iceberg, and have contributed to just about every tribute CD released by the Mellow label. Algebra’s JL (2009) is on the AMS label, whose description reads: “JL is a concept album inspired by Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Musically, the basic structure of this album can surely be seen as belonging to progressive rock, embracing at once different influences from jazz to folk, from fusion to opera, from classical music to a more traditional songwriting approach, never forgetting the strength of the typical Italian melody, which has been so appreciated abroad over the years. Apart from the well-known Algebra band, the project features some illustrious guests whose credentials shine in the firmament of progressive rock, beginning with Steve and John Hackett (the former Genesis guitarist plays a short but stunning solo on Il molo deserto, while his brother adds his wonderful flute playing to three tracks), while two of the most characteristic singers of the 70s can also be heard: the dreamy voice of Le Orme’s Aldo Tagliapietra (who introduces the protagonist of the story) and the raving singing of Osanna’s Lino Vairetti. But the project also showcases artists of completely different backgrounds such as Italian-Serbian songwriter Goran Kuzminac or rocker Graziano Romani.” JL is much better than Algebra’s previous album, though not yet on the level of the best current Italian bands. The Italian vocals and vocal melodies are a strong point, and the music is strongest on the last chunk of the album, where most of John Hackett’s flute is and also the contributions of two guest violinists. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
Alluminogeni - Scolopendra mini-LP ($19.99)
Alluminogeni - Geni Mutanti ($16.99)Alluminogeni or Gli Alluminogeni were a keyboard-oriented prog trio who released the well-regarded album Scolopendra in 1972. See ProgArchives for an mp3 and reviews. The mini-LP edition comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Geni Mutanti (1993) consists of new recordings while Green Grapes (1994) includes both unreleased old tracks as well as new tracks. Green Grapes had been the name of the band before changing it to Alluminogeni, so feel free to switch band and album name on that one.
AltaVia - Girt Dog ($14.99) AltaVia are an Italian prog quartet (keys/guitars/bass/drums, with three members singing) formed in 2007. Girt Dog (2011, 67-minutes) is their debut. The band say that “their main influences can be found in both the classic and neo-prog scenes (Yes and Genesis, but also IQ and It Bites) while also featuring rich orchestral atmospheres and catchy melodies.” Their music mainly falls in the IQ and Jadis camps, with a bit more pomp, but if this isn’t the first really convincing British-style neo-prog to come out of Italy, it is the best. As far as non-UK bands playing this style, AltaVia are at least as good as Collage, Opus Est, or Martigan. Most of the continental neo-prog bands took their cues more from early Marillion, which often led to darker, pseudo-serious neo-prog. AltaVia however have the bright exuberance of Jadis or Magenta, and a very British melodic sense. It’s easy to see why Rob Reed of Magenta and Will Mackie of Caerllysi Music (Sunchild, Karfagen, Hoggwash) chose this as the first release on their White Knight Records label.
Amanita - L’Oblio ($15.99)This six-man Italian band’s 1995 recording is 1970s style progressive rock with lots of flute in addition to voice, keys, guitar, bass and drums. Long flowing tracks, slightly psychedelic, slightly jazzy, with hints of Jethro Tull and various Italian 70s bands. Italian lyrics.
Analogy - Analogy ($16.99) While most of the members of this band were German, the band had an Italian keyboardist, was based in Italy, and the album was released on an Italian label in 1972. With their female vocalist, the music is comparable to Sandrose or early Earth & Fire.
Antares - Sea of Tranquility ($15.99)This Italian progressive rock obscurity came out in 1979, after most of the original Italian progressive bands had ground to a halt. Mellow Records reissued it on CD in 1994. Antares had a connection with Antonio Bartoccetti of Antonius Rex, who co-wrote two of the six tracks, but Antares don’t have as much of that demonic style. After a dodgy first track with accented English vocals, it settles into mostly instrumental symphonic progressive with a spacey, Floydian feel. Rather than the Hammond and Mellotron favored by earlier progressive bands, Antares’ keyboardist used Roland and Korg synths of that era, favoring more electronic (and cheesy) sounds, though other prog bands did the same during those years. Unfortunately the album is all of 28-minutes long. The album was optimistically subtitled Volume I, but the band never managed to record another.
Antonius Rex - Per Viam ($16.99) out-of-stock 
Antonius Rex - Zora 32nd Anniversary Edition ($16.99) 
Antonius Rex are one of the more esoteric of the Italian progressive bands. They were the continuation of the band Jacula, whose first album is from 1969. Zora (1977) was the second Antonius Rex album to be recorded but the first to be commercially released. The music is full of pipe organ, dark atmospheres, and lyrics dealing with occultism. The 32nd Anniversary Edition is the 2010 digipack edition on Black Widow, which includes the original cover. The jewel box version is the earlier Mellow Records edition. The original album had four tracks. A fifth track Gnome was added to the second LP issue in 1978 and is included on both of these editions. The 32nd Anniversary edition adds a 1980 bonus track Monastery (9:39), previously unreleased, plus new photos.
Antonius Rex were known for making dark, demonic music, but by the time of Ralefun (1979), that was no longer the case. Here a quintet of electric & acoustic guitars and vocals, synths & piano, flute, bass, and drums, the music is richer and closer to classic symphonic progressive rock. Not great sonically, but the music is more accessible than much of their previous output. This is the Mellow Records edition.
Antonius Rex released albums through 1980, took a 24-year break, then started in again. Switch on Dark (60-minutes, digipack) is their 2006 CD, now on the Black Widow label, which is a perfect fit for a band whose music is dark, occult, mystical and sinister. Switch on Dark definitely sounds like a soundtrack to a horror film, except that it isn’t soundtrack-y. This is not background music; it is symphonic prog and at times it rocks hard. It is classically-based, the predominant feel is gothic, and male and female voices are used to add a horror element (whispers, screams, Satan impersonations). There are parallels with the work of Goblin and Devil Doll. Even though the music is dark and haunting, it is also quite beautiful at times. It is primarily instrumental, with some vocals that are most often wordless. The CD includes one video track. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
A mere 40 years after the first Jacula album, Antonius Rex are still making excellent music and not just retreading old ground. Per Viam (2009, digipack) continues in a similar style as Switch on Dark and also includes one video track. Read reviews at Prog Archives and DPRP.
This is the Mellow Records edition of Tardo Pede in Magiam Versus, the 1972 album by Jacula, the predecessor band to Antonius Rex. It’s a mythical if unusual album, focused on the occult and using a lot of pipe organ. It would have made a good soundtrack to an Italian horror film.
Apryl - Alorconfusa ($16.99)The 2002 debut by this Italian band is firmly in the 1970s classic progressive style, influenced both by the Italian 70s bands as well as Genesis, ELP, and Van der Graaf Generator. There are just four long tracks, each going through numerous changes, with lots of instrumental passages. Some of it is upbeat, but it is just as often melancholy. This is romantic and elegant symphonic rock that should earn high marks from all fans of 70s-style progressive. Vocals in Italian.
Archangel - The Akallabeth ($19.99) Behind the Archangel moniker is Gabriele Manzini, keyboardist and primary composer for Ubi Maior and former keyboardist of The Watch. The Akallabeth is a concept album based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Numenor, a tale taken from The Silmarillion, the cosmological book of Tolkien’s world. The English-language lyrics are faithful to the original story, which has many characters and so several singers were used, principally Damian Wilson (Landmarq and others), Zachary Stevens (ex-Savatage, Circle II Circle), and Ted Leonard (Enchant). There are other important singers and musicians from the Italian progressive rock scene: Francesca “Elayne” Naccarelli (vocals, Dunwich), Walter Gorreri (bass, Ubi Maior), Alessandro Di Caprio (drums, Ubi Maior), Stefano Mancarella (guitars, Ubi Maior), Ettore Salati (guitars, ex-The Watch), Marco Schembri (bass, ex-The Watch), Davide Martinelli (drums, Darksky) and others.
“In comparison with his band Ubi Maior, the sound of Archangel on The Akallabeth is more in the realm of heavy prog and melodic rock. The 12 songs are very tastefully arranged, with strong vocal contributions, splendid harder-edged guitar work, and wonderful work on a wide range of vintage keyboards. These elements remind me of the sound of fellow Dutchman Arjen Lucassen with his project Ayreon (especially the 2CD The Electric Castle), but less bombastic and less focused on guitar. In my opinion Gabriele is also a more elaborate composer... An album to discover if you like heavy prog and keyboard-oriented melodic rock. I am sure that especially the fans of Ayreon and Uriah Heep will be pleased with the sound of Archangel.” [Erik Neuteboom]
Aries - Double Reign ($19.99) out-of-stock Aries is an all-star project headed by the talented and prolific Fabio Zuffanti of Finisterre fame. The self-titled CD is their 2005 debut. The key feature of Aries is the beautiful, fragile female vocals of Simona Angieloni (in good English). Imagine merging the folk-inflected vocals of Karnataka, Mostly Autumn or October Project with a deep Italian symphonic progressive sound. Two epic pieces are mixed with four shorter tracks ranging from 4 to 7 minutes each. The playing during the instrumental passages gets intense, a nice contrast to the mellower vocal sections. Here is an mp3 from the track Morning Song.
Double Reign (2010, 58-minutes) is Aries’ second CD, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve. Simona has been promoted to co-writer, Davide Guidoni (Tapobran) is the new drummer, and New Trolls’ Vittorio De Scalzi guests on flute. A string quartet adds classical flavors to several tracks. The similarities to the bands listed above are still present, but there is more than just classic prog here, a Dead Can Dance style for one, all contributing to a more modern feel than Aries’ debut. “This is a work of rare beauty, sophistication and grace that will appeal to anyone who appreciates fine quality melodic and prog rock.” [Ravenheart Music (rating 9/10)]
Arpia - Racconto D’Inverno ($15.99) Terramare (2006, 60-minutes) follows more than ten years after Arpia’s previous CD Liberazione. Arpia’s sound on Terramare is heavily guitar-driven, with keyboards playing a secondary role. All 12 tracks have Italian-language vocals, mostly male with a guest female singer. This one falls into the prog-metal and progressive hard rock category, with a dark ambience. The more reflective numbers with the cleaner guitar tone come off as more refined and more progressive, while the vocals do much to broaden the scope of the album and give it an Italian progressive feel.
Racconto D’Inverno (2009) is substantially different than Terramare, much more progressive. The hard rock of Terramare is absent here, as all the guitar is acoustic rather than electric, and along with the Italian-language vocals, it is the acoustic guitar that dominates the sound. The role of the female vocalist is increased, complementing the male vocals. The mood is again dark yet beautiful, serious-sounding but not gloomy. Read the DPRP review.
Ars Nova - Ars Nova ($15.99)Not the Japanese female trio, rather this Ars Nova was a Roman band who recorded these tracks between 1974 and 1979. It’s quite typical of the Italian symphonic progressive style of the time, very melodic, though the music is simpler than that of the top tier Italian bands. The recording is slightly muffled and not up to professional standards, but it’s quite listenable. So not an essential album, but certainly of interest to Italian prog lovers. Vocals in Italian.
Astralia - Connected ($15.99) The 2000 debut album by an Italian quintet singing in English. Their style is much more British than Italian. It sounds completely familiar, and yet there isn’t anyone you can easily compare it to. If at the beginning of the album you think they’re a guitar-oriented band, by the end of the album you’ve decided that the keyboards dominate. Neither in fact dominates, and the songs are melodic and well-crafted.
Aton’s - Capolinea ($14.99) 
Aton’s - A.I. 2984 ($17.99)Aton’s is an Italian band formed in 1977, though their first LP did not appear until 1988. Aton’s mix English prog/neo-prog with the Italian romantic progressive and pop tradition. Their Italian language vocals are one of their great strengths. They’ve been one of our favorite post-1970s Italian bands because their music is filled with such brio, as befits the Italian culture and sunny Mediterranean climate -- nothing dark, brooding, or plodding here. Merge the feel of PFM’s Passpartu album with more electric instrumentation and more rock and you have Aton’s. Though H (1985) is their first album, A.I. 2984 (1988) was the first to appear, initially on vinyl. They followed with the album Caccia Grossa (1991) on the Contempo label; Contempo didn’t last long and so that one is hard to come by. Dr. Faust is from 1992, Klein & Wagner from 1996. After 25 years, the band decided to call it quits, so Capolinea, recorded between 1997-2000, may be their last (but never say never). Here is a full-length mp3 of the song Buio courtesy of ProgArchives.
Pietro Ratto - Xenia ($17.99)Pietro Ratto is the leader, singer, and guitarist of the band Aton’s. This is his 1997 first solo album, all-instrumental, in which he alternates classical and electric guitar-dominated pieces, with keyboards, bass, and programmed drums filling out the sound. Between the styles of Riccardo Zappa and Marcello Capra, this will surprise many guitar fans. Always tasteful and rarely demonstrative.
Atto IV - A Parte ($15.99) On their 2005 debut A Parte, this Italian band exists between progressive rock and prog-metal. There is no doubt Atto IV play prog-metal, but they have an excellent keyboardist and are capable of playing PFM and Banco style Italian symphonic prog at a high level. Apart from the generic metal riffing, they have great technique and ideas, and this album is sung in Italian to boot.
Note Atto IV underwent lineup changes in 2008 and switched to English-language vocals for their 2011 CD Shattered Lines. That CD is Dream Theater style prog-metal mixed with heavy neo-prog à la Arena, showing little connection to PFM or Banco or anything specifically Italian.
Balletto di Bronzo - Trys ($15.99) SALE!Il Balletto di Bronzo’s 1972 album Ys is for some one of the greatest Italian progressive rock albums, for others not so much, but it is certainly the album upon which this band’s reputation rests. This 1994 CD reissue on Polydor contains one bonus track: La Tua Casa Comoda. You can read many reviews and opinions of the album at ProgArchives.
Trys marked the welcome live return of this famous Italian progressive band, still lead by Gianni Leone, aka Leo Nero. On this 1996 recording, they are a keyboard/bass/drums trio with vocals. All of Ys is performed plus tracks from the two Leo Nero albums, as well as a few unreleased tracks composed in the 1970s.
Banco - As in a Last Supper ($17.99)Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, or Banco for short, are along with PFM, one of the two pillars of Italian progressive rock. As a live act, they are still going strong. As in a Last Supper and Banco are the 2010 definitive remastered editions on the Esoteric label of the two English-language albums Banco recorded for ELP’s Manticore label. This material is from Banco’s prime period. The self-titled album was initially released in 1975 and contains reworked material with English vocals from Banco’s earlier Italian albums, plus one new song. Actually the material is drawn from Banco’s first album and from Io Sono Nato Libero; nothing from Darwin appears. The production on the songs from their debut is vastly improved. As in a Last Supper is the English-language version of Come in un’Ultima Cena (1976). Both have been newly remastered by the Esoteric team.
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - Io Sono Nato Libero mini-LP ($19.99)
These are the 2011 mini-LP editions on Sony of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso’s first three albums: their self-titled 1972 debut, Darwin (1972), and Io Sono Nato Libero (1973). All come in a gatefold cardboard sleeves. These are classics of Italian progressive rock.
Banco - Nudo Live in Tokyo ’97 ($14.99)Nudo Live in Tokyo ’97 is the same as Disc 2 of the Nudo 2CD set. (Disc 1 of Nudo contained one new studio track and unplugged versions of older songs.) You’d think the title would be self-explanatory, but while it is all live, not all of it is from Tokyo nor is it all from 1997. It is a well-recorded live album with an excellent selection of vintage material.
Il Baricentro - Trusciant ($16.99) Sconcerto (1976) and Trusciant (1978) are the only two albums by this Italian progressive jazz-rock band that grew out of Festa Mobile. They are heavily keyboard-based, with symphonic aspects and a funkiness a la 1970s Weather Report. The band added two percussionists on the Trusciant album, which sports more African and Latin elements. As Italian 70s jazz-rock bands go, Il Baricentro are second only to Arti & Mestieri.
Barock Project - Rebus ($15.99) Misteriosevoci (2007, 60-minutes) is the debut CD for Italian quartet Barock Project, a simply fantastic album for lovers of Italian 1970s symphonic progressive. The music is pure 70s style with vocals in Italian, dominated by a virtuoso keyboardist schooled in classical music. It is that uniquely Italian blend of English progressive rock (ELP foremost), classical music, and romantic Italian pop melodies.
Rebus (2009) is their second. (Description to be added.) Read reviews of both CDs at the band’s site, also the DPRP reviews of Misteriosevoci and Rebus. Watch Barock Project’s videos.
Baroque - La Fiaba della Buonanotte ($15.99) La Fiaba della Buonanotte (2009) is the debut CD for this Italian band from Torino. We may need a new sub-genre: glam-prog, as Baroque blend progressive rock with early Queen, David Bowie, or Mott the Hoople. The result is sometimes similar to the Swedish band A.C.T. It’s great fun, with the Italian-language vocals only adding to the eccentricity. The ballads are more purely in the romantic Italian style, and there is more than enough musicality to keep prog fans entertained, with classical/baroque influences in the keyboards.
Barrock - La Strega ($15.99)Solid instrumental (with some wordless female vocals) symphonic progressive and classical rock. This overlaps at different times with the work of Ars Nova, Banco, and Synergy.
Luciano Basso - Cogli il Giorno mini-LP ($19.99) Keyboardist/composer Luciano Basso is best known for his 1976 album Voci, an outstanding instrumental work of classically-influenced progressive rock. Basso was already an accomplished pianist at that time. He also plays organ, Mellotron, electric piano and harpsichord. Other musicians handle guitar, bass guitar & contrabass, drums, violin and cello. This is an essential part of any collection of Italian progressive rock. This mini-LP edition adds one short, inconsequential bonus track and comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 4-page bilingual booklet.
Cogli il Giorno (1978) is his second, which was very rare on LP. It is another instrumental album blending neo-classical and progressive, featuring piano, synths, violin, cello, flute, soprano sax, operatic soprano voice, electric guitar and more. One live bonus track. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Pierpaolo Bibbò - Diapason ($17.99)“This singer/songwriter from Sardinia recorded in 1979 a very good and little-known album that went completely unnoticed at the time, being released on a local label in 1980 when his prog-inspired sound was definitely out of date. The album includes eight tracks with very nice instrumental parts mostly based on synths, though the voice is always present. Only one track is totally instrumental... Bibbò sang and played guitars, bass and synth on the album, helped mainly by Adriano De Murtas on keyboards and Franco Medas on drums along with a few more guests on a couple tracks.” [ItalianProg.com]
Biglietto per L’Inferno.folk - Tra l’assurdo e la ragione ($19.99) This new incarnation of the famous Italian prog band features original members Pilly Cossa, Baffo Banfi, and Mauro Gnecchi, with contributions from singer/lyricist/flautist Claudio Canali. While these tracks are rearranged versions of the band’s classics, the approach is so different that for all intents and purposes this is a new work. Here Biglietto per L’Inferno are augmented by some talented young north Italian folk musicians as well as a female singer, therefore the suffix ‘.folk’ has been added to the band name. The folk instrumentation is a great touch. The piffero is an instrument in the bombarde family and stands out because, well, you can’t hide a bombarde in a mix. In combination with bagpipes, the sound has much in common with Breton folk, though the Italian flavor is unmistakable. There is also accordion, mandolin, violin, flute and more, all integrated into a rock format. Biglietto per L’Inferno have transformed their classics into something new, yet just as satisfying. The CD also features one previously-unreleased song composed by Claudio Canali. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve. Read the Prog Archives and Progressive Land reviews.
Biglietto per L’Inferno - same mini-LP ($19.99) The self-titled album is the 1973 Italian heavy progressive classic, like an Italian Uriah Heep perhaps but more complex and proggy, featuring dual keys, flute, and fuzz guitar. Il Tempo della Semina was recorded in 1974 but not released until the 1990s because the record label folded. The album shows its age in the recording quality, but it is a good progressive album, not as heavy as their first. Many consider it superior, probably depending on one’s taste for the hard rock elements of the first. The jewel box version is the Mellow Records edition, which has better sound than the first CD edition. Trident later issued both albums in the mini-LP format. Biglietto per L’Inferno’s debut comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet. The mini-LP edition of Il Tempo della Semina comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Blue Phantom - Distortions ($19.99) “A popular album among European psych and prog collectors, Distortions was released along with a single in Italy in 1971 by a group of unknown studio musicians, and later released in other European countries (with a different cover).” [ItalianProg.com] This all-instrumental album is in a proto-prog style, but a different prog style than the dominant Italian progressive style then in its formative stage. Some of the tracks are based around heavy guitar riffs in the Iron Butterfly or Sabbath style, while other tracks are more keyboard-based with fairly sophisticated (for the time) sonic exploration. This is the 2008 edition on AMS, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet. The two tracks from Blue Phantom’s 1971 single appear here as bonus tracks.
Bondage - Anima Terra ($16.99)This album was recorded in 1995 but not published until 2000, and it appears Bondage has joined the ranks of one-shot Italian bands. Their sole album is an adventurous and inventive progressive rock with some similarities to Deus ex Machina, DFA, and Area, but more melodic and accessible than any of them. Bondage has just as much of the romantic Italian symphonic style. They have a suitably dramatic and charismatic vocalist singing in Italian, and the music is constantly exciting, always changing but in a completely natural way.
Breznev Fun Club - L’onda Vertebrata ($19.99) Apparently this large Italian ensemble dates to the early 1980s but didn’t release an album until L’onda Vertebrata (2010), with many new musicians recruited for the task. The compositions however date back to as early as 1990. As the label suggests, Breznev Fun Club could be considered the new Picchio dal Pozzo. Here we have progressive music equally influenced by jazz, contemporary classical, and symphonic rock. In addition to keys/guitars/bass/drums, flute, clarinet, sax, trumpet, trombone, oboe, violin, cello, vibraphone and marimba are interwoven in intricate structures that are at times beautiful beyond words. Not beyond any words, just beyond the ones we’re likely to come up with. The music is mostly instrumental, with some vocals and spoken word in Italian. Other reference points include Hatfield and the North, However, and later Isildurs Bane, but with a Mediterranean touch. This is a most impressive album: colorful, airy, melodic, and surprising. To sort out which songs on composer Rocco Lomonaco’s MySpace page (mp3 icon above) are from this album, the track listing is: Ludiche ecchimosi, Il folletto di cera, Inseguito dai creditori, Tre pezzi brevi, L’onda vertebrata, La follia del mimo Azoto. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve. Read the review at Hanging Sounds.
Cabaret du Ciel - Blue Form ($15.99) Recorded in 1998, this Italian melodic progressive band is criminally under-recognized. They have a female vocalist with a dark and enchanting voice and use violin in addition to the usual keys, guitar, bass and drums. Original and modern, sensual and intoxicating, they are hard to classify but easy to fall in love with.
I Cadmo - Boomerang ($19.99)This is the CD reissue of the 1977 debut by I Cadmo, a piano/bass/drums jazz-rock trio from Sardinia. The music consists of four long instrumental tracks and is more jazz than rock, ranging from Soft Machine’s improvisational style to wild jazz-rock in the best Italian tradition to tribal/ethnic Mediterranean-flavored tracks similar to Mauro Pagani, all executed with top-notch musicianship. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Cage - Secret Passage ($14.99) This Italian band has existed since 1987, but it took until 2005 for the CD 87/94 to see the light of day, comprised of songs composed between 1987-1994. Here Cage consists of two keyboard players, a flute/guitar player, a singer/bassist and a drummer. These six pieces, including a 20-minute suite, mix instrumental and English-language vocal passages and are often structured around the delicate and beautiful piano parts of Alessandro Bugliani, the band’s composer and keyboardist. And this is the real thing: dynamic, powerful, complex symphonic progressive in the 1970s style, with elements of Genesis, Yes, ELP, Gentle Giant, and any number of Italian 70s progressive bands. A brilliant album that elevates Cage to one of the best latter-day Italian progressive bands.
Many years passed before Secret Passage (2009). Cage have added a new singer (vocals in English), and musically, Cage have taken a big step in the direction of Kenso, that is, melodic symphonic fusion of the highest order. This is married to aspects of the band’s former style, which is more to the fore during the vocal sections. These have the warm intimacy of Peter Gabriel and the pastoral nature of Steve Hackett, mixed with a Canterbury flavor. So Cage have gone from strength to strength, as this is an exceptional album and a unique blend.
I Califfi - Fiore di Metallo mini-LP ($19.99)1973 Italian progressive classic. This mini-LP edition comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 4-panel bilingual booklet.
Davide Camerin - 40 Metri Quadri ($13.99)40 m2 is the 1999 debut by singer/guitarist Davide Camerin, on a side label of the Italian progressive label Lizard. Assisted by a large number of musicians, Camerin creates a personal style of pop/rock with a dark, late-night feel. It can’t be called progressive rock, but neither is it very commercial. Vocals are in Italian, aside from brief female vocals in English. This is an album where an understanding of Italian would probably enhance the listening experience more than usual. Here is an mp3 of the track Mister Sun.
Campo di Marte - Concerto Zero MALS edition ($14.99) 
Campo di Marte is one of the legendary Italian 1970s progressive bands, based on their sole album (self-titled) from 1973. This classic combines the delicate melodicism of early PFM and the progressive hard rock of Il Balletto di Bronzo’s Ys. It turns out that United Artists, the original record company, messed with the track order, disrupting the flow of what was intended to be a conceptual album. The mini-LP edition not only restores the track sequence to the way the band intended, it also restores the cover art to its original colors. The mini-LP edition has been remastered under the supervision of band leader Enrico Rosa and comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet. The jewel box is the Mellow edition.
Subtitled Live 1972 / 2003, Concerto Zero was first released as a 2CD set in a mini-LP cardboard gatefold sleeve. This is the more affordable MALS label edition, which fits everything on a single CD with a playing time of 75:19 and comes in a jewel box. The 1972 portion was taken from the only existing Campo di Marte test LP, recorded live in 1972. It was a demo LP produced for the United Artists label prior to the band signing the recording contract. The LP was kept in mint condition, though the recording quality is that of a good bootleg. The 2003 portion has professional quality sound and captures the reformed band live near Florence in the summer of 2003. Of the eight 2003 tracks, five are new compositions and three are from their studio album. In the new lineup, the bandleader’s wife, a trained classical musician, plays recorders and wind synth, introducing an early music (renaissance) influence.
Cani Arrabbiati: Opening Themes... A Tribute (2CD, $23.99) This 2010 double-CD is another in the long line of various artists progressive rock concept albums organized by the Finnish magazine Colossus and published by the French Musea label. While the bands on this tribute are from around the world, the music they’re covering is Italian. It’s a tribute to Italian film soundtracks of the 1960s and 1970s. The music has been reworked in classic progressive rock style, emphasizing vintage sounds. Among the composers covered are Ennio Morricone, Luis Enrique Bacalov, Goblin, Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Frizzi, Pino Donaggio, and Nino Rota. The recording artists include The Samurai of Prog (Italy/Venezuela), Anima Morte (Sweden), The Conspirators of the Occult (USA), Aurora Lunare (Italy), Ozone Player (Finland), Kate (Finland), Mist Seasons (Finland), John La Forges (Italy), Jaime Rosas (Chile), Marco Lo Muscio (Italy), and Senogul (Spain). Read the excellent DPRP review.
Capitolo 6 - Frutti per Kagua mini-LP ($19.99)This is a 1972 Italian progressive classic from a Roman band that featured flute, keys, guitar, bass, drums, and expressive vocals in Italian. The hard-edged sound with flute in the lead is similar to Jethro Tull but with a distinct Italian flavor. They left us only this one album plus a couple singles. The jewel box version is the Mellow Records edition. The mini-LP is the 2011 edition on Sony, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve.
Capsicum Red - Appunti per un’ Idea Fissa ($16.99)This 1972 album is the only one by this progressive band. Side 1 of the LP contains an instrumental suite based on Beethoven’s Patetica, which sounds like Focus before turning into something more Italian sounding. The three vocal songs on Side 2 are also good classical progressive rock. This is the Vinyl Magic edition, which has improved sound versus the first edition on Artis and adds four bonus tracks from Capsicum Red’s 1971 singles. The singles are in a commercial style and are sung in English; the band hadn’t gotten serious yet.
Alex Carpani - The Sanctuary ($14.99)Classically trained at the University of Bologna in composition and piano, composer/arranger Carpani continues the great Italian keyboard-centric prog rock tradition. On Waterline (2007, digisleeve), his fluid and inventive keyboards are accompanied by an American rhythm section. Waterline is mostly instrumental but does feature Aldo Tagliapietra (Le Orme) on vocals and is between the Italian and British 1970s progressive rock styles. Dan Shapiro (Clearlight) and Ken Jaquess (K2, Atlantis) play bass, while Neil Bettencourt (Clearlight) plays drums. A number of guitarists contribute, among them Tony Spada (Holding Pattern). Read lots of reviews. Counts as only one-half CD for shipping.
On The Sanctuary (2010, digipack), Carpani is assisted by two members of his live band: Ettore Salati on guitars and Fabiano Spiga on bass, while drums are handled by Gigi Cavalli-Cocchi (Mangala Vallis, Moongarden). Read lots of reviews; you’ll also find an album preview on that page. The cover art for both CDs is by Paul Whitehead.
CCLR - Cavalli-Cocchi, Lanzetti, Roversi ($16.99) This is the 2011 debut CD by Italian prog rock trio Cavalli-Cocchi, Lanzetti & Roversi, or CCLR. Former PFM and Acqua Fragile vocalist Bernardo Lanzetti (singing in English) is joined by Gigi Cavalli-Cocchi on drums & percussion, and Cristiano Roversi on Mellotron, piano and Chapman Stick. Roversi should be known to most prog fans as a member of Mangala Vallis, Moongarden, Submarine Silence, for his two solo albums on Mellow and contributions to albums by Lanzetti, The Watch, Daal, and others. Cavalli-Cocchi has a long résumé that includes Mangala Vallis, Moongarden, Alex Carpani Band, Canossa, and more. Each of the nine tracks features a different guitarist performing on acoustic guitars of various sorts, and those guitarists include Steve Hackett and Aldo Tagliapietra (ex-Le Orme). The album is full of Mellotron, and not just strings, while overall the music is in a classic prog style but doesn’t sound like an artifact of the 1970s. Given that this band is almost Mangala Vallis, that is a fair reference point, and this would make a decent present-day PFM album though of course it doesn’t reach the intensity of Chocolate Kings. There is more emphasis on acoustic textures. Seven songs are originals, one is CCLR’s rearrangement of the Acqua Fragile song Morning Comes, and one is their interpretation of Brian Eno’s By This River. All in all, a welcome addition to the new era of Italian symphonic prog.
Celeste - 1969-1977: The Complete Recordings (4CD box, $74.99) This 2010 limited edition four-CD set in the tall, hardcover book format reissues the complete* works of Celeste, everything carefully remastered by Celeste’s Ciro Perrino. Most of the CDs in this set have been out-of-print for a long time. The first CD is the Il Sistema - Il viaggio senza andata album, containing recordings from 1969-1971 from the band that was a forerunner to Celeste and Museo Rosenbach. The fourth CD is the 1978 Saint Tropez - Icarus album, an offshoot of Celeste more in the style of Hillage-era Gong. The second CD is Celeste’s 1976 magnum opus Principe di un giorno, one of the greatest Italian progressive rock albums. This album is in the softer PFM style, delicate and gentle, emphasizing acoustic guitar, flute, piano, Mellotron strings, and Italian vocals.
The third CD is Celeste II (1977 but not released until 1991), which headed in a somewhat jazzier direction. Also on CD3 is the big bonus, the complete demo recording for the Celeste debut titled Prince of One Day (if you haven’t guessed, that’s the word-for-word English translation of Principe di un giorno, though Prince for a Day is probably what was intended). It was recorded with a female singer and with English lyrics! This set also features a large, glossy 44-page book with the complete history of Celeste and the Liguria prog scene with more than 100 rare pictures from Ciro Perrino’s archive. Counts as 3 CDs for shipping.
* There was a Celeste CD released by Mellow Records titled I suoni in una sfera that is not part of this set. It was the soundtrack to a 1974 film. Perhaps Ciro doesn’t consider this to be a real Celeste work?
Central Unit - Internal Cut ($15.99) On Internal Cut (2004), this Italian quintet plus guests blends ambient, jazz-rock, and progressive rock in a novel and modern way. They don’t use much guitar but instead use sax, flute, and trumpet to go with the keyboards, bass, drums, loops, samples, and English-language vocals. The first song is a tribute to Demetrio Stratos (Area) and uses samples of his voice, while the final song is a cover of Riders on the Storm. There is a lot of variety here, but the dominant aesthetic is close to that of Sylvian, Jansen, Barbieri, and other ambient-minded Brits. Digipack, 69-minutes.
Centrica - Centrica ($15.99) Centrica are a young Italian instrumental prog-metal quartet with this 2008 debut. They have a good keyboardist and are more symphonic than most prog-metal bands. Swap out the metal guitarist for a progressive one and you’d have a formidable progressive rock band.
Il Cerchio d’Oro - Il Viaggio di Colombo ($16.99) out-of-stock The self-titled CD was a posthumous one when released in 1999, documenting the activity of this Italian band that only released three singles at the end of its first life. Formed in 1974, Il Cerchio d’Oro recorded the tracks for an album circa 1976 that remained unreleased until this CD. The album is in a typical Italian progressive style, though on the simpler side. The sound quality varies, most of it is fine but one or two tracks sound like a bootleg cassette. The three singles appear at the end of the CD, but they are in a pop and disco style. The Mellow label describes this as a missing link between Alphataurus, Corte dei Miracoli and Panna Fredda. Maybe throw New Trolls and Le Orme in there.
Il Cerchio d’Oro reformed in 2006 with all the original members and released their first proper album in 2008, the concept CD Il Viaggio di Colombo. It is firmly in the 1970s Italian melodic, song-structured symphonic prog style, using vintage sounds and sung in Italian (English translations in the booklet). The band list their influences as Le Orme, New Trolls, The Trip, PFM, and Pink Floyd, which are good reference points; Delirium is another. Beautiful digipack.
Cervello - Melos mini-LP ($19.99)This is the 2011 Sony mini-LP (cardboard) sleeve edition of Melos (1973). Cervello managed only this one album. They were connected to Osanna in that Corrado Rustici (guitar, flute) is the younger brother of Osanna guitarist Danilo Rustici, and there is a musical similarity as well. Melos is an essential album in any collection of Italian progressive rock.
Cincinnato - Cincinnato mini-LP ($19.99)CD reissue of the 1974 sole album by Cincinnato with three bonus tracks. The first side of the record contains three instrumental tracks in a jazz-rock vein, while the second side contains a single 20-minute track with vocals and a more progressive style. One of the bonus tracks is a long suite recorded live in 1972. The other two bonus tracks are new songs performed by Cincinnato today. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet, 64-minutes.
Città Frontale - El Tor mini-LP ($19.99) This 1975 album was the sole album for Città Frontale, an offshoot of Osanna. Read reviews at Prog Archives. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Clarion - Bourrée ($17.99)Clarion is essentially Zauber in disguise, which means they play soft Italian prog with lots of flute. Bourrée (1995) is their second CD and consists mainly of covers of songs by other prog artists, to name some of them: Focus, Gentle Giant, PFM, Steve Hackett, I Nomadi, Amazing Blondel, Banco, Mike Batt, McDonald & Giles, and the original prog artist: Bach.
Conqueror - Istinto ($16.99) Istinto is the 2003 debut by a Sicilian quartet fronted by female singer/keyboardist Simona Rigano, though the band has been in existence since 1994 with Simona only joining in 2002. Their sound is modern, or at least closer to 1980s Marillion than to the 1970s Italian bands, though of course much of the 1970s symphonic style has been carried forward. It’s a mature debut, and the female vocals (in Italian) set Conqueror apart from most of the other Italian prog bands. Imagine Lana Lane singing for an Italian progressive band rather than an American AOR band.
Contrappunto Project - Elegie d’Inverno ($15.99) This is the same Contrappunto that released the albums Subsidea (1998) and Lilith (2001), but this is called Contrappunto Project because it is the work of keyboardist Andrea Cavallo with the assistance of other musicians on flute, clarinet, bandoneon, trumpet, french horn, and sax. This is a very classical work, informed by rock and jazz, but with orchestral percussion rather than drums. As classical music, it tends toward the dark and ominous, not overly so, but it is a serious sounding work rather than a new agey one.
Coral Caves - Mitopoiesi ($16.99) This is an excellent 2008 debut by a Sicilian prog band, no relation to the Japanese synth musician using the same name. This Coral Caves have strong vocals in Italian, and the music for the most part sounds like a 1970s Italian symphonic prog album, though some passages with lyrical electric guitar leads suggest early Marillion. Lots of lush keys and occasional flute, warm, melodic, romantic progressive rock in the tradition of the great Italian bands. 62-minutes. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Cormorano - Giro Tondo (Giro) Fuori Scena ($15.99) This Italian quintet was formed in 1976 but didn’t record this album until 2000. The compositions are all from the late 70s and early 80s. Cormorano could be considered the heir to Area, since their lead singer is a clone of Demetrio Stratos and also played with Stratos in the 70s. Cormorano is more accessible than Area though, less jazzy, a lot less avant-garde, more of a straight symphonic progressive rock band, though not too straight. So if you’d like to hear a vocal gymnast like Demetrio Stratos fronting a more conventional prog band, Cormorano is it. 67-minutes.
Corte Aulica - Il temporale e l’arcobaleno ($15.99) This is the 2007 debut by an Italian progressive rock quartet. The seven tracks of the album proper are instrumental and in a pleasant, flowing 1970s style vaguely in the Camel direction. The Mellow label feels there is also a resemblance to (instrumental) Hatfield and the North and Caravan, but the resemblance is in the sound palette, not the harmonic and metrical sophistication of the Canterbury bands. The final two tracks are for some reason listed as bonus tracks and have vocals in Italian and a slightly more contemporary (heavier) guitar sound. The vocals help the songs come alive, so it would be good to see Corte Aulica use more vocals in the future.
Corte dei Miracoli - same ($16.99)1976 symphonic prog album from a band with two keyboardists and no guitarist. Their style relates to Banco and ELP but only in general terms, as Corte dei Miracoli’s sound is unique. This one is among the most essential Italian progressive albums.
Daal - Disorganicorigami ($15.99) Daal is keyboardist Alfio Costa (Tilion, Prowlers, Colossus Project) and drummer Davide Guidoni (Gallant Farm, Taproban), with assistance from Fabio Zuffanti (Finisterre, La Maschera di Cera), Cristiano Roversi (Moongarden, Mangala Vallis), Alessandro Papotto (Banco, Periferia del Mondo), Vincenzo Zitello (Prowlers), Laura Mombrini (Prowlers), and younger brother Flavio Costa (Prowlers, Tilion). Disorganicorigami (2009, 60-minutes) “refreshes ears tired of the same old ‘progressive’ clichés. No two tracks on the essentially instrumental album sound alike, swerving violently between prog metal, tribal synth experimentation, lengthy avant-prog, and even out-there fusion. Top marks though may go to their very psychedelic take on Pink Floyd’s A Saucerful of Secrets, complete with wordless female vocals, the song only really becoming recognizable when the iconic piano part kicks in... If you’re looking for a modern prog album that doesn’t sound like everyone else, Daal may well perk up your jaded taste buds, although be warned: some of you may find their wild genre freestyling a bit much to take. It’s definitely an admirable album.” [Planet Mellotron] Our two cents is that the tracks are unified by the consistently dark mood, and the ‘wild genre freestyling’ is all in a day’s listening for Superprogfan, as the music remains within the boundaries of prog.
Dalton - Riflessioni: Idea d’Infinito mini-LP ($19.99)A 1973 Italian progressive rock classic, with synths/Mellotron/piano/organ, flute, acoustic & electric guitars, bass, drums, and all five members singing. There is some Jethro Tull influence present and other links to the early English progressive style, blended with the characteristic Italian lyricism. This edition comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Fabrizio De André & PFM - In Concerto Vol. 1 ($12.99) This is the 2002 24-bit remastered jewel box edition of Volume 1 of Italian singer Fabrizio De André (who passed away in 1999) in concert in 1979 backed by PFM, with all arrangements by PFM. De André’s classic songs are featured, the recording quality is superb, and it’s pretty obvious the backing band know what they’re doing! Read reviews at ProgArchives.
De De Lind - Io Non So Da Dove Vengo… mini-LP ($19.99)1973 Italian progressive classic. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
D.F.A. - 4th ($13.99) The first two studio albums for the Italian band known as Duty Free Area were Lavori In Corso (1996) and Duty Free Area (1999). These have been remastered and reissued as the 2CD set Kaleidoscope, with the addition of three live bonus tracks. Here D.F.A. play an intricate, mostly-instrumental, symphonic fusion prog with lots of keyboards and spacey touches.
4th is D.F.A.’s 2008 studio CD, and you would be forgiven for thinking this is a new National Health album. It is that good. The music is written by the keyboardist and drummer, and this often results in a more structured, symphonic music than that written by guitarists. National Health is National Health because of Dave Stewart’s composing. The music is instrumental until the last quarter of the album, where there is one track with male vocals and the final track featuring the Sardinian female vocal trio Andhira. This final track is based on a Sardinian oral poem, and while it retains some of the National Health feel, it also branches out from there, with the traditional vocal polyphony and more delicate feel leaving one hoping for more of this in the future. Four cellists and a violin/viola player guest on two of the six tracks. Let’s hope another decade doesn’t pass before the next D.F.A. album, though this one is good enough to keep fans satisfied for a long time. 64-minutes, digipack.
Delirium - Il Nome del Vento ($16.99) out-of-stock 
Delirium - Lo Scemo e il Villaggio mini-LP ($19.99)
Delirium - Dolce Acqua jewel box ($14.99)Delirium released three albums in the early 1970s, with their 1974 third album III: Viaggio negli arcipelaghi del tempo usually considered to be the best and an Italian progressive classic. Lo Scemo e il Villaggio (1972) and Dolce Acqua (1971) are also excellent albums, with influences of Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues, Van der Graaf Generator, Italian folk, fusion, and much more. See Prog Archives for reviews and mp3s. The mini-LP editions come in heavyweight gatefold sleeves with 8-page bilingual booklets.
Delirium disbanded in 1975 but reformed in 2003 with three original members plus a new bassist and new guitarist-vocalist. The 70-minute Vibrazioni Notturne was recorded at the end of summer 2006 and presents a mix of old classics revitalized, new material, and a couple of perfect covers for a live show: a Jethro Tull medley and With a Little Help from My Friends. But the live CD was just the prelude to their 2009 comeback album Il Nome del Vento (59-minutes), which is arguably the best thing Delirium have ever created. Not really a retro album in the sense of sounding like it was made in the mid-1970s, but the music is pure 70s-style prog, with that facility with jazz and classical that tends to distinguish the first-generation prog bands. Check our DVDs page for Delirium’s Il Viaggio Continua DVD.
Gianni D’Errico - Antico Teatro da Camera mini-LP ($19.99)As far as Italian prog solo albums go, Gianni D’Errico’s 1976 album is one of the best. This was his only album, actually recorded earlier and released posthumously. The music is soft prog with darker moods and few instrumental excursions, really an extension of the serious Italian singer-songwriter style into progressive realms. This is the 2011 mini-LP (cardboard sleeve) edition on Sony. This YouTube video will get you started; search there for more audio previews.
I Dik Dik - Suite per una Donna Assolutamente Relativa mini-LP ($19.99)I Dik Dik began and ended as a pop group and in between made this 1972 album, their only progressive work, very melodic with lots of keyboards. Read reviews at Prog Archives. This is the 2011 mini-LP edition on Sony, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve. YouTube has the songs Donna Paesaggio and Le Gambe.
Doracor - La vita che cade ($16.99) out-of-stock 
Doracor - Evanescenze ($16.99)
Doracor - Segni Premonitori ($16.99)Doracor is an anagram/pseudonym for keyboardist and drummer Corrado Sardella. Segni Premonitori (1998) and Antiche Impressioni (1999) are the second and third Doracor albums. These are high-caliber, primarily-instrumental symphonic rock albums, with Sardella handling most of the instruments himself, with assistance from guest musicians. These have a very full-band sound and a 1970s orientation. The best way to think of them is as the albums Tony Banks could have made if Tony made progressive rock solo albums instead of trying to match the chart success of Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford. Antiche Impressioni features a female vocalist, a bassist and a guitarist, while Segni Premonitori features a male singer and a guitarist.
Transizione (2001) trumps the earlier albums, as here Sardella is aided by seven other musicians, and the sound is that of a full band, with male and female vocals in Italian. It is one of the best symphonic progressive albums that no one has heard and is quite similar to the first album by the French band Hecenia. Though it does have most of the hallmarks of the Italian 1970s romantic progressive style, it is even more influenced by mid-period Genesis, while at times the energy level suggests later bands such as IQ. Evanescenze (2005) continues in this vein but is even better. Just male vocals this time around, but they are very strong, reminding one of Aton’s or even Locanda delle Fate at times.
Doracor has long since gone from being a solo vehicle for Sardella to being a full band, though Sardella still writes the music. Mixing three parts Genesis with one part classic Italian prog, Doracor have perfected their style with Onirika (2007) and created another wonderful symphonic prog album. Female vocals return on this album and the male vocals are downplayed (lyrics in Italian), but the album is heavily instrumental. This isn’t any less original than half the progressive rock being made today, and recognition for Doracor is long overdue.
On Lady Roma (2008, 58-minutes), Sardella heads up a band that uses Taproban drummer Davide Guidoni on most tracks but features two guest drummers: well-known Italian drummer Vittorio Riva and some guy named Ian Mosley. The marriage of Genesis-style symphonics and Italian romanticism is still at the music’s core. This album sees Doracor expanding their sound some, always with pleasant atmospheres and, aside from the five instrumental tracks, warm Italian vocals. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
La vita che cade (2011, 68-minutes, digipack) continues the string of great albums Doracor have made this century. The music is again a mix of Genesis, romantic Italian prog, and IQ-style neo-prog, with melodic sax a nice touch on several songs. The Genesis influence is not retro or copyist as with The Watch but rather takes off from the Wind and Wuthering period, using vintage keyboard sounds but not ignoring more modern instruments, not trying to sound like a tribute band. The classic Italian prog comes in mostly via the warm Italian vocals. This is a superb, well-crafted album: majestic, romantic, and stirring. You can find several songs on YouTube, start here.
Dr. Dude - Ykaro ($16.99)This 1997 CD is between 1990s hard rock and classic Italian prog, blending a crunchy guitar style with analog keyboards and a singer with a classic 1970s style voice. The hard rock subsides on the later tracks.
Ego - Egofuturismo ($16.99) This is the late 2008 debut (following two demos) for an Italian keys/bass/drums instrumental progressive trio that say they are united by their passion for Italian 1970s progressive bands such as Le Orme, Goblin, Metamorfosi, PFM, etc. Ego’s keyboardist also plays some flute. Some of the tracks sound like Ego are imitating Le Orme imitating ELP, while other tracks are jazzier, particularly one featuring a guest saxophonist. Still other tracks get away from these two styles into something a bit more original.
Egoband - Earth ($15.99) 
On Trip in the Light of the World (1991), this Italian progressive band singing in English meld high-energy neo-prog with hard rock. They followed with another neo-prog CD Fingerprint in 1993. By the time of We Are (1995), Egoband’s style was in transition, with a lot of space rock on this album.
On their 1999 fourth album Earth, Egoband completely abandoned their earlier styles. Here they are more instrumental and much jazzier, with a sax and oboe player in the lineup and Rhodes piano dominating their sound. Their music now has more space to breath. There is still a fair amount of Italian symphonic progressive blended with the fusion, the end result sounding like an Italian Canterbury style.
Empire - Back to Knowledge ($16.99)1994 Italian prog album. “The duo Rogani/Sburlati, who operate under the name of Syndone, have created a new band called Empire together with singer Rosanna De Luca. Because no guitar can be heard, this CD makes an ideal treat for lovers of keyboards. While the [contributions] of the Syndone duo are very symphonic, the voice of De Luca is rather an ordinary rock voice. Compared to a lot of similar projects however, Empire uses a real drummer, but unfortunately he uses triggered drums which sound as nerve-racking as computers! Concerning the keyboard parts, it is mainly the inspiration of Keith Emerson that can be felt. It is also the main idea of Empire to create an up-to-date sound which can easily be heard on The Power. The influences remain, but Empire wants to get close to the sound of today by means of modern rhythms and the rock-flavored vocals. [The] balance between instrumentals and vocal tracks give a nice diversity to the album.” [John “Bo Bo” Bollenberg]
Endlich Allein - Le Voci del Mondo ($15.99)Despite the German band name, this 1996 recording is by an Italian band who you might swear is the same band as Aton’s, as their style is identical. So not surprisingly, we find that Aton’s singer/guitarist Pietro Ratto co-arranged all the songs and recorded the album in his studio. It happens that we like Aton’s style a lot. Like Aton’s, Endlich Allein take the Italian romantic progressive tradition of the 1970s and apply it to more contemporary rock, with their Italian language vocals and classical guitar as their trademarks. The music is filled with such brio, as befits the Italian culture and sunny Mediterranean climate -- nothing dark, brooding, or plodding here. Merge the feel of PFM’s Passpartu album with more electric instrumentation and more rock and you have Aton’s and Endlich Allein.
Equipe 84 - Id mini-LP ($19.99) Equipe 84 was an Italian keys/guitar/bass/drums quartet, primarily a melodic pop band who, like I Giganti or I Dik Dik, dabbled in progressive rock for a time. The authoritative ItalianProg.com says that Id (1970) “is usually considered their most progressive album”, which is odd because 1974’s Sacrificio usually is. Franz Di Cioccio (later of PFM) is the drummer on Id. This is the 2011 mini-LP edition on Sony, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve. For audio previews, start with La notte della verità or Un brutto sogno and search YouTube for more.
Era di Acquario - Antologia mini-LP ($19.99)Despite the title, this is not a compilation but rather the 1973 sole album by Sicilian band Era di Acquario. The music is soft prog dominated by acoustic guitar and flute, sung in the Sicilian dialect, with a couple rockier songs in a New Trolls vein. The mini-LP is the 2011 cardboard sleeve edition on Sony.
Eris Pluvia - Third Eye Light ($19.99) out-of-stock Rings of Earthly Light is a top-notch Italian symphonic progressive album from 1991, one of the best of its era.
Third Eye Light (2010) is a new studio album marking the return of Eris Pluvia. This album sounds somewhat more British than Italian, not just because it’s sung in English. Much of Eris Pluvia’s earlier style is carried over though, with flute on many tracks, while there are a few sections that qualify as neo-prog. It was unlikely this comeback album would have the wonderful atmosphere of Rings of Earthly Light, and it doesn’t, but it is still a fine melodic prog rock album. Read the Gibraltar and Prog Archives reviews for more detail and biographical info. The CD comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
Errata Corrige - Siegfried, Il Drago e Altre Storie ($16.99)CD reissue of a very rare 1976 LP plus two bonus tracks. The music is of the dreamy, soft, pastoral symphonic prog variety probably inspired by early PFM as well as Genesis and showing similarities to Celeste. Elegant and romantic in the Italian style.
L’Estate di San Martino - Febo ($19.99)L’Estate di San Martino was formed back in 1975 to provide the musical background to a theatrical production. In the following years, the lineup was expanded to enrich the sound, with new musicians on keyboards, electric guitar and drums, and the group had intense live activity with shows featuring long tracks with extended instrumental sections. After the success of Alder, the CD of their 1983 concert in Perugia (now out-of-print), L’Estate di San Martino decided to reunite with the original lineup and compose a new work. Febo (2007) is simply outstanding, a concept album in the best tradition of Italian melodic progressive rock, highlighted by superb production with complex yet beautiful atmospheres and skillful musicianship. The music is a blend of Wind & Wuthering-era Genesis and classic Italian progressive, like a collaboration between Banco, Locanda delle Fate, and Genesis. But it is not self-consciously retro like some other prog bands who limit all instrumentation and effects to those available in 1972. Febo is the tale of a young boy who discovers progressive rock and decides to move away from downloading piracy, rediscovering the taste of buying a record and enjoying both music and artwork. Heavyweight mini-LP gatefold sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet.
Etna - Etna ($17.99) Etna’s sole album is from 1975. Though Etna is the same band as Flea, their album has nothing in common with Flea’s Topi o Uomini (1972). Most of Etna’s album is tasty European fusion with loads of Fender Rhodes, melodic and high-energy, along the lines of Nova, Il Baricentro, Arti & Mestieri, Iceberg, and Surya. The slower songs are more symphonic, emphasizing guitar and piano, with Spanish guitar and mandolin in spots.
Fancyfluid - The Sheltering Sea ($14.99) Fancyfluid are an Italian neo-prog band singing in English, greatly influenced by the 1980s English bands. After a relatively weak debut, Fancyfluid grew by leaps and bounds on King’s Journey (1992) and The Sheltering Sea (1995), moving closer to 1970s progressive. Rodolfo Maltese (Banco) and Pietro Ratto (Aton’s) contribute to King’s Journey.
Alessandro Farinella - Momo ($19.99) This is the first solo CD by Alessandro Farinella, who founded Brainstorm / Theatre in 1987, one of the most important Italian neo-prog bands of the early 1990s. Momo is a refined, melodic progressive rock concept album. Farinella lists his influences as King Crimson, Genesis, Marillion, Yes, Steve Morse, and Anthony Philips. Much of Momo sounds like pop-rock songs dressed up in symphonic rock clothing, but as many musicians will tell you, it’s the arrangement that makes a song progressive. Three instrumentals remove the restraints and allow the progressive nature of the music full reign. Farinella is assisted by several other musicians. He sings in English, and we can’t help but feel that Italian vocals would have enhanced the feel, as English lyrics tend to make Italian prog sound more common and ordinary. Beautiful mini-LP style packaging.
The Far Side - Parallelebiped ($15.99) On their 2002 debut, this Roman band play music between progressive rock and prog metal. They don’t really sound all that metallic or heavy, but their aesthetic is a lot closer to the modern prog metal bands than to the Italian prog rock tradition. Consequently, aside from a slight accent to their English vocals, there is nothing specifically Italian-sounding about them. But as modern international progressive rock, this is quite good, and probably a good bet for Rush fans. Read the DPRP review.
Festa Mobile - Diario di Viaggio mini-LP ($19.99) The 1973 sole album by Festa Mobile is one of the upper-echelon Italian prog albums. The highlight is the keyboardist whose main instrument is piano, where he displays the kind of classical and jazz chops rarely heard in prog today. Three members of Festa Mobile went on to the more jazz-rock oriented Il Baricentro. The mini-LP is the 2011 edition on Sony, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Fiaba - I Racconti del Giullare Cantore (CD+DVD, $17.99) Fiaba is a Sicilian quintet with an operatic singer, playing a guitar-based progressive rock or prog-metal, generally dark and often heavy. They started out blending heavy prog with medieval folk, then later shifted toward prog-metal and a harder-edged sound. Their vocalist Giuseppe Brancato has that dramatic style descended from Demetrio Stratos (Area) or Alberto Piras (Deus Ex Machina).
I Racconti del Giullare Cantore is Fiaba’s 2005 studio album. This one restores some of the medieval/Mediterranean folk and fairy-tale qualities, with enough acoustic guitar to keep it interesting. As far as guitar-only bands go, Fiaba is unique in the world. This CD comes with a DVD (PAL, all-region, 16:9) containing a very professional video of the first track of the album, with elaborate sets and costumes and credits that go on nearly as long as the video.
Finisterre - La Meccanica Naturale mini-LP ($19.99) 
Finisterre are one of the very best Italian progressive bands to emerge during the 1990s, an heir to PFM perhaps. They may not be on that lofty level, but they are very good, with loads of flute, guitar, and keyboards crafting compelling melodies and romantic atmospheres. La Meccanica Naturale is Finisterre’s 2004 studio album, produced by PFM drummer Franz Di Cioccio. More so than most bands, Finisterre don’t make the same album twice, and even on the same album, they don’t stick to just a single prog style. This album opens in prime Italian symphonic prog territory, suggesting Museo Rosenbach or even Locanda delle Fate, with majestic Mellotron and everything else. But by the end of the album, the sound is more modern, a bit like Porcupine Tree even. The band added a second keyboardist on this album and dropped the flute. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 16-page booklet.
In Ogni Luogo (1999) is Finisterre’s third studio CD, a mostly-instrumental affair (some guest female vocals) that contains both highly-structured Genesis/Camel style progressive as well as slightly more freewheeling pieces that can be reminiscent of PFM in a jamming mood, particularly when violin is featured. Roberto Colombo produced. This mini-LP edition is the 2010 remastered edition on AMS, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve and adds four previously-unreleased bonus tracks plus some new artwork and liner notes.
In Limine (1996, 62-minutes) is Finisterre’s second studio CD. There are a lot of different progressive styles on this disc, so while one can certainly say that this album is in the spirit of PFM and Banco, it doesn’t strongly resemble either of them. This is the MALS label edition, produced under license.
Flea - Topi o Uomini ($19.99) This 1972 album is a classic of guitar-oriented hard progressive rock, sung in Italian. Side 1 of the record is a 20-minute piece, with three shorter tracks on Side 2. This is actually the band’s second album, more progressive than their first which was released under the name Flea on the Honey. They changed their name to Etna for their third album, which saw a change in style to jazz-rock. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet.
Fonderia - Re>>enter ($16.99) out-of-stock Fonderia’s two CDs are excellent and innovative instrumental works between progressive rock and jazz-rock, between 1970s styles and modern electro-ethno-ambient. The lineup for most tracks consists of guitar, keys, drums, and trumpet. The keyboardist favors vintage instruments (Fender Rhodes, Hammond, MiniMoog, clavinet, etc.), and there is both acoustic and electric guitar. The overall feel is “cool”; this is not about fast, demonstrative playing. The music flows effortlessly despite the sophistication of the playing and arrangements. The self-titled album is their 2002 debut and runs 71-minutes. This is the 2007 second edition, which comes in a slipcase. Re>>enter (2006) is 73-minutes long, with Rodolfo Maltese (Banco) guesting on one song.
Fungus - Careful! ($15.99) This is the 2006 debut from an Italian psychedelic rock band singing in English, with a female vocalist on three tracks and the greater part of the album instrumental. The Mellow label mentions Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd and Gong, which is fair enough on most of the tracks, though the vocal tracks are more modern than that and with more of a pop influence.
Gan Eden: Il Giardino delle Delizie - Ritratto di Ballerina ($19.99) This Italian project is headed by Angelo Santo Lombardi, who released the wonderful I Giorni di Eurisko CD under his own name in 2005. Gan Eden is even better, more purely 1970s Italian symphonic prog in the tradition of the best of them. The previous Gan Eden CD Lavori in Corso (currently out-of-print) was probably the Italian symphonic prog album of 2007. Ritratto di Ballerina (2009) trades off some of the warmth and romantic flavor of Lombardi’s previous work for a more challenging and complex brand of Italian symphonic prog. It is again of very high quality, and the list of progressive rock keyboardists with piano chops like Lombardi’s is a short one. While this album is more instrumental, Lombardi has a tremendous voice and sings entirely in Italian here. As the AMS label says: “This record represents the artistic maturity of the Gan Eden project, that confirms itself as one of the best bands of the current prog scene.” Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
Gap Party - Additives ($15.99)Additives is the 2004 second CD from this Italian band singing in English. The track Afterwards is a tribute to Van der Graaf Generator, and that is the best reference for their style, specifically the pre-Pawn Hearts VdGG style when they were at their most psychedelic. A short CD at 36:23.
Garden Wall - Forget the Colours ($14.99)
Garden Wall began as a neo-prog band mixing Genesis influences with heavier styles, with vocals a la Peter Hammill. Their first album Principium is from 1993, their second Path of Dreams from 1994. Here is a mono RealAudio excerpt from the track The Giant and the Wiseman from Principium, and an mp3 of the track The Bride of the Wind from Path of Dreams, courtesy of Prog Archives. These are the two to get, as beginning with the next album, the music became heavier, darker, more technical and less melodic, and this trend continued until Garden Wall had transformed into a completely unlistenable metal band. The Principium and Path of Dreams CDs were originally released on the now defunct WMMS / Music Is Intelligence label. These are the MALS label editions.
After four CDs in the 1990s on the WMMS label, Garden Wall reemerged in 2002 on Mellow Records with Forget the Colours. This is technical prog-metal with English lyrics, though it would be generous to refer to what Alessandro Seravalle does on this album as “singing”. Make sure you enjoy metal and noise.
Garybaldi - Note Perdute (CD+DVD, $24.99)
After their 1970 debut album under the name Gleeman, which had a 1960s sound, this band changed their name to Garybaldi, moving up musically as well as alphabetically. The first side of Nuda (1972) sounds mostly like an Italian Jimi Hendrix tribute band. The second side is taken up by a beautiful suite of Italian progressive rock, more instrumental, with only a few more references to the Hendrix style, far and away their best piece of music. Garybaldi were more guitar-oriented than the typical Italian progressive rock band, but still they were a quartet with a keyboardist. Beautiful heavyweight tri-fold mini-LP sleeve with 4-panel bilingual booklet.
Astrolabio (1973) consists of just two side-long pieces of guitar-dominated hard progressive. Their keyboardist is present on the album but was no longer a member of the band. Guitarist Bambi Fossati’s love of Hendrix is still evident. The spaciness and semi-improvisational nature of the music takes it close to the kosmic krautrock style of the era or to Grobschnitt’s Solar Music Live. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 4-panel bilingual booklet.
The 2010 Note Perdute CD is a collection of rarities. It contains a track intended for inclusion on their Gleemen debut, some live and alternate versions recorded between 1969-1998, and three live tracks recorded during the 1973 Naples Be-In festival, one of very few documents of those legendary festivals, as in those days gigs in Italy were rarely recorded. The accompanying DVD (NTSC, all-region, 16:9) is a 70-minute Garybaldi rockumentary entitled Vicino in un Momento that includes interviews of all band members and many vintage videos from the golden age of Italian prog. Heavyweight tri-fold mini-LP sleeve.
Gatto Marte - Faust ($16.99) 
A top-notch, charming, and very original Italian acoustic progressive band. They are a quartet of violin, bassoon, piano, and double-bass, with additional musicians on drums, percussion, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, organ, string quartet, and vocals, varying with each album. Sonically these are close to Le Orme’s two acoustic albums of the late 1970s, though less vocal and song-oriented. They all feature sophisticated arrangements, similar to After Crying’s chamber music pieces, Julverne, or an Italian Penguin Café Orchestra. Gioco del Mago (2000, 52-minutes) is their second.
Faust is the sixth Gatto Marte CD, recorded live in California in 2005. Gatto Marte toured the U.S. and Canada, performing an original soundtrack to the 1926 silent film Faust live while the film was shown. The music here is at times a little more, well, soundtrack-y than their other albums, and though the visual element would enhance the experience, the music still has the same charm. Faust has a playing time of 72-minutes. There is some hidden music at the end. After the film finishes, Gatto Marte play a couple Italian chestnuts in light-hearted fashion for the audience’s amusement.
Animali Rari is the second solo album from Pietro Lusvardi, the double bass player of Gatto Marte. It was recorded live in September 2002 and features Francesco D’Auria on drums & percussion and Michel Godard on tuba and serpent (an obsolete bass cornet). The rest of Gatto Marte joins in on one song. Most of this album is low-key and more ambient than Gatto Marte.
Genco Puro & Co. - Area di Servizio mini-LP ($19.99)Another one-off Italian progressive band, the ItalianProg.com site says that despite the name, Genco Puro & Co. was not a group but a solo artist from Sicily whose real name was Riccardo Pirolli. He played on Fetus, the first album by Franco Battiato, who in return helped Pirolli on this 1972 album. The album is mainly song-based, built on keyboards and guitars, with Battiato singing on the best two tracks, and seven of the 12 LP tracks composed by one Ed De Joy who, according to many sources, was Franco Battiato himself. The label says the album was remastered for this edition, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 4-panel bilingual booklet. The two tracks from the band’s first single are included as bonus tracks.
Germinale - Scogli di Sabbia mini-LP ($19.99) 
Germinale - Germinale ($15.99)Cielo & Terra (2001) is the third album from Germinale, an Italian quintet plus guests playing a lyrical and refined progressive rock with classical and jazz touches, very good male vocals in Italian plus occasional female vocals. Lush and romantic, nothing heavy here. The self-titled album is their 1994 debut, while E Il Suo Respiro Ancora Agita le Onde (1995) is their second. These first two albums are more in the classic Italian 1970s prog style; their second especially was one of the best of the 1990s.
Scogli di Sabbia (2005) is an 80-minute CD that contains four new tracks (26-minutes), four tracks released previously on tribute or various artists CDs, seven live tracks from 2002 (27-minutes), and a short song from their early career. Two of the new songs are instrumentals and two feature new female singer Sara Nannipieri. The covers include Genesis’ The Knife, Jethro Tull’s - Wond’ring Aloud, and a new version of their cover of King Crimson’s Dr. Diamond. These are followed by a remix of Germinale’s song from the Kalevala 3CD. The live tracks are drawn from all three of their previous studio albums, and the sound quality is very good. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 16-page booklet.
Giallo! One Suite for the Murderer ($15.99)This 2008 CD is another in the long line of various artists progressive rock concept albums organized by the Finnish magazine Colossus and published by the French Musea label. Giallo!, subtitled One Suite for the Murderer, takes the 1975 Dario Argento film Deep Red as its subject matter. The story has been divided into three chapters, each assigned to a band to create a suite inspired by it. These suites average 24-minutes each, plus there is a short intro and outro performed by Alfio Costa on keyboards. Costa is also featured on the first track Visions of Helga (3:02 mp3 excerpt here), performed by Dark Session, an offshoot of the Italian band Tilion. The other two bands are Leviathan with Vecchi Giochi and Floating State with Suite dall’Inconscio dell’Assassino (14:48 mp3 excerpt here). The style is clearly influenced by Italian 1970s symphonic rock and relies on vintage keyboards.
Giardini d’Autunno - Frammenti di Idee Perdute ($15.99)This 2003 release features long instrumental tracks of good symphonic progressive using a fair amount of Mellotron, ranging from pastoral early Genesis to the more dissonant Anglagard/Anekdoten style with a smattering of ambient soundscapes. The one vocal track is in the classic 1970s Italian progressive style.
Goad - In the House of the Dark Shining Dreams ($16.99) The Italian progressive band Goad have been in existence since the 1980s and have several privately-released CDs that have rarely sold outside Italy. The In the House of the Dark Shining Dreams (2006, 77-minutes) CD is their first for the Black Widow label, which is a good fit, as Goad play dark progressive rock firmly entrenched in the early 1970s. The feel of early Genesis, early King Crimson and mostly Van der Graaf Generator is present throughout. No points for spotting the last two influences, as the CD includes covers of 21st Century Schizoid Man and Killer. In addition to the analog keys, electric & acoustic guitar, bass and drums, Goad toss in some flute, sax, and violin. Consistent with the change of label to Black Widow, the music here is darker and harder than on The Wood, and the production is murky. Maurilio Rossi has one of those voices like Mr. Doctor of Devil Doll that only a mother could love, but it’s his band and he can do what he likes. Read reviews at ProgArchives.
The Wood, subtitled Dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft’s Lyrics, was recorded 2004-2005 and released in 2006 on the Mellow label. Here Goad are influenced by early Genesis, but their style is distinct. They have a dark, mystical, under-produced sound, and they add a small amount of violin, trumpet, and French horn. 80-minutes.
Gran Torino - grantorinoProg ($15.99) This is the 2011 debut by an instrumental Italian prog band. The keyboards tie the music to classic prog, but while not prog-metal, the guitarist does play in a more contemporary style. The musicians come from more of a hard rock background but decided that prog was the one true path to enlightenment, so one can hear where Gran Torino are coming from in the music. It’s a quality prog album for the current generation though no threat to PFM, Banco, and the other great Italian bands.
Greenwall - Il Petalo del Fiore e Altre Storie ($15.99) The other Greenwall CD on Mellow, Elektropuzzles, is really a solo CD by keyboardist/composer Andrea Pavoni. While that one is symphonic new age, Il Petalo del Fiore is symphonic progressive with a full band. This CD kicks off with the 33-minute title suite, which was recorded in 1989. Given the opportunity to issue the suite, Greenwall decided to include some other tracks belonging to the same period, plus one track recorded between 1994 and 1998. The feel of this is close to Aton’s, joyful and romantic in the Italian progressive tradition, but more instrumental and more keyboard-oriented. You could also compare much of it to Rick Wakeman’s two collaborations with Mario Fasciano, and there’s a suggestion of Genesis circa Wind and Wuthering. Vocals in Italian. 63-minutes.
Gruppo d’Alternativa - Ipotesi ($19.99)This papersleeve edition is the first time on CD for another great Italian progressive rarity from 1972. Think of Gruppo d’Alternativa as PFM’s odd cousin. Gruppo d’Alternativa have a similar sound but are less symphonic and more experimental, closer to the jazz-rock side of early PFM. There are Canterbury influences as well as a style that Stormy Six would pick up on later. It should be noted that men with the voice of Gruppo d’Alternativa’s singer Tino Guasconi traditionally do not choose singing as a career. Using keys, flute, bassoon, electric & acoustic guitar, bass and drums, the music is complex and unpredictable, never settling into one idea for long. The nine tracks of the CD are connected to form two long suites. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet. Note this CD was mastered from vinyl, as presumably the master tapes are lost. The label conveniently neglects to mention this, as do most reviewers and retailers.
Monica Guareschi Group - Two Kingdoms ($11.99)This is an Italian quintet (vocals, guitar, keys, bass, drums) with a female singer and English lyrics. The first half of the album is rock with a few progressive touches, generally played fast and hard. Fortunately, the CD is 72-minutes long and the second half of the album is respectable progressive rock. It’s on the melodic and song-oriented end of the progressive spectrum, sounding somewhat similar to 90125-era Yes. Read the DPRP review. Note there are two editions with different covers of this CD; this is the Vinyl Magic edition with the non-ugly cover.
Heatwave - Inside Me, Out of Time ($15.99)Heatwave is a male/female Italian duo of Massimo Mazzeo on 6 & 12-string acoustic guitars, electric guitar, and vocals; and Paola Buscaglia on vocals. Mazzeo is the founder of the band Nostalgia and has contributed to the Zarathustra’s Revenge Italian progressive tribute set. On this 1999 recording, they are assisted by a number of other musicians who add fretless bass, electric guitar, drums, keyboards, and a bit of harp and fiddle. It’s a blend of folky pop-oriented songwriting and expansive, progressive arrangements. The main features of the music are the acoustic guitar and the lovely female vocals, plus a big vibrant sound. Nothing earth shattering, but a very pleasant listen. The lyrics are in both English and Italian.
Hero - Hero mini-LP ($19.99)This is a prog rarity recorded in 1972 and originally released on LP in 1974 for an obscure German label, unearthed and released on CD in 2006. Hero was an Italian trio singing in English. This album sounds very much like the British Vertigo-label bands of the early 1970s, that early progressive style with spaciness, lots of Hammond organ, fuzz guitar, and the appropriate singing voice for the style. Quite a find; one wouldn’t have suspected there was any more of this type of prog left to be discovered. This CD reissue was licensed by the band members and includes one bonus track, an alternate version of one of the songs. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page booklet containing the English lyrics.
Höstsonaten - Autumnsymphony ($19.99) out-of-stock
Höstsonaten - Mirrorgames remastered mini-LP ($19.99) The band Höstsonaten was initially known also as Finisterre Project, because all the Finisterre members appear, but here Fabio Zuffanti has creative control. Their second Mirrorgames (1998) is an impressive and ambitious symphonic rock work with renaissance music influences via the liberal use of recorder, tin whistle, and flute, plus a five-member choir and multiple keyboards including Mellotron. Mirrorgames contains the seeds of many of the styles the prolific Zuffanti would go on to explore, including the styles of La Maschera di Cera, Aires, the Merlin rock opera, and the subsequent Finisterre albums. This is the 2010 remastered edition, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve and adds a previously-unreleased bonus track plus new artwork. Here is an mp3 from the track Mirrorcloud.
Their first album Höstsonaten (1997) is similar, perhaps even better, and the closest sounding to Finisterre. Here is an mp3 from the track The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Winterthrough (2008) comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve. It is instrumental aside from a little spoken word, a 1970s-sounding blend of Genesis and Italian symphonic prog. The six-man lineup includes two keyboardists commanding a large arsenal, with Mellotron strings or choir usually forming the backbone of each track. In addition to synths and electric guitar, there is soprano sax, clarinet, and brass. Most of the tracks are deliberately paced. A wonderful work as has come to be expected from Zuffanti. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Springsong is the fourth and final chapter of Höstsonaten’s ‘SeasonCycle Suite’, but like Star Wars, things don’t come out in order. Springsong was originally released in 2001. The band consider this remastered mini-LP edition on AMS to be a new album based only in part on the first version. For starters, the artwork and booklet are new, and they are beautiful. Musically the 2001 album has been completely reworked, remixed and remastered. Fabio Zuffanti and Robbo Vigo added many new musical parts: new Mellotron parts played with a real Mellotron (the old parts were played with samplers); new bass parts throughout; new Moog, bass pedals and percussion parts; and a 13-minute bonus track: the acoustic suite Suite Bretonne, the track from which Springsong was born. As the label says: “If you love such works as Genesis’ Trespass or Anthony Phillips’ The Geese and the Ghost, you will certainly welcome this album enthusiastically. If you like acclaimed bands such as Clannad, Nightnoise, and Moving Hearts, bands who usually play on the edge of several musical worlds, you will find the good vibrations you need. But you will also feel at home if you are searching for jazzy and traditional echoes from other European latitudes. For this adventurous trip, Fabio Zuffanti united some former Finisterre members -- Stefano Marelli, Agostino Macor, Boris Valle, Francesca Biagini -- as well as some very talented musicians who normally approach rock music in a different way -- Sergio Caputo, Federico Foglia, Edmondo Romano (ex-Eris Pluvia/Ancient Veil). The result is a blend of powerful modern sounds and traditional instruments that give Springsong a unique and original flavor. With Springsong, Fabio Zuffanti offers us his most painstaking recording, a work which shows the maturity he has reached and that goes beyond the fences that sometimes enclose the progressive rock world.” Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
Autumnsymphony is the 2009 installment in Höstsonaten’s ‘SeasonCycle Suite’ and again comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve. It is again instrumental aside from wordless female vocals on one track. This is very much a symphony performed with prog rock instrumentation as well as violin, viola, cello, flute, trumpet, oboe, and more. There is lots of Mellotron and touches of the ambient jazz one can hear in Zuffanti’s other recent projects. It all feels late autumn, leaves off the trees, heading into winter, as the mood is very melancholy and often somber. The way Zuffanti blends the classical and rock elements is seamless and very sophisticated.
Hunka Munka - Dedicato a Giovanna G. mini-LP ($19.99)1972 Italian soft prog rarity. This mini-LP version is the Korean edition that comes in a die-cut heavyweight triple-gatefold mini-LP sleeve. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Ibis - Sun Supreme mini-LP ($19.99)Ibis were one of two offshoots of New Trolls, being the same band as Nico, Gianni, Frank, Maurizio, whose album Canti d’innocenza, Canti d’esperienza was actually released with no band name due to legal wrangling over the use of ‘New Trolls’. Drummer Gianni Belleno then left and was replaced by Ric Parnell from Atomic Rooster, and the band now known as Ibis released Sun Supreme (1974), one of the great Italian progressive rock albums, sung entirely in English. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Imagin’aria - Esperia ($14.99) Esperia is the 2002 third album by this Italian quintet (vocals, two guitars, bass, drums) with guests supplying keys, flute, and violin. There is an acoustic folk element as on their first album, but this is primarily energetic progressive rock on the hard and heavy side. While Imagin’aria do have an influence of 1970s Italian progressive, their overall approach is more contemporary. They’re not quite as symphonic as some of the best-known Italian bands. Their sound is more weighted toward guitars, but not metal or hard rock guitar. Rather they subtly blend in folk and fusion influences in the Italian progressive tradition. Excellent vocals in Italian. La Tempesta is their 1999 second album. This is the MALS label edition of Esperia.
Indaco - Amorgós ($19.99) Indaco are something of an Italian supergroup, formed in 1997 by six musicians from different backgrounds, with the goal of fusing the melodic warmth of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern traditions with the impact of a big rock sound. Indaco mix the sunny Mediterranean feel of PFM’s Passpartu album or Banco’s more acoustic tracks with folk and Middle Eastern melodies, with ethnic instruments sitting alongside rock instruments. Of bands that could be lumped into the world music category, Indaco are among our very favorites, though clearly they transcend that genre -- much of this is Italian progressive rock with more emphasis on acoustic instruments.
The Indaco lineup includes Banco guitarist Rodolfo Maltese, Mario Pio Mancini (bouzouki, violin), keyboardist Carlo Mezzanotte (who has his own fusion band), drummer Pierluigi Calderoni (Banco), bassist Luca Barberini and percussionist Arnaldo Vacca. Guests on Amorgós include Lester Bowie, Francesco Di Giacomo (Banco), Vittorio Nocenzi (Banco), Mauro Pagani (PFM) and more. Guests on Vento del Deserto include Pagani, Di Giacomo, Toni Esposito, and more. These are the mini-LP sleeve reissues (with new covers) of Indaco’s second CD Amorgós (1999, 74-minutes) and first CD Vento del Deserto (1997, 54-minutes). Both CDs come in heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeves with bilingual booklets including extensive liner notes compiled by Rodolfo Maltese. Both include one live bonus track.
J’accuse! - Abbandono del tempo e delle forme ($16.99) This is the 2008 debut from an atypical Italian band playing modern psychedelic progressive along the lines of (most of the albums by) Brazilians Violeta de Outono or Italians LaZona. The music is guitar-dominated, varying from dreamlike to moderately heavy. There is some Fender Rhodes, organ and synth that tend to be used only as spacey backdrop. There are some vocals in Italian that function as part of the instrumental palette rather than as traditional lead vocals. The 13+ minute track that concludes the CD seems to be everyone’s favorite, as it bears some resemblance to Porcupine Tree or The Pineapple Thief in instrumental psychedelic mode. There are links to more detailed reviews from the band’s MySpace page (mp3 icon above).
Jumbo - Vietato ai Minori di 18 Anni? mini-LP ($19.99)Vietato ai Minori di 18 Anni? (1973) is Jumbo’s third album and their best, an Italian progressive rock classic. DNA (1972) is their second album and second best, also a very good Italian prog album. Each comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet.
LaZona - Le Notti Difficili ($15.99) This instrumental Italian quintet features Fabio Zuffanti of Finisterre. Le Notti Difficili (2002) consists of one 45-minute track divided into four parts. It lulls you into a false sense of serenity, starting ambient and featuring an ambient, heavily-reverbed style of trumpet. But it steadily builds to a powerful, Mellotron-drenched climax reminiscent of Anekdoten and Godspeed You Black Emperor.
Lethean - Lethean ($16.99) This is the 2001 debut by an instrumental Italian progressive band featuring two guitarists, bass, and drums, augmented by violin, flute, and sax. There are several styles present. The first track is wild in a King Crimson way, with the sax making its only appearance and the violin adopting a David Cross tone. Several tracks emphasize structured Ozrics-style instrumentals, while two others are beautiful, pastoral acoustic tracks. Although there are two guitarists, they are generally not playing in a hard rock style. They complement each other well, providing a sufficient variety of textures and effects to compensate for the absence of keys and to keep things sounding progressive and spacey.
Libra - Musica e Parole mini-LP ($19.99)This is the 1975 debut album by Libra, a band that emerged from Logan Dwight and included the keyboardist from Buon Vecchio Charlie. Strange as it may seem, Libra signed to the U.S. Motown label, their first U.S. release an English-lyrics version of this album, and the band toured the United States. Musica e Parole is partly in the PFM vein, though it ranges wider than that. This is the 2011 mini-LP edition on Sony, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve. YouTube has the songs Nato Oggi, Musica e Parole, and Pegno D’Amore.
Living Life - Mysterious Dream ($16.99)Mysterious Dream (1981) is the second of two releases for Living Life. It followed a six year intermission, as their debut Let: From Experience to Experience was released in 1975. The lineup on the two albums is very different. Mysterious Dream is the more cohesive of the two, more keyboard-based, with both a flute player and an oboe player in the lineup. The music is very good and fairly original, a mix of symphonic prog and melodic jazz-rock, mostly instrumental, with vocals in English. Let: From Experience to Experience is a blend of jazz, rock and ethnic music, instrumental except for one vocal track in English.
Emilio Locurcio - L’Eliogabalo mini-LP ($19.99)This 1979 progressive rock opera features several important Italian singer-songwriters as vocalists and Pierrot Lunaire as the instrumentalists. Thus the first Pierrot Lunaire album is a good reference point. This is the mini-LP edition on BMG, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve. This Facebook page has links to audio previews on YouTube.
London Underground - Honey Drops ($15.99) London Underground began as four experienced Italian musicians who played for a number of bands in studio sessions, among them the psychedelic/prog band Standarte. Through a Glass Darkly (2003) is their second album and is in an early-1970s progressive or proto-prog style. Their sound emphasizes “dirty” Hammond organ, piano, and vocals, coupled with guitar using a period tone, and occasional Mellotron, clavinet, or Fender Rhodes. With sax, flute, and female vocals from guest musicians, London Underground offer eleven concise prog songs here. Like fellow Italians Men of Lake, this may remind you of Atomic Rooster, Arthur Brown, Manfred Mann, Argent, the early Canterbury scene, early Pink Floyd, and the Italian progressive bands of the 1970s, but their style never really comes further forward than about 1971. Read the Progressive World and DPRP reviews.
On Honey Drops (2010), London Underground are an instrumental keyboard power trio plus guests on sax, guitars, viola, and still more keyboards. They are still trapped along with Austin Powers in a time bubble that protects them from the post-1971 musical world. The powerful Hammond organ is dominant, in the style of Vincent Crane of Atomic Rooster. But on several songs, London Underground add Mellotron strings for extra prog points -- you have to hear the Mellotron version of the theme from Midnight Cowboy on this CD. That’s not the only cover; there are also covers of songs by Jethro Tull, Arzachel, The Beatles, Eden Rose, and Brian Auger. How else to put it, this CD is just fun. The energy is infectious, and you feel like you’re in a London club as the most creative period in rock history is beginning to explode.
Lost Tales - A Volo Radente ($16.99)A Volo Radente (1999) is the sole album from an Italian symphonic prog quartet (keys, guitar, bass, drums) singing in Italian and leaning toward the neo-prog style. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Simon Luca - Per proteggere l’enorme Maria ($15.99)Vinyl Magic reissued the second and third albums from this Italian artist, which they rather euphemistically refer to as progressive rock albums. Simon Luca was an assumed name for singer/songwriter Alberto Favata, who has one of those gravelly Joe Cocker voices. These are rock/pop albums with some progressive touches. Per proteggere l’enorme Maria (1972) has several name Italian musicians in the backing band. It is the more pop-oriented and dated sounding of the two. E la mia mente? (1973) is the more rock-oriented, with the 17 tracks linked to form two long suites.
Luna - Luna mini-LP ($19.99)First ever CD release for this forgotten 1981 album by Osanna’s guitarist Danilo Rustici. The album is sung in Italian and features a new arrangement of Stravinsky’s Firebird. Luna fills the gap between Osanna’s 1978 split and the later Rustici solo works, though the music is less progressive than the cover art would suggest. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet.
Luz Escondida - Luz Escondida ($15.99)A Notturno Concertante offshoot, Luz Escondida is Lucio Lazzaruolo plus a talented female vocalist singing mostly in English, and a drummer on some tracks. The music on their 1998 debut CD is symphonic prog, but the overall impression is of Renaissance-lite or an Annie Haslam solo album, with more of an emphasis on classical guitar. Lucio also includes two instrumental covers: Peter Hammill’s Vision and Camel’s Ice.
Macromarco - Il pianeta degli uomini liberi ($19.99) Macromarco, alias Marco Grieco, apart from being the composer of the famous Odissea musical, is also a great lover of Italian prog, and his 2009 debut Il pianeta degli uomini liberi (The World of Free Men) follows directly in the footsteps of the best melodic/romantic Italian prog giants such as PFM. While deeply rooted in that tradition, this is not a retro album. Rather, it is the album PFM might make today in a perfect world, with contemporary production but not contemporary compromises. Marco’s Italian-language vocals are excellent, and it is impossible to tell that this is the work of one man just by listening to the music. Marco does depart from the Italian tradition on a few occasions to rip through some classic Genesis-style instrumentals. This is just a beautifully-crafted Italian symphonic prog album, full of gorgeous melodies as only the Italians can do, and pretty much required listening for fans of the genre. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page booklet containing the lyrics with English translations; 60-minutes. Read the review by veteran Polish journalist Artur Chachlowski.
Mad Crayon - Diamanti ($15.99) The 1999 second album from this Roman band manages to be very much in the Italian 1970s progressive style of PFM, Banco, and Locanda delle Fate, without losing its contemporary edge. Here are those characteristic lush, warm Italian vocal melodies and harmonies. The music is lyrical and romantic, with both delicate and powerful passages, compositions and arrangements approaching the level of the best Italian progressive bands.
Madrugada - Incastro mini-LP ($19.99)These are the CD reissues of two rare Italian progressive albums from 1974 and 1977, some of the last such albums to be reissued on CD. Incastro was the second of two albums for Madrugada. Guests on Incastro include Lucio Fabbri on violin (from Piazza delle Erbe and later PFM) and Luciano Ninzatti on guitar (from Eugenio Finardi’s band Crisalide). Some of the music is typical Italian progressive in the early PFM vein, while there is also some jazz-rock and some experimental and spacey parts. Three live bonus tracks lasting nearly half an hour have been added: two renditions of tracks from the album plus an unreleased 14-minute track. The audio quality of the bonus tracks is what you’d expect, adequate but not high fidelity. They depart from the studio versions, sounding more improvised.
Madrugada’s self-titled debut is purely in the soft symphonic prog style. This CD adds four bonus tracks. The first two are live tracks similar to the Incastro bonus tracks. The third is an early demo of one of the album tracks, and the fourth is a 2006 symphonic instrumental with excellent sound. Both CDs come in heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeves with 8-page bilingual booklets.
Malibran - Oltre l’Ignoto ($14.99) 
Malibran - Strani Colori ($17.99)Malibran are a six-man Italian band with a 1970s-oriented style featuring lots of flute. They were one of a handful of bands keeping the progressive torch burning in Italy at the start of the 1990s, just before the explosion of new prog bands. Think of a cross between Genesis, Camel, Tull, and all those Italian 70s bands, and you get the idea. The Wood of Tales plus is the CD reissue of Malibran’s 1990 first album plus three bonus tracks averaging seven minutes each. This album is sung in English.
Malibran sang half their 1993 second album La Porte del Silenzio in English, half in Italian. Their third album La Città sul Lago (1998) is sung entirely in Italian, and Malibran would wisely continue this on later albums. Oltre l’Ignoto (2001) is even closer to classic Italian prog than their earlier albums and may be their best, partly because of the Italian-language vocals, also because the music is more symphonic, with fewer touches of hard rock. Read the Prog-Nose review.
Strani Colori is subtitled Rare Tracks 1989-2002 and features Jethro Tull, Jeff Beck, and Camel covers in addition to previously-unreleased live and studio tracks.
In Concerto (72-minutes) is a live CD featuring a 1997 concert in Sicily.
Malombra - The Dissolution Age ($16.99) The 2001 third album by this heavy gothic prog band is a hefty one at 73-minutes. The lineup has changed with frontman Mercy the only original member. Malombra use a wall of symphonic sound to support Mercy’s deep, operatic, apocalyptic, and generally over-the-top vocals. The lyrics are in English (sort of). In some ways, Malombra are a more symphonic and bombastic Hawkwind.
Rodolfo Maltese Group - Il Gabbiano Jonathan ($19.99) Il Gabbiano Jonathan is the title of the Italian translation of Richard Bach’s 1970 novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Rodolfo Maltese, the guitarist of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, recorded this concept album in 1987, prior to forming Indaco. Rodolfo’s band on this CD includes a keyboardist, bassist, percussionist, sax player and, on drums, Walter Martino (Ritratto di Dorian Gray, Reale Accademia di Musica, Goblin). Guests include keyboardist Vittorio Nocenzi (Banco), singer Riccado Cocciante and others. However, the album was not released until this 2009 CD. As the label says, Il Gabbiano Jonathan is a wonderful record, mainly instrumental and focused on Rodolfo’s great guitar playing. You can find the first ethnic Mediterranean sounds that became typical for Indaco, some laidback and high-class Italian jazz-rock, and some more epic and guitar-solo focused tracks. It is an important missing link between Banco and Indaco. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
La Maschera di Cera - LuxAde ($19.99) 
La Maschera di Cera - same jewel box ($15.99)LuxAde (2006, 63-minutes) is the third studio album by “The Wax Mask”, a five-man Italian progressive band featuring Fabio Zuffanti of Finisterre fame. This exceeds their previous work, as this is not only a perfect recreation of an Italian 1970s symphonic progressive album, but one that can stand alongside most of the classics. Using all analog keys, Italian-language vocals, flute, sax, 12-string guitar, bass and drums, they sound like a lost classic Italian band. Franz Di Cioccio, PFM’s drummer/vocalist, produced. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 16-page full-color booklet.
This is the MALS edition of Il Grande Labirinto (2003, 65-minutes), La Maschera di Cera’s second album. Like their self-titled 2002 debut, it is a perfect recreation of a 1970s Italian symphonic prog album, right down to the production. Think PFM, Museo Rosenbach, Banco, Locanda delle Fate, Osanna, RDM, and all the rest. Close your eyes and it’s 1972. The mini-LP reissue of the first CD adds four bonus tracks and comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve. The jewel box version is the original Mellow Records edition.
Maury E I Pronomi - (Ec)citazioni Neoclassiche ($17.99) (Ec)citazioni Neoclassiche (2005, 61-minutes) is the third album for this band from Turin, following two private releases. It sounds like it came straight out of the 1970s, not so surprising though for a band that traces it roots to 1979. Le Orme is probably their biggest influence. Maury E I Pronomi aren’t quite on that level, but most fans of classic Italian prog will enjoy this.
Maxophone - Italian lyrics version mini-LP ($19.99) out-of-stock The self-titled 1975 album from Maxophone, their only album, is one of the greatest Italian symphonic progressive albums, influenced primarily by PFM, with vocals in a Genesis style. These CDs are the 2009 remastered editions on AMS, which come in heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeves, exact replicas of the vinyl versions. The album was first released in Italy with Italian lyrics, which is what you’ll find on the Italian lyrics version of the CD. The Italian version contains two bonus tracks. In 1976, an LP with lyrics sung in English was released by the U.S. subsidiary of the Italian label, which is what appears on the English lyrics version of the CD. In addition to the vocals, the sound and instrumental mix is slightly different from the Italian version. The English version does not contain the bonus tracks. Both have a 16-page bilingual booklet with an extensive biography, though they are not exactly the same.
Mediterranea - Ecce Rock ($19.99)2010 is the first time on CD for this 1981 Italian instrumental prog album, the only album for Mediterranea. Collectors know this record because it was issued on vinyl in Japan. It’s quite good and quite distinctive, blending rock with a Mediterranean folk feel not unlike PFM’s Passpartu, albeit without the vocals. YouTube has audio of the songs Vai Facile, Sonata, Madama Terra, and A Sazietà. Heavyweight mini-LP sleeve.
Mellonta Tauta - Mellonta Tauta ($16.99)Mellonta Tauta evolved into the Genesis tribute band Duke, which should provide a clue to their sound. This 1993 CD contains eight original songs dating from 1978-1980, plus three Duke live recordings: Every Day (Steve Hackett), I Know What I Like (medley), and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway / The Musical Box (closing section). 73-minutes. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Men of Lake - Music from the Land of Mountains, Lake and Wine ($11.99) Men of Lake are an Italian progressive band emphasizing a nostalgic style and vintage Hammond organ sound on their earlier albums such as Men of Lake (1991) and Out of the Water (1994), closer to British bands such as Cressida and Gracious than to the Italian symphonic bands. Music from the Land of Mountains, Lake and Wine (1998) is more adventurous and diverse than their previous albums, featuring wind instruments (sax, flute, brass) on some tracks. The organ sound is now accompanied by modern keyboards and there is more room for guitar.
Metamorfosi - Inferno mini-LP ($19.99)Metamorfosi had its beginnings in Rome in 1971 and recorded two of the classic Italian progressive rock albums: E fu il Sesto Giorno (1972) and Inferno (1973). Inferno was based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Inferno comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Mindflower - Little Enchanted Void ($15.99) 
Mindflower - Purelake ($17.99) Mindfloater (2001) is a classy and fairly original symphonic progressive album from an Italian band singing in English. They sound much more like a British prog band than an Italian one though, with a slight Pink Floyd and Genesis influence, some spaciness, and a predominance of dreamy and intimate pieces. Mindfloater is more rock-oriented than Mindflower’s 1995 debut Purelake, with a richer sound palette. It isn’t retro but it isn’t particularly modern either. It’s more of a contemporary take on classic progressive, using synths, piano, and delicate guitar, emphasizing beauty over heaviness. The album has a lot of instrumental content, with male vocals the rest of the time and female vocals on only a couple tracks.
The Fabio Antonelli Ensemble is essentially the same band as Mindflower but with a shift to a more acoustic, chamber music sound. The Art of Dreams in a Little Bottle (1998) contains neo-classical music with progressive instrumental breaks and a song or two. Classical guitar and female vocals dominate the six member band, who are accompanied by a five piece chamber orchestra and eight member choir. Read the Prog Archives review.
Little Enchanted Void (2009) is exactly 80-minutes long. This album sounds like a further development of the style of The Art of Dreams in a Little Bottle. Some of the album was recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, and there is a strong Peter Gabriel feel throughout, particularly vocally. It is even closer to the work of the American band Product, characterized by a predominance of intimate, low-key passages with subtle details, bursting out into full-blown sections, occasionally with extreme dynamics. Relative to Product, Mindflower show a stronger classical influence as should be expected from Italians, with wonderful string arrangements on some pieces. This is sophisticated progressive music that doesn’t go down the same very well-beaten path. Read the Sea of Tranquility review. Links to more reviews can be found by clicking the mp3 icons above.
Minstrel - Ahab ($19.99) Faust (2000) is an excellent concept album of romantic symphonic rock somewhat in the vein of Atons, between classic Italian symphonic prog and neo-prog. Minstrel have a very good operatic male vocalist singing in Italian. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Minstrel’s second CD Ahab (2009, 60-minutes) is heavier and more bombastic, with more of a metallic edge than Faust. It is quite ambitious, with an orchestral arrangement on one track at least. The highlight is the classically-influenced piano work one expects from an Italian prog band, and the operatic vocals. The label says: “This concept CD is dedicated to the mortal journey of Captain Ahab as told in Melville’s Moby Dick, and is characterized by classic guitar riffs, hard rock rhythms, and the astounding lyrical vocals. In Ahab, the typical concept opera meets theatre, operatic melodies, heavy sounds and typical Italian prog rock. The story of the captain of the Pequod is told by dramatic metal passages, romantic piano interludes, Pink Floyd-ish guitar solos, and long opera melodies (with Italian lyrics). This is a unique gem of Italian prog rock.” Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve, with poster included. On bandleader Mauro Ghilardini’s MySpace page (second mp3 icon above), the clips from Ahab are Vendetta/Revenge, Alba/Sunrise, and Rampone/Harpoon.
Mirage - Frammenti ($17.99)This is a very good 1994 CD in the classic Italian symphonic prog style, with Rodolfo Maltese (Banco) guesting. Unfortunately, it was the only album for Mirage. Read the review at Prog Archives.
MO.DO. - La Scimmia Sulla Schiena del Re ($17.99) “A minor band from Bergamo founded in 1978 from the ashes of Dalton by drummer Walter Locatelli, that released only one album, in 1980. La scimmia sulla schiena del re is a short eight track album with the usual classical influences and some Gentle Giant-inspired sounds and rhythm changes. Half of the tracks are instrumental.” [ItalianProg.com] Read the Ground and Sky review.
Mogador - All I Am Is of My Own Making ($14.99) Mogador are an Italian prog band from Como with one English expat, drummer/singer/lyricist Richard Allen. They were a quartet on their self-titled 2009 debut, continuing as a trio (handling the same instruments) on All I Am Is of My Own Making (2010), the latter nominated for Best Italian Record at ProgAwards 2010. Mogador’s debut is a decent first step, a neo-prog album much more from the British prog school than the Italian. Mogador have matured a great deal on AIAIOMOM. The production is greatly improved and the music is more original, eclectic and multi-faceted. The departure of the guitarist who played on the debut is a positive development, as he preferred a heavier style. There is a strong Yes influence on AIAIOMOM, but overall the music feels closer to Glass Hammer (who are also very Yes influenced), with a good balance between electric and acoustic guitars, alongside mostly vintage keyboard sounds. Both CDs are primarily 1970s-styled though not entirely retro, more so AIAIOMOM with its greater sophistication and elegance. Read the Classic Rock Presents Prog review.
Montefeltro - Il Tempo di Far la Fantasia mini-LP ($15.99) With their debut Il Tempo di Far la Fantasia (1992), Montefeltro made one of the very best second-generation Italian symphonic prog albums, right up there with Eris Pluvia. Read reviews at Prog Archives. This mini-LP version is the 2009 limited edition released by the MALS label under license from Musea, which comes in a heavyweight cardboard sleeve.
Moongarden - Songs from the Lighthouse ($13.99) Moongarden are an Italian progressive band led by keyboardist Cristiano Roversi and guitarist David Cremoni. They began as a mostly Genesis and Camel-influenced band. Both Roversi and Cremoni were also part of the very Genesis-like Submarine Silence, and Roversi’s solo album The Park owes a large debt to Tony Banks. (Check below for both CDs.) As Moongarden have evolved, they’ve added other influences to make their music more contemporary. With their 2004 CD Round Midnight, they had achieved an intriguing blend of old-school prog with aspects of Porcupine Tree, Radiohead, or The Amber Light. Moongarden added a new guitarist and vocalist before recording Songs from the Lighthouse (2008, 71-minutes). The result is an album with more energy than the previous one. It is also more lush and symphonic, with wave after wave of Mellotron strings crashing ashore, but it remains primarily a contemporary progressive rock record. This is close to Porcupine Tree at their best (before their slide into metal), but more symphonic and with more ties to classic progressive. Moongarden’s old Genesis style is even allowed center stage on a track or two. Andy Tillison of The Tangent guests on lead vocals on one track. All in all, this is an outstanding record that will appeal to fans of both classic and modern British prog (which is to say there isn’t much influence of the Italian progressive bands here).
Now that Moongarden have become better known, fans will want to work their way back to The Gates of Omega, Moongarden’s 2001 double-CD. As the ProgressiveWorld.net review says, “Moongarden is indeed progressive all the way without feeling it necessary to copy the big names from the seventies. The result is some of the finest and most interesting music to be released the last decade.” This is the original 2CD edition in a fat case, counts as 2 CDs for shipping.
Il Mucchio - Il Mucchio ($15.99) This 1970 album was one of the rarest Italian progressive albums on vinyl, and among the first. As such, it bridges 1960s psychedelia and progressive rock, using light organ and very melodic vocals a la New Trolls. This Mellow Records reissue adds the tracks from their singles, so it contains the band’s entire output.
Murple - Quadri di un’esposizione ($19.99)This is the jewel box edition of Io Sono Murple on Mellow Records. This 1974 album had been the sole album by this progressive quartet from Rome, released on the German BASF label. It is typical Italian symphonic progressive, not in the top tier but excellent nonetheless. The album plays as a long suite with classically-inspired keyboards and frequent shifts in mood. It was a highly-sought after collector’s item on LP and for good reason.
Quadri di un’esposizione (2008) is a reunion album featuring the original line-up! Murple still play vintage instruments, and this is a lovely concept album in a similar style to their 1974 debut (and almost the same 34-minute playing time). Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve. More info and some videos at the Murple website.
Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra mini-LP ($19.99) This is the 2011 Sony mini-LP edition, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve. Museo Rosenbach’s sole album (by the original lineup) Zarathustra (1973) is one of the absolute best Italian progressive rock albums. Make that progressive rock albums period. Don’t take our word for it, read reviews at Prog Archives.
Mytho - In the Abstract ($19.99) In the Abstract (2010) is the first full-length CD for Mytho, following a 2008 debut EP. They sing in English and go for an Anglo prog style along the lines of Saga and British neo-prog (Jadis come to mind), with some Pink Floyd influence and a pop element (Tears for Fears maybe). John Payne (Asia, GPS) sings lead on one song. A quartet, Mytho have no keyboardist but instead have two guitarists who both play some guitar synth. Mytho’s sound is suitably lush; in fact, the prevailing style is on the soft side. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
Narrow Pass - In This World and Beyond ($15.99) Narrow Pass is an outstanding Italian symphonic prog group consisting of ex-Eris Pluvia members, with La Maschera di Cera’s vocalist and a very good female singer recruited for the (English-language) vocals. Their 2006 debut A Room of Fairy Queen’s however is about half instrumental, much of it in the majestic and soaring Camel and Genesis vein. Some tracks are enriched with flutes, bagpipes, soprano sax, and classical guitar, which give the music a warm, renaissance flavor. Narrow Pass display many of the best traits of both the Italian and British symphonic prog styles, such that A Room of Fairy Queen’s ranks with Eris Pluvia’s Rings of Earthly Light.
In this World and Beyond (2009) is their second and another beautiful album. The core of the group now is multi-instrumentalist Mauro Montobbio and singer Valeria Caucino, fleshed out by nine guest musicians including most of the musicians from the first album. Caucino’s role has been expanded, and our short description of the band now is Loreena McKennitt meets IQ. That is, there are two major styles present. There is symphonic rock that tends to be instrumental, some of it very close to the majestic IQ style, some closer to Eris Pluvia. Then there is the delicate and more acoustic material which is where the beautiful female vocals tend to occur, with some support from male vocals. There is a British Isles folk influence here, and it’s where you’ll find flute, whistle, and violin used. Links to reviews of both CDs here.
Roberto Natullo & Nawba Ensemble - Ida y Vuelta ($15.99) Flautist Roberto Natullo leads a large ensemble of Italian musicians in a spirited romp through jazz-rock, progressive, Celtic and ethnic folk territories. This is exuberant music, using lots of acoustic instruments with flute in the lead, very appealing.
La N.A.V.E. - Le Quattro Stagioni ($16.99)This is a 2000 CD of retro-sounding Italian progressive rock sung in Italian from a keys/guitar/bass/drums quartet, with the keyboardist adding a little trombone. “The name N.A.V.E. is an acronym for ‘Nuovo Avanguardia Voci Etniche’ (or ‘New Vanguard of Ethnic Voices’). Their sole album, Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons), is reminiscent of Le Orme’s Felona e Sorona with hints of Collage. The compositions are organ-based and feature many mood changes, nice solos and interesting dynamics and developments, while the trombone adds a personal touch to their sound. All vocals are in Italian and the production is quite good. Nice addition to any Italian symphonic prog collection but especially recommended to fans of Le Orme.” [Prog Archives]
Giorgio C. Neri - Logos ($16.99) This 2008 release on the Black Widow label is the debut album of Giorgio C. Neri from Genova. Neri plays most of the instruments: electric & acoustic guitar, bass, mandolin, dulcimer, keyboards and flute, with the assistance of a drummer and guests on flute and vocals. The label says that Logos is a tribute to the artists that influenced Neri, “a path through tradition, music created according to the aesthetic and the sounds of the 1970s.” One such influence would have to be PFM, particularly on the one track with vocals, which are in Italian. Apart from a little spoken word, the rest of the album is instrumental. Hawkwind, Ozric Tentacles or Gong appear to be influences on other tracks, and the album as a whole covers the spectrum between the romantic symphonic prog style and the space-rock style. Of the other influences Neri lists on his MySpace page, Mike Oldfield, Osanna, and Genesis are probably the most relevant, but no one influence dominates. And while Neri’s influences are primarily from the 1970s, this is not a strictly retro album. Overall, Logos is excellent and sounds indistinguishable from a full band. Digipack.
Leo Nero - Vero ($16.99) Leo Nero was a pseudonym used by Gianni Leone, keyboardist and leader of Il Balletto di Bronzo, for the solo career he embarked on following the demise of Il Balletto. Despite a few commercial pop songs, Vero (1977) is quite a good progressive rock album, sometimes reminiscent of Il Balletto di Bronzo. Leone sings and plays everything himself including drums and a little guitar, with keyboards dominating.
New Trolls - FS mini-LP ($18.99) 
New Trolls - UT mini-LP ($19.99)New Trolls are an Italian progressive band with a relatively long (and convoluted) career. The mini-LPs are BTF’s 2009 editions of New Trolls’ 1972 albums Searching for a Land and UT, which come in heavyweight gatefold sleeves with 12-page bilingual booklets. Searching for a Land is sung in English and was originally a double-LP, with the second half recorded live. It’s all here on a single CD, and although the album is disjointed, there’s at least one album’s worth of good material. UT is perhaps New Trolls’ most popular album, but you can hear the band pulling in two different directions, one progressive and one heavy rock. An uneven album, but the good material is really good!
Following UT, New Trolls split into two bands: Nico, Gianni, Frank, Maurizio (later Ibis) and the band initially called New Trolls Atomic System. Inexplicably, both offshoots immediately produced albums more progressive than they had as New Trolls. Considered alongside all the New Trolls albums, Atomic System (1973) is the best and is considered by many to be one of the essential Italian progressive rock albums. One bonus track.
FS (1981) is from the band’s pop phase, but at least the disco of the previous couple albums was gone. The opening track Il Treno (6:16) is excellent symphonic prog, which cruelly raises one’s expectations, as the rest of the album varies from OK to dreadful. The mini-LP edition comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Next - The Virtual Cage ($16.99)1994 progressive rock in the Yes and Peter Gabriel veins.
Nico, Gianni, Frank, Maurizio - Canti d’Innocenza, Canti d’Esperienza ($19.99)This group was an offshoot of New Trolls. The question mark on the cover had to do with a legal battle at the time over the use of the name New Trolls. They later changed their name to Ibis and released two more albums. Canti d’Innocenza, Canti d’Esperienza (1973) blends keyboard-dominated progressive rock with the Led Zeppelin style. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet.
Nodo Gordiano - Flektogon ($19.99) SALE!The 1999 self-titled debut by Nodo Gordiano was a very good, mostly-instrumental progressive rock album in the 1970s style with a more modern sound. Alea (2005, 37-minutes) is their second CD, but it may as well be a different band. Nodo Gordiano is a trio here, with bass player Andrea De Luca the only person in common with the lineup that recorded their debut. Alea is a collection of instrumental improvisations for synthesizers, bass and drums. The tracks are generally spacey, using electronic-sounding analog synth patches, and evolve in a linear fashion as most jams do.
Flektogon (2009) sees Nodo Gordiano back on track, showing a strong Red-era King Crimson influence, a flowing space rock style not far from You-era Gong, and many original components as well. The album is instrumental apart from operatic female vocals on one track. As the label says: “Nodo Gordiano are back with their definitive masterpiece. After their successful 1999 debut and the rather experimental and improvised Alea from 2005, Flektogon is surely the magnum opus of this band hailing from Rome. Their spooky, dark and complex yet dreamy prog rock has an irresistible hypnotic edge that captures the listener from the very beginning. Besides some shorter tracks, the most outstanding moment of this record is the 30-minute psych-opus Avventure di mastarna, a progressive firework in which the music develops its very different moods while keeping a regular pattern and taking the listener on an adventurous and never boring musical trip.” Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve. Read reviews here.
Notabene - Sei Lacrime d’Ambra ($16.99) On their 2005 self-titled debut, Notabene play a 1970s-style Italian symphonic prog with touches of jazz-rock. They have an excellent singer along the lines of Locanda Delle Fate’s Leonardo Sasso, and the lyrics are in Italian. They add violin and trumpet for a unique twist on classic Italian prog, and the shortest track is about 7-minutes long. Sei Lacrime d’Ambra (2007, 63-minutes) drops the jazz-rock, violin and trumpet and concentrates on classic Italian symphonic prog. Notabene are not trying to replicate a 1972 album the way La Maschera di Cera have, as the sounds and production get at least a few years more modern, but the inspiration is the same. There is a 16-minute suite followed by a 17-minute suite, and oh those vocals! It’s a good time to be a fan of Italian progressive rock.
Notturno Concertante - Riscrivere Il Passato ($17.99) 
Notturno Concertante were one of the small number of Italian progressive bands who began in the 1980s, after the classic Italian prog bands had been all but killed off, but before the prog resurgence began. Initially Notturno Concertante released only cassettes, and their early style was more acoustic, in the vein of Anthony Phillips, Gordon Giltrap, and acoustic Steve Hackett. By the time they began releasing CDs in the 1990s, they were more of a neo-prog band, though still using a lot of acoustic guitar. Their most recent CD Riscrivere Il Passato (2002) is probably their best, with a more classic style and a switch to Italian lyrics. Some instrumentals are close to Mike Oldfield. The Glass Tear is from 1994, while Erewhon is from 1993. Read reviews at Prog Archives, where you’ll also find one mp3.
Nova - Blink ($16.99)After the band Uno broke up, the former Osanna members Elio D’Anna and Danilo Rustici remained in London and formed the band Nova with other well-known Italian musicians such as Corrado Rustici (Cervello) and Dede Lo Previte (Circus 2000). Blink is their 1976 debut, which features Morris Pert on percussion and was produced by Rupert Hine. Some of the Osanna feel is there but Nova is more oriented towards jazz-rock.
Nova Malà Strana - NeMeSi ($15.99)NeMeSi (1997) is the second CD by this dark progressive rock band with female vocals from Genoa, more symphonic than their self-titled 1994 debut.
I Numi - Alpha Ralpha Boulevard mini-LP ($19.99)This 1971 album is a minor classic of Italian progressive rock, a melodic song-based prog album with soft, dreamy atmospheres. The mini-LP edition is housed in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Nuova Era - Nuova Era ($19.99) Nuova Era were one of the best bands of the Italian progressive resurgence that began in the late 1980s. They released four albums between 1988-1995, full of 1970s-style Italian symphonic prog dominated by organ, with strong vocals in Italian. This 2010 CD is not really a new album, despite some misinformation on other sites. The first three related tracks are recent compositions, but they also appear on Musea’s Dante’s Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso various artists 4CD sets. The next three tracks are a new version, a demo version, and an alternate version of older tracks. The final three tracks are live versions of tracks from their debut album, from that era. The CD does run over 75-minutes. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
Nuova Idea - Clowns mini-LP ($19.99) 
Nuova Idea - Mr. E. Jones jewel box ($16.99)Clowns is a classic Italian symphonic progressive album from 1973, the third and final album for Nuova Idea, and their best. Mr. E. Jones (1972) is their second, similar to New Trolls of that era, with good harmony vocals in Italian. The mini-LPs are the 2011 Sony editions, which come in a gatefold cardboard sleeves. The jewel box version of Clowns is the MALS edition, produced under license from Mellow Records. The jewel box version of Mr. E. Jones is the Mellow edition.
Odessa - Stazione Getsemani ($15.99) Odessa are a great Italian band debuting with this 1999 CD but with their heart deep in the 1970s. They use Hammond organ, analog synths, piano, flute; they play covers of tracks by The Trip and Il Rovescio della Medaglia; and their singer is heavily influenced by Demetrio Stratos (Area). His voice is so strong and charismatic that he could carry the material on his own, but he’s also the keyboardist and makes sure the instrumental content is also a highlight. Odessa do have many similarities to Area but are not nearly as jazzy or as experimental.
Odissea - Odissea ($16.99)This 1973 album is the only one from this quintet. It’s a beautiful and very representative Italian symphonic progressive album, free of any hard or blues-based rock, which cannot be said of some better-known Italian prog albums.
Officina Meccanica - La follia del mimo di fuoco ($19.99) Rome’s Officina Meccanica existed from 1972-1978 and released several singles but never an LP. This CD contains their best singles plus five previously-unreleased tracks from a planned LP, of which three exceed the 10-minute mark. Officina Meccanica play a very theatrical and dramatic progressive rock somewhat similar to Osanna, but jazzier, less symphonic and more experimental. The six-piece lineup includes trumpet and sax but no keyboardist -- keys were supplied by the guitarist and, on one song, by Gaio Chiocchio of Pierrot Lunaire. La follia del mimo di fuoco (The Madness of the Fire Mime) documents a unique part of Italian progressive rock history. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 16-page bilingual booklet featuring unreleased photos and an extensive band history.
Oneira - Natural Prestige ($15.99) This is the 2011 debut by a melodic Italian prog band, with four instrumentals and six tracks sung in English. This isn’t a Rock Progressivo Italiano album but rather an Anglo style prog album along the lines of IQ, Marillion, and Rush. Still some Italian flavor filters through, particularly when acoustic guitar is used. The keyboardist says his passion for rock began by listening to Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Yes, and those influences are there, but the music feels more neo-prog, and the Rush energy is obvious when present. In part Natural Prestige is a suggestion of what Rush might sound like with a real, full-time keyboardist, but there is also Oneira’s other side, a more delicate, layered, Genesis-oriented sound that has little to do with Rush. It’s a very good CD that should have great appeal to mainstream prog fans. YouTube has the first track Intro.
Opus Avantra - Introspezione/Donella del Monaco ($16.99) This 1974 Italian progressive classic is alternately known as Introspezione or Donella del Monaco (the name of their soprano singer). This first album is their most accessible work, as their avant-garde leanings increased on later albums. The music combines opera, neo-classical, and progressive rock in sophisticated arrangements.
Le Orme - 11CD Album Originali boxset ($59.99)2009 limited edition boxset featuring all 11 of the Philips-Polygram releases from Le Orme: Collage, Uomo di Pezza, Felona e Sorona, Contrappunti, In Concerto, Smogmagica, Verità Nascoste, Storia o Leggenda, Florian, Piccola Rapsodia dell’Ape, and the 1990 album Orme. All have been remastered by Maurizio Biancani at Fonoprint in Bologna. The individual albums come in printed jackets. Think of the shelf space you’ll free up when you get rid of the jewel box CDs! Counts as 3 CDs for shipping.
Osanna & David Jackson - Prog Family ($19.99) The legendary Osanna returned in 2009 with a new expanded lineup they call the ‘Prog Family’. David Jackson from Van der Graaf Generator signed on for this project and became a stable element of the band, making major contributions, as do guests Gianni Leone (Balletto di Bronzo), David Cross (King Crimson), Tim Stevens, Lello Brandi, Sophya Baccini, and many others. The addition of Jackson makes perfect sense, as Osanna were the Italian band most influenced by Van der Graaf Generator. This CD contains 70-minutes of rearranged, re-recorded versions of existing Osanna songs, mostly from their first four albums, but also one track each from Suddance and Taka Boom, one track from Città Frontale’s El Tor album, and a version of Van der Graaf Generator’s Theme One! Lino Vairetti approached the new arrangements as if they were new songs, but retained the vintage sounds such as Hammond and Mellotron, not to mention flute and sax from David Jackson. The violin of David Cross is the most noticeable and refreshing new element in what is a consummate “inside job” homage to one of the great Italian progressive bands. Lyrics mostly in Italian, some English. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 24-page booklet.
Osanna - Suddance mini-LP ($19.99) 
Osanna - Palepoli mini-LP ($19.99)
Osanna are one of the legendary Italian progressive bands. L’uomo (1971) is their debut. Milano Calibro 9 (1972) is their second album, the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The album’s proper name is Preludio, Tema, Variazioni, Canzona, but most call it by the name of the film.
Palepoli (1973) and Landscape of Life (1974) are Osanna’s third and fourth. Palepoli is their masterpiece, Landscape of Life probably their second-best. These first four albums all come in heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeves with bilingual booklets.
Their fifth album Suddance (1978) saw a slight change in style to a type of jazz-rock with vocals in the Neopolitan dialect, a good album if not on the same level as Palepoli. The mini-LP is the 2011 cardboard sleeve edition on Sony.
Overdrive - The Human Machine ($14.99) The Human Machine (1991) is the sole album by this Italian neo-prog band, who at times evoke the great Italian 1970s bands (e.g., PFM, Banco, Quella Vecchia Locanda).
Paciana Story - Opera Pop ($19.99)This album was originally released as a private pressing LP in 1975. Two musicians from the legendary Italian prog band Dalton were involved in this pop opera, though it has nothing in common with Dalton musically. Paciana Story is a concept album based on the life of a 19th century brigand who was sort of an Italian Robin Hood. The music takes traditional Italian folk tunes and does them up as soft prog songs, sung in Italian of course. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Il Paese dei Balocchi - same mini-LP ($19.99)This 1972 album is the only one by this Roman band, a typical Italian symphonic prog album of the era, generally mellow with strong classical influences and some orchestral arrangements. The jewel box edition on Mellow Records contains two commercial bonus tracks from a single, but according to the ItalianProg.com website, these are actually by an unrelated band with the same name! The mini-LP edition on Vinyl Magic comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Mauro Pagani - same mini-LP ($19.99)Violinist Mauro Pagani left PFM in 1976 and released this, his first and best solo album, in 1978. All of PFM guest on the album, as well as most of Area, Roberto Colombo, and other prominent Italian musicians. Here Pagani blends progressive rock with Mediterranean music, what would today be called world music. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Stefano Panunzi - A Rose ($17.99) Timelines (65-minutes, digipack) is the outstanding 2005 debut by Italian keyboardist Stefano Panunzi. It was recorded in Italy, Germany, the UK, and Japan, and features many guest musicians including Mick Karn (Japan, Rain Three Crow), Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, Mick Karn), and Peter Chilvers (No Man, Henry Fool). This is highly-polished, moody progressive music in the No Man, Porcupine Tree, Nosound, and David Sylvian veins, with detailed ambient textures and elements of jazz, about evenly divided between songs (sung in English) and instrumentals.
A Rose (2010, 54-minutes, digipack) features Mick Karn, Tim Bowness (No-Man), Giancarlo Erra (Nosound), Theo Travis, Markus Reuter, Robbie Aceto, and many more musicians. It downplays the ambient jazz of the first CD and features more songs: seven songs using seven different singers, plus three instrumentals. The production is immaculate, the music mesmerizing and seductive; this is a masterpiece of ambient progressive rock. Read the review at Prognaut; another review appears on Panunzi’s MySpace page (first mp3 icon above).
Gigi Pascal e la Pop Compagnia Meccanica - same ($17.99)Gigi Pascal is a pop singer from Naples who assembled a band and took his shot at prog with this 1973 album. It’s a short album of Italian pop with some progressive rock injected. Stylistically it straddles the early-1970s and late-1960s. At the time of this writing, there is one song from this CD on this MySpace page.
Pensiero Nomade - Per Questi e Altri Naufragi ($19.99) This is the 2007 debut solo CD of former Germinale guitarist Salvo Lazzara. Germinale released four CDs between 1994-2005 before splitting up. The music here consists of relaxing acoustic and clean-tone guitar instrumentals with overdubbed bass, some percussion and piano, similar to Riccardo Zappa’s mellower pieces, refined, dreamy, pastoral, and atmospheric. The use of found voices and sounds adds a slight avant-garde edge. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
PFM - Cook expanded deluxe edition (3CD box, $29.99)This is Esoteric’s remastered 3CD edition of PFM’s live album Cook. In 1974, PFM toured the United States and Canada (hard as that may be to believe), recording material at concerts in Toronto and New York City. The following year, edited highlights were released by Manticore as the live LP Cook. This limited edition boxset includes the newly remastered Cook album on the first CD and adds two additional CDs featuring the entire set of PFM’s concert in Central Park on August 31, 1974, newly remixed from the original 16-track master tapes. Disc One: Four Holes in the Ground, Dove...Quando, Just Look Away, Celebration, Mr. Nine till Five, Alta Loma Five till Nine. Disc Two: River of Life, Four Holes in the Ground, Is My Face on Straight?, Dove...Quando, Guitar Solo, Just Look Away. Disc Three: Mr. Nine till Five, Alta Loma Five till Nine, Celebration, Drum Solo, The World Became the World. (Counts as 2 CDs for shipping.)
PFM - Jet Lag ($17.99)
PFM - Photos of Ghosts ($17.99)These are the Esoteric label reissues of Premiata Forneria Marconi’s English-language albums, remastered from the original master tapes and including Esoteric’s usual lavish booklet with a new essay. PFM is the most famous of all Italian progressive rock bands, due in part to these albums being released on ELP’s Manticore label, with Pete Sinfield penning some of the lyrics. Photos of Ghosts (1973) includes six bonus tracks, early mixes from the album sessions. The World Became the World (1974) includes three bonus tracks: two previously-unreleased single edits plus La Carrozza di Hans, the B-side of a UK single.
Chocolate Kings (1976) and Jet Lag (1977) featured new vocalist Bernardo Lanzetti, ex-Acqua Fragile. Chocolate Kings is PFM at their most energetic (and the cover of this version is a lot easier to look at than the Italian version). This newly remastered edition adds a second CD of previously unreleased live material recorded at Nottingham University on the band’s 1976 UK tour, an entire live album. Jet Lag saw PFM heading in a Brand X direction, a move which may have been required for a prog band to survive in Italy in that year. It doesn’t sound like any other album they made, but not surprisingly, PFM were superb at jazz-rock too. This edition of Jet Lag includes a previously-unreleased live version of La Carrozza di Hans recorded at Nottingham University on the band’s 1976 UK tour (which does not appear on the Chocolate Kings live disc). While Jet Lag doesn’t make the Top 100, the other three albums or their Italian-language counterparts are arguably among the Top 100 prog albums of all time.
PFM - Come Ti Va in Riva Alla Citta ($15.99)
PFM - Per un Amico mini-LP ($19.99)These are the 2011 mini-LP editions on Sony of PFM’s 1972 second album Per un Amico and third (Italian language) album L’Isola di Niente (1973). Both come in cardboard sleeves, gatefold for Per un Amico. Discussions of Italian progressive rock begin here.
Live in U.S.A. is the 1974 live album that was issued outside Italy under the name Cook.
PFM’s 1981 album Come Ti Va in Riva Alla Citta is from their pop phase. This is the Italian jewel case edition on RCA.
Pholas Dactylus - Concerto delle Menti ($16.99) This 1973 progressive album contains a long suite divided only by the two sides of the LP. At 53-minutes, this is very long for an Italian 1970s record. Instrumentally, it is impressive progressive rock. The band had two keyboardists (one on piano, one on organ), guitar, bass and drums. The lyrics are actually spoken word, in Italian and possibly Esperanto, and therein lies the challenge for non-Italian speakers. The narration can be mesmerizing at times, fitting well with the great music behind it.
Pictures - Painting the Blue ($14.99) This 1996 Italian neo-prog album with English vocals is similar to 1990s English bands such as Threshold or Shadowland, mixing hard rock into a neo-prog base, with plenty of keyboard and guitar solos.
A Piedi Nudi - Eclissi ($16.99)This is the 1998 third, final, and arguably best CD for A Piedi Nudi, a heavy symphonic band often compared to Il Balletto di Bronzo. Read reviews at Prog Archives, where you’ll also find an mp3 sample.
Piero e i Cottonfields - Il viaggio, la donna, un’altra vita ($19.99)This six-piece band was led by singer Piero Cotto, whose music career began in the early 1960s and continued long after this 1972 album, the band’s only LP. It contains folky, symphonic pop/rock between early Delirium and Odissea, featuring the powerful, somewhat gruff voice of Piero Cotto (similar to Delirium’s Ivano Fossati), with occasional female backing vocals. The band use period progressive sounds: synths, Mellotron and other keyboards, and flute here and there. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Presence - Evil Rose ($16.99) out-of-stock Presence are one of the under-recognized gems of the Black Widow label. The superb vocals of Sophya Baccini cover the range between soaring opera-style and Kate Bush-style, while the music is heavy and dark symphonic progressive with a sinister edge and lots of synths. On Gold (2001), their third, their progressive side is at its most prominent, with Sophya sounding more like Annie Haslam and the band approaching Renaissance at times, albeit darker. The guitar leads are inspired, the keyboard work and arrangements quite sophisticated, and the overall result very original.
Evil Rose (2008, 69-minutes) includes a Queen and a Rainbow cover done up in Presence style, and more touches of prog-metal than before, perhaps to appeal to fans of Within Temptation and related bands. Only the more intelligent end of that crowd will likely make the jump, as Presence keep the metal in check and their music in the progressive realm. Tri-fold digipack with 20-page booklet. Read the reviews at Sea of Tranquility and Jerry Lucky’s site. At the Presence website (mp3 icon above), click discography, then audio, then the desired album cover.
Procession - Fiaba mini-LP ($19.99) Frontiera (1972) was the first of two rather different LPs for Procession, as the lineup that recorded 1974’s Fiaba had changed substantially. Frontiera is a good heavy progressive album, similar to De De Lind’s, with lots of acoustic passages used to offset the heavy ones. The distorted guitar tones here sound dated of course, but the arrangements are complex, and the electric mandolin and Mellotron add welcome textures.
Fiaba is the more mature work, more original and more symphonic than their first, also using sax and flute. It is similar in style to Delirium and Era Di Acquario. Guests include Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno drummer Francesco Froggio Francisca, Delirium keyboardist Ettore Vigo, and Circus 2000 singer Silvana Aliotta. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Profusion - RewoToweR ($13.99) Kind of surprising no one combined “progressive” and “fusion” for this band name before. RewoToweR (2012, digipack) is the second album from this Italian prog quintet (vocals in English, keys, guitars, bass, drums). Their drummer is a native of Georgia (the country, not the U.S. state), and there are two tracks based on Georgian folk songs, which you have to admit you don’t hear every day. Watch the short album promo video. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Progressive Italia Gli Anni ’70 Vol. 8 (6CD boxset, $44.99)Each volume of these limited edition boxsets features six Italian 1970s progressive rock albums on CD. More importantly, it’s the first time on CD for some of them, and all have been remastered by Maurizio Biancani at Fonoprint in Bologna. The individual albums come in printed jackets. Each set counts as 2 CDs for shipping.
Volume 1 includes Balletto di Bronzo - YS, De De Lind - Io non so da Dove Vengo, Jumbo - Vietato ai Minori di 18 Anni, Sensations’ Fix - Portable Madness, Latte e Miele - Passio Secundum Mattheum, and Mauro Pelosi - Al Mercato degli Uomini Piccoli.
Volume 2 includes Locanda delle Fate - Forse le Lucciole non si Amano Più, Sensations’ Fix - Finest Finger, Ibis - Ibis, Roberto Cacciapaglia - Sei Note in Logica, G. Vivaldi / P. Minieri - Carnascialia, and Stradaperta - Maida Vale.
Volume 3 includes Jumbo - Jumbo, Billy Gray - Feeling Gray?, Sensations’ Fix - Boxes Paradise, Tritons - Satisfaction, Toni Esposito - La Banda del Sole, and Mauro Pelosi - Mauro Pelosi.
Volume 4 includes Ibis - Sun Supreme, Jumbo - DNA, Madrugada - Madrugada, Sensations’ Fix - Fragments of Light, Mauro Pelosi - La Stagione per Morire, and Latte e Miele - Papillon.
Volume 5 includes Claudio Pascoli - Naifunk, Maurizio Arcieri - Trasparenze, Sensations’ Fix - Flying Tapes, Claudio Dentes - Pantarei, Mauro Pelosi - Il Signore dei Gatti, and Madrugada - Incastro.
Volume 6 includes Franco Falsini - Cold Nose, Maurizio Fabrizio - Movimenti Nel Cielo, Pangea - Invasori, Carlo Siliotto - Ondina, Pueblo - Pueblo, and Sensations’ Fix - Sensations’ Fix.
Volume 7 includes Maurizio Fabrizio - Azzurri Rizzonti, Francesco Messina - Medio Occidente, Latte e Miele - Papillon ( English Version), Gino d’Eliso - Santi ed Eroi, Ermanno de Biagi - L’albero della Pazzia, and Saro Liotta - La Seduzione.
Volume 8 includes Gens - Gens, Mario Panseri - Sulla Spiaggia d’Inverno, Maurizio Fabrizio - Primo, Gianni Bonfiglio - Luci Spente a Testaccio, I Nuovi Angeli - Stasera Clowns, and La Stanza della Musica - same.
Prowlers - Sogni in una goccia di cristallo ($16.99) Mother and Fairy (1996) is the second album for Italian band Prowlers, who feature the beautiful vocals of Laura Mombrini, singing in English on this double-CD. Prowlers sans Mombrini morphed into the band Tilion. Read the review at Prog Archives. Comes in the old-style fat 2CD case and counts as 2 CDs for shipping.
Prowlers regrouped for a 2011 fourth CD: Sogni in una goccia di cristallo. Mombrini sings in Italian on this album, and her voice plays an important but not dominant role, as the guys allow themselves some instrumental sections (sometimes with wordless vocals). Some of these are Tilion-style symphonic rock, others are excursions into Floydian realms. Even on the vocal songs, the vibe is often a vintage spacey one, mellow and mesmerizing. “It’s likely not going to get the acclaim it deserves, but Sogni in Una Goccia di Cristallo is one of the best Italian symphonic progressive albums of the last five years, right behind Pandora and La Maschera di Cera.” Read the full review at ProgNaut as well as the ProGGnosis review.
Psychonoesis - Superflualismo ($17.99) Superflualismo (2005) is the second CD by an instrumental quintet from Milan with a lineup of two guitarists, bass, drums, and a talented young trumpeter. Someone plays some synths, even if it is uncredited. Psychonoesis is an adventurous band with an original style. They blend jazz-prog, Canterbury, and RIO and include a beautiful cover of King Crimson’s Starless that sounds like Mark Isham had joined Crimson. The melodies are sometimes angular, but the music is not nearly as impenetrable as some RIO bands. 64-minutes. The Psychonoesis website is done in Flash, so after clicking the mp3 icon above, you’ll have to navigate to the mp3’s for Superflualismo yourself.
Quadraphonic - Il Giorno Sottile ($9.99)This album, recorded in 2001, is one of Fabio Zuffanti’s (Finisterre, Hostsonaten, La Maschera di Cera, etc.) projects. This one is experimental ambient music, sound collage, that sort of thing. 65-minutes. Here is an mp3 from the title track.
Quella Vecchia Locanda - same mini-LP ($19.99) Quella Vecchia Locanda’s 1972 debut is an Italian progressive rock classic, in the vein of early Jethro Tull and PFM, featuring flute and violin in addition to the usual keys/guitar/bass/drums lineup. It has a bit more hard rock than their second album Il Tempo della Gioia, which followed a year later and is more classical/romantic and refined. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet.
Raccomandata Ricevuta di Ritorno - Per un Mondo di Cristallo mini-LP ($19.99)1972 Italian progressive classic. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Randone - Hybla act 1 ($14.99) 
Nicola Randone - Morte di un Amore ($14.99) Nicola Randone is a singer and multi-instrumentalist from Sicily performing in the Italian romantic progressive tradition. Fans of 1970s Italian progressive rock are familiar with this style, which really requires Italian-language vocals. In a short time, he and his band have risen to the upper echelon of the current Italian progressive scene. These CDs are all the MALS label editions.
Morte di un Amore (2002) is Randone’s debut. Nicola has a fabulous voice and the music on this album, while not as complex as the best Banco or Le Orme, stands up well to his influences, which would seem to be Franco Battiato, Alan Sorrenti, Claudio Rocchi, Aldo Tagliapietra (Le Orme), and Locanda delle Fate. Behind Randone’s vocals are keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums. Highly orchestrated, symphonic, lush and romantic with some spacey touches, fans of Italian progressive will not be disappointed.
Nuvole di Ieri (2003) is his second CD. Nicola added a guitarist and drummer to make it a band while shortening the name to Randone. It’s a noticeable improvement on his first. Most significantly, Beppe Crovella of Arti & Mestieri not only produced the album but plays keyboards throughout, so the album is full of Mellotron, Hammond, Moog, and other keys. It’s always great to see musicians from the first generation of prog working with younger musicians who are carrying on the tradition. And Nuvole di Ieri certainly does carry on that tradition, with a slightly more contemporary guitar style.
Ricordo (2004) is stunning. Randone is a quintet here, and that doesn’t even count Beppe Crovella, whose vintage keys are again all over this album. This suite is noticeably different from Randone’s previous work. Stylistically, it could have come straight out of the classic 1970s era of Italian progressive rock. Lushly orchestrated and full of beautiful vocals, we could mention Locanda Della Fate, Banco, and many others.
Hybla act 1 (2005) is a “barock opera”, a long, dramatic suite about the band’s hometown, the ancient town of Hybla, now Ragusa. It’s probably the most ambitious work for Randone thus far. Beppe Crovella again adds lots of Mellotron, Moog, and Hammond B3, there are four guest vocalists both male and female, and a guest violinist adds a new dimension. Stylistically this is classic Italian symphonic progressive except that the electric guitarist sometimes plays in a metal style. But rather than try to fit into a particular progressive rock camp, Randone are carving out a style of their own and have quietly become one of the most important Italian bands currently active.
RDM - Contamination mini-LP ($19.99)This is the 2011 Sony mini-LP (cardboard) sleeve edition. RDM, short for Il Rovescio della Medaglia, began with albums in 1971 and 1972 that were in a hard rock style with some progressive touches. They then added a fifth member on keyboards and produced their 1973 masterpiece Contaminazione. Two years later Contamination appeared, the same album with English-language vocals, released in several countries outside Italy. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Reale Accademia di Musica - Tempo Senza Tempo ($18.99) Today the name Reale Accademia di Musica is being used by singer/songwriter/keyboardist Adriano Monteduro, who back in 1974 made an album that was co-credited to him and Reale Accademia di Musica. The current lineup includes Adriano’s son Antonello on keyboards and two other musicians on bass and drums. Tempo Senza Tempo (2009, 60-minutes) is the second and more progressive album for this incarnation of the band. The music is along the lines of a more powerful and dynamic Jon and Vangelis album, only instead of Jon Anderson, think of an Italian Peter Gabriel. Monteduro’s romantic, majestic Italian vocals work better with the lush symphonic synths than Jon Anderson’s, and the music here is fuller, as there are four instrumentalists rather than one. For those who love those romantic Italian vocals in a progressive rock context, from a singer with a great voice, this is really appealing.
Riddle - Tomorrow ($19.99) Riddle are an atypical Italian progressive rock band whose sound comes closest to modern King Crimson, not surprising given Riddle’s guitar player Jacopo Bertacco is a member of The League of Crafty Guitarists. On their self-titled debut CD, originally released in 2005, their music is instrumental and features sophisticated Frippian stylings. This is the remastered 2008 edition, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve and adds one bonus track.
Tomorrow (2009) is their second, which adds some vocals in English, though it is still primarily instrumental. The band has expanded to a quintet, and they seem a bit stronger melodically here. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
Claudio Rocchi - Pedra Mendalza ($19.99)Claudio Rocchi was the original bass guitarist of Stormy Six and has had a long and successful solo career that began in 1970 with his first album Viaggio. The music on Viaggio is a form of psychedelic folk, centered on acoustic guitar and vocals, also featuring the flute playing of PFM’s Mauro Pagani, with suitable use of reverb and echo. This is the mini-LP (cardboard sleeve) edition on BMG. This YouTube video will get you started, search there for more audio previews.
Pedra Mendalza (2008) contains the music to Claudio Rocchi’s movie of the same name. In addition to Rocchi, the CD features well-known Italian musicians such as Walter Maioli (Aktuala, Futuro Antico) and Paolo Tofani (Area, Electric Frankenstein). His previous work was influenced by eastern culture and psychedelia, and a little of that is present here, though the subject of the movie is ancient Sardinian “power places”. The music is not ambient as one might expect of a soundtrack. There are excellent songs with vocals in English, and in typical Rocchi fashion, the music covers a wide range, all the way from heavy rock to Mediterranean folk to psychedelic instrumentals to classically influenced pieces. It all flows together seamlessly though and is full of Italian charm and Rocchi’s progressive sensibilities. Much of this is as good as his early albums. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve, 75-minutes.
Rocky’s Filj - Storie di Uomini e non mini-LP ($19.99) “A band of very good musicians from Parma, Rocky’s Filj (from the name of their leader Rocky Rossi, who came from Vicenza) gained a contract with Ricordi after a positive tour with Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, and the album was produced by Sandro Colombini, who had worked with Banco on their first albums. The album is jazz-rock oriented, but all the tracks have vocals, and Rocky’s voice is very original even if not great. Instrumental parts are very well made, all the band members could professionally play various instruments, and the album is always very enjoyable. The long opening track L’ultima spiaggia, with dramatic vocals and long guitar and sax solo parts, is a fine example of their music.” [ItalianProg.com] This is the 2011 mini-LP edition on Sony, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve. YouTube has the song L’ultima spiaggia and others
Rohmer - Rohmer ($19.99) Rohmer are the continuation of the band Finisterre, who were one of the most important latter-day Italian progressive bands. Bassist Fabio Zuffanti became well known by starting several other progressive bands and projects, and he is on board on this, Rohmer’s 2008 debut. According to the band, Rohmer’s music begins where Finisterre’s 1996 album In Limine left off and “continues its works between tradition and experimentation, mixing prog, ambient, electronic, post-rock, contemporary, minimalism and jazz”. That statement is quite true. This is the ambient rather than the rock side of Finisterre. Drums are used, but the music remains low-key, dreamy and ambient. Some of this is similar to Zuffanti’s LaZona project. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve, 61-minutes.
Cristiano Roversi - The Park ($15.99) The 2003 solo album from Moongarden’s keyboard player is completely different from his debut. It evokes the typical Genesis mood with particular reference to the works of Tony Banks and Anthony Phillips. It is influenced most by Tony Banks circa A Curious Feeling and songs such as Evidence of Autumn and others during that timeframe. But The Park is a symphonic album and is not song-oriented aside from the final track, which is the only one with vocals. Roversi also adds some symphonic electronics ala Vangelis or Michael Stearns. He employs vintage keys: electric piano with that characteristic Banks sound, Mellotron, Polymoog, ARPs, and more. In a way, this is the solo album Tony Banks should have made, rather than trying desperately to have a hit single.
Runaway Totem - Pleroma ($15.99) Runaway Totem are one of the more original bands from Italy, in existence since 1988, their music a successful combination of diverse musical elements. The dominant influence is Magma, for obsessive, syncopated rhythms; the strangeness, mystery, and anguish; and distorted, aggressive guitars. Their sound might also be described as gothic for the sacred, religious, and satanic atmospheres. The dark operatic/chanted vocals may be partially inspired by Christian Vander, but they are also steeped in the Italian operatic tradition, and thus Runaway Totem are sometimes comparable to Devil Doll or a darker Deus Ex Machina. Symphonic floating sounds of synths and organ manage to create fascinating, dreamlike atmospheres. Overall, it would be hard for Runaway Totem to be more ponderous and turgid, but that’s part and parcel of this style.
Andromeda (1999) is their third album and consists of five tracks averaging 10-minutes each. Plemora (2005, 69-minutes) is their fifth album and completes the trilogy of Andromeda and Tep Zepi. It narrates the soul’s journey to heaven, its fight against demons and its judgment by God. Nothing less than that. After all the tension and anguish of the first part of this album, it finishes glorious and majestic with the 20-minute I due orizzonti. The soul apparently does all right in the end.
Il Ruscello - Paesaggio Solare (Estate 1972) ($19.99) Il Ruscello is a trio of Italian expats living in London, which is where Paesaggio Solare (2009) was recorded. As the AMS label says, “When we first heard Il Ruscello, we thought we had discovered an unreleased Italian seventies prog record. Only afterwards did we realize it was a band at its debut.” This is a very good recreation of an Italian early-70s progressive rock album, sung in Italian and capturing the vibe of that era: warm, dreamy, sometimes gentle and pastoral, sometimes up-tempo and energetic. Read the band bio and reviews at Prog Archives. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve.
Rustichelli & Bordini - Opera Prima mini-LP ($19.99)This is one of the great Italian prog albums, the 1973 sole album for keyboardist/singer Paolo Rustichelli and drummer Carlo Bordini. The music is keyboard-dominated symphonic prog influenced by ELP, also featuring a lot of Mellotron and Rustichelli’s gravelly vocals. Bordini went on to Cherry Five. This is the 2011 mini-LP edition on Sony, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve. Read reviews at Prog Archives. YouTube has the songs Natività, Dolce Sorella, and Cammellandia.
S&L - Eternal ($14.99) S&L is Salvio Schiano (keyboards) and Lino Esposito (guitars) with assistance from a drummer and two bass players. Eternal, their 1999 first album, contains nine instrumental pieces that mix some hard rock/metal guitar with symphonic keyboards and actual progressive rock. Musea compares them to Dream Theater, and while S&L may well appeal to fans of DT, the results are quite different and, on average, more symphonic. Though there are some moments of pointless riffing typical of metal, there are no metal vocalists to contend with, and much of the album is pure melodic prog, if a bit straightforward. Schiano uses some nice ‘new agey’ keyboard textures that set this apart from your average prog-metal, and Esposito more often than not plays melodic leads.
Samadhi - Samadhi mini-LP ($19.99)1974 Italian progressive classic. “Samadhi were a sort of supergroup, as most of their members came from well-known bands. Samadhi were formed after the split of Raccomandata Ricevuta di Ritorno by singer Regoli and guitarist Civitenga, along with keyboard player Sabatini (from Free Love and Kaleidon), Aldo Bellanova from Teoremi on bass and drummer Ruggero Stefani (L’Uovo di Colombo), plus two other members. The album mixes very good prog influences with some jazz and even pop, the best of the seven tracks being the closing L’ultima spiaggia with its religious text. The beautiful lyrics were written by poet Enrico Lazzareschi.” [ItalianProg] This mini-LP edition comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet.
Scenario - A Fearful Symmetry ($13.99) 2001 release from an Italian progressive metal band with English lyrics and a decent singer. They use a lot of keyboards and are more melodic than your average Dream Theater clone. Recommended to fans of Shadow Gallery, Queensryche, modern Saga.
Tito Schipa Jr. - Orfeo 9 mini-LP (2CD, $23.99) Orfeo 9 was perhaps the first rock opera in Italy, first presented live in 1970, later released as a double-LP in 1972. This double-CD features a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve, an exact replica of the original LP artwork, and a 28-page booklet that incorporates the original booklet with all lyrics plus bio in both Italian and English. Read the reviews at Prog Archives.
La Seconda Genesi - Tutto Deve Finire ($16.99) This 1972 album was one of the rarest Italian LPs. As with so many Italian 1970s progressive bands, La Seconda Genesi released one LP and disbanded. The album starts out instrumental, loose and jazzy with sax in the lead. Fortunately that doesn’t last long. The sax is replaced by flute, and the music becomes structured with both Hammond organ and guitar featured, plus vocals in Italian. This is the Mellow Records edition.
Sithonia - Hotel Brun ($16.99) 
Sithonia - Spettacolo Annullato ($14.99)Sithonia was one of the best Italian progressive bands of the 1990s, influenced by Locanda delle Fate, Banco, and Genesis. Spettacolo Annullato is from 1992, Folla de Passaggio (digipack) from 1994, Confine from 1995, Hotel Brun from 1998. This is the MALS label edition of Spettacolo Annullato. Sithonia’s excellent 1989 debut Lungo il Sentiero di Pietra has yet to be reissued on CD.
La Statale 17 / Emphasis - Rock Scene ($17.99)“These bands from near Bozen are always mentioned together due to their only release, a very rare split album released by a small local label in Alto Adige in 1978. Both played a mainly-instrumental, keyboard-led progressive, though Emphasis had some English vocal parts.” [ItalianProg.com] Read reviews at Prog Archives.
StereoKimono - Prismosfera ($19.99) Prismosfera (2003) is the second album by this instrumental trio from Bologna, released on PFM drummer Franz Di Cioccio’s Immaginifica label. StereoKimono set themselves apart from other Italian progressive bands with a modern sound and a quirky, original style, sometimes close to 1980s King Crimson but more melodic and symphonic, as they do employ keyboards. They add touches of jazz-rock and space-rock. The last track is a collage that is fun to listen to for the short samples taken from other prog rock albums. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page full-color booklet.
Stormy Six - Al Volo mini-LP ($19.99)
Stormy Six - L’Apprendista mini-LP ($19.99)Un Biglietto del Tram, the 1975 album by Italy’s RIO band, is not actually in the RIO style. Stormy Six’s sound here is acoustic and lacks the avant-garde aspects of their later work. Un Biglietto del Tram is a unique blend of European folk with rock and progressive elements. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 16-page bilingual booklet.
L’Apprendista (1977) is our favorite Stormy Six album. Here they combine European folk and chamber music with light rock and just a little avant-garde, using electric instruments sparingly so that the dominant sound is still acoustic. In addition to guitars (mostly acoustic), keyboards (mostly piano), bass and drums, there is violin, viola, cello, mandolin, bassoon, sax, mallet percussion, and Italian-language vocals. It’s a good bet the Italian band Gatto Marte were influenced by this album. The sound palette is similar to Le Orme’s acoustic albums Florian and Piccola Rapsodia Dell’Ape, but Stormy Six’s music is more adventurous and not as strong melodically. There are similarities to the gentler Gentle Giant songs and to Henry Cow, while Conventum is an even better reference. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 20-page bilingual booklet.
In contrast, Macchina Maccheronica (1980) is a full-on RIO album, heavily influenced by the more experimental 20th century classical composers. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with two booklets, one 8-page and one 20-page.
Every Stormy Six album is different, and Al Volo (1982) is not avant-garde like the previous album. Al Volo adds elements of arty 1980s electro-pop to the typical Stormy Six style, ending up in the vicinity of King Crimson of the same timeframe, though Italian-flavored of course. The mini-LP edition comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Omaggio a Demetrio Stratos ($16.99)Demetrio Stratos, who passed away in 1979, is best known as the singer for Area and for his amazing vocal abilities. “His mission was to free vocal expression from the slavery of language and pretty melodies.” [Wikipedia] This is not the well-known 1979 tribute concert, but rather the Mellow label CD containing 1999 live recordings of 16 Stratos/Area songs performed by various Italian artists including Lothlorien, Odessa, Periferia del Mondo, Vedda Tribe, Imagin’aria, and more. This two-day concert was actually the fourth edition of a contest that included many more bands; this CD contains two songs each from only the finalists.
Submarine Silence - same ($16.99) This Italian trio features Cristiano Roversi on keys along with David Cremoni of Moongarden on guitars and Emilio Pizzoccoli from the Luca Donini Quartet on drums. Roversi later made the Tony Banks-inspired album The Park, but his love of Genesis is even more evident in this 2001 instrumental project, which is unabashedly in the early Genesis style, using vintage keys including Mellotron. Just in case the Paul Whitehead cover didn’t provide enough of a clue.
Sunscape - Sunscape ($15.99) This is one of those Mellow Records releases that deserves far more attention than it has received. This 1999 CD is by an Italian band who play progressive rock that can’t be neatly stuck into the style of any one decade. Some of what they do could have come straight out of the 1970s, and some of it is traditional Italian symphonic rock. They use a lot of flute and have excellent male and female vocals (in Italian). But a lot of what they do is of a more flowing, atmospheric, spacey style, earning them comparisons to Porcupine Tree, and there are ethnic influences as well. So maybe call this the best synthesis of space rock and accessible psychedelia with Italian symphonic rock. 64-minutes.
Syndone - Spleen ($16.99)“[Syndone] are a trio in the style of ELP, Quatermass, The Trip, Le Orme, and a whole lot more. On Spleen (1992), their music is characterized by shorter songs with a heavy keyboard leaning -- piano in the vein of Festa Mobile or organ a la Alluminogeni or Le Orme. This isn’t superb music (some of the themes verge on pop-styled), but at least it isn’t following the typical neo-prog patterns.” [Exposé]
“Syndone are a trio from Italy who carry on the tradition of ELP with a virtuosic gentleman named Nik Comoglio manning the keyboards. His lead lines and comping bring to mind the heyday of Keith Emerson. This is mixed in with a steady beat and strong bass, all of which combine to fine effect. Vocals are in Italian which, to these ears, is preferable to delivering lyrics in a second language to reach a mass audience. The overall sound is almost unrehearsed, conveying a live energy that adds another dimension to the music. If I had to offer an opinion, I would rate this as one of the better releases of 1992.” “Their sound is a mixture of modern prog, fusion, jazz, and high energy chaos, like Arti E Mestieri in overdrive. Vocals are excellent (in Italian), and the album covers a vast amount of territory in a 3-4 minute short-song format. Recommended.” [Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock]
Tale Cue - Voices Beyond My Curtain ($15.99) Tale Cue were an above-average Italian neo-prog band with a female singer, who released only this one album in 1991. The music is in the Marillion, Arena, and Twelfth Night veins but darker, more mysterious and melancholy. Lyrics in English.
Taproban - Ogni Pensiero Vola ($15.99) Ogni Pensiero Vola is the 2001 debut by an Italian trio consisting of Gianluca De Rossi (keyboards, vocals), Davide Guidoni (drums) and Guglielmo Mariotti (bass, guitars, mandolin, lead vocals). Their music is 1970s-style progressive rock, about half instrumental and half vocal, with influences of Genesis, Le Orme, and ELP. The vocals on this album are in Italian.
Tenmidnight - The City of Angels ($15.99) Run (2008) is the second CD for Tenmidnight, released on the Mellow label following a self-released debut. The lyrics are split between Italian and English, and likewise this album is split between the Italian tradition and the North American one (Kansas, Saga). One track is listed as an homage to Kansas, which would explain why the central riff from Carry On Wayward Son is cloned; another track is an homage to Led Zep. Flute is used in addition to the usual symphonic rock instrumentation. This one is energetic sympho-prog with pomp and AOR flavoring.
The City of Angels (2010, 61-minutes) is a marked improvement. Though the song titles are all in English, the lyrics are almost entirely in Italian, and the North American influence is limited to a suggestion of symphonic Kansas. The City of Angels often sounds close to an early 1970s Italian symphonic prog album. Guests add flute and violin in spots, and the vocals are strong, with characteristic Italian vocal harmonies. We could fill up a lot of space listing similar Italian bands, both first-generation and 1990s prog revival, so suffice to say the music is played with passion and conviction and should make most fans of Italian prog very happy. Read reviews of all of Tenmidnight’s CDs.
Tilion - A.M.I.G.D.A.L.A. ($15.99) Following a 2000 demo, Tilion’s 2003 debut CD Insolitariamente is quality Italian progressive rock sung in Italian, leaning towards the dark side a la Goblin, with a 1970s sound emphasizing analog keys.
Tilion returned in 2008 with A.M.I.G.D.A.L.A., switching to English lyrics. All the vocals on this album are handled by guests that include Sophya Baccini (Presence), Lino Vairetti (Osanna), and Clive Jones (Black Widow). (Black Widow were an obscure British band who for some reason were big in Italy, sort of like how David Hasselhoff apparently had a singing career in Germany.) Tilion play dark symphonic progressive rock, taking most of their cues from 1970s progressive rock. They may not be as self-consciously retro as a band such as La Maschera di Cera, but keyboardist Alfia Costa uses only Mellotron, Hammond, Minimoog, piano, Rhodes, and Korg MS-10 (vintage 1978). With the upgrade in vocals, Tilion are now ready for some of the attention given to the other current top Italian progressive bands. Note you can also hear Tilion on Mellow’s Canterbury and King Crimson tribute CDs and the first two volumes of Musea’s The Spaghetti Epic CDs.
Trama - Prodromi di Finzioni Sovrapposte ($17.99) It’s probably fair to call Trama the Italian equivalent of Karnataka, even if this 1998 recording predates most of Karnataka’s output. Trama’s singer Annalisa Accorsi has a similar voice to that of Rachel Jones, and the sound and style of the bands are also similar: accessible, melodic, and on the rock side of progressive rock. Trama do have some ties to Italian 1970s progressive, but it’s blended with a more straightforward style. Trama’s keyboardist is very good and accounts for many of the instrumental highlights. You can hear Trama performing ELP, Camel, and Locanda delle Fate covers on various Mellow Records tribute CDs.
Triade - 1998: La Storia di Sabazio mini-LP ($19.99)Not sure what the concept behind this 1973 album is, other than that 1998 seemed like the distant future when it was made. Another in a long line of one-shot Italian progressive bands, Triade had two composers. One composer dominates side 1 of the LP, which is classically-influenced instrumental prog a la RDM or ELP, while the other composer gets side 2, which has vocals and is more song-oriented, closer to Le Orme. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
The Trip - Time of Change ($16.99) The Trip was initially a band of English expats (with Ritchie Blackmore in their first line-up), but over time most of the English members were swapped out for Italians, most notably keyboardist Joe Vescovi who took over band leadership. Caronte (1971) is their second album but first real prog album, in the vein of The Nice, ELP, Atomic Rooster, and early Deep Purple. The mini-LP is the 2011 edition on Sony, which comes in a gatefold cardboard sleeve. For audio previews, start with this YouTube video and search there for more tracks.
Time of Change (1973) is the fourth and final album for The Trip. Furio Chirico, perhaps the finest drummer Italy has produced, is the drummer on this album, after which he headed to Arti e Mestieri. This album shows stronger classical and jazz influences than their earlier albums, with some Yes influence now evident. Vocals are in English.
Twenty-Four Hours - Oval Dreams mini-LP ($15.99) Musea says: Twenty-Four Hours is a modern Italian band led by keyboardist-singer Paolo Lippe. The quartet performs music close in spirit to early Porcupine Tree. Their 1999 debut Oval Dreams elegantly and convincingly blends airy guitars with linear rhythm lines and energetic themes. Pink Floyd and Ozric Tentacles can also be mentioned (one track is named Twenty-Four-Pink-Hot-Tentacles). There are two covers that point to other major influences: Van der Graaf Generator’s Darkness (11/11) and The Beatles’ Mother Nature’s Son. The album finishes with The Bastards, a nearly 20-minute suite. This mini-LP edition is the 2009 limited edition released by the MALS label under license from Musea, which comes in a heavyweight cardboard sleeve.
Ubi Maior - Senza Tempo ($18.99) Nostos (2005, 61-minutes) is the debut CD for this talented Milanese quintet and is further evidence that there is more good progressive rock coming out of Italy now than at any time since the early 1970s. Ubi Maior play in a pure 1970s Italian symphonic prog style. The keyboardist focuses on Hammond and piano, and the guitarist sticks with a period tone. The Italian vocals are strong and original. There are influences ranging from Biglietto per l’Inferno (Baffo Banfi writes the bilingual liner notes) through to PFM, blended with the band’s own style. The long title suite is a great example of the abilities of the band. The CD also features a beautiful cover of Il Balletto di Bronzo’s La tua casa comoda. Ubi Maior features Gabriele Manzini, former keyboard player for Italian Genesis-soundalikes The Watch. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page booklet.
Senza Tempo (2009, 61-minutes) is Ubi Maior’s second CD. As the label describes it: “It is not a proper concept album, but its major influence is Neil Gaiman’s graphic-novel masterpiece Sandman and one its main characters, The Endless: seven brothers and sisters named Destiny, Death, Dream, Desire, Despair, Destruction and Delirium.” Senza Tempo is again a fantastic album of 1970s-style Italian progressive rock, tending toward darker atmospheres and echoing Il Balletto di Bronzo, PFM, and many others. The only time Ubi Maior depart from that is when they reference British progressive rock bands directly. There are passages that are closer to Genesis, and a few instances of a more modern guitar tone. Overall the sound of the band is still vintage, heavily based on Hammond organ, Mellotron and piano. A second booklet contains English translations of the lyrics. Digipack.
Universal Totem Orchestra - The Magus ($16.99) Universal Totem Orchestra are an offshoot or side project of the band Runaway Totem (check above), and though the main aspect of UTO’s style is also Zeuhl, UTO are actually better. The Magus (2008) is the long-awaited successor to 1999’s Rituale Alieno. The Magus is 80-minutes long, and even some hard-core Magma fans must get worn out by 80-minutes of Zeuhl music, but UTO blend in quite a bit of more conventional progressive rock and jazz-rock, symphonic sounds, and melodic, beautiful parts, making this a deeply satisfying opus. UTO feature beautiful operatic female lead vocals in Italian, plus six male vocalists doing the Carmina Burana thing. Tri-fold digipack with 24-page booklet. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Uno - Uno mini-LP ($19.99)Uno was the band formed by Danilo Rustici and Elio d’Anna after Osanna split up in 1974. They were joined by drummer Enzo Vallicelli and went to London to record this album. The music here is fairly similar to Osanna on Landscape of Life, with vocals in both English and Italian. Uno managed just the one album, after which Rustici and d’Anna formed the jazz-rock band Nova with Danilo’s brother Corrado (from Cervello) and other musicians. This mini-LP edition comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with an 8-page bilingual booklet.
Vedda Tribe - Good Night to the Bucket ($15.99)Vedda Tribe is an Italian trio of keys, guitar, and drums. Someone is playing bass but it is not credited. Their self-titled 1999 debut consists of five long tracks of which only one has vocals, and aside from a little King Crimson influence, the results are quite original. The keyboardist concentrates on classically-influenced piano, while the guitarist plays in a sort of space rock meets fusion style. The music is structured, melodic, inventive, and a bit psychedelic or spacey. The lineup is unchanged on their second CD Good Night to the Bucket (2004), but the music has undergone changes. For one, the keyboardist plays only synths and no piano, and the synth textures are modern-sounding, even industrial at times. The guitarist has added some acoustic guitar, and there are more vocals (in English). The King Crimson influence is more noticeable, and the overall sound is edgier and more aggressive.
Venegoni & Co. - Mosaico ($13.99) Venegoni & Co. was the band of guitarist Gigi Venegoni after his time in Arti + Mestieri and became one of Italy’s foremost jazz-rock bands. Mosaico was recorded in 1982 and should have been the third Venegoni & Co. album but was not published until this 2001 CD release, with two bonus tracks added. It is melodic, upbeat jazz-rock from these consummate professionals.
Vieux Carré - Glispiriti Icorpi Elementi ($13.99) Despite the French name (which refers to New Orleans’ French Quarter), this is an Italian quintet from Umbria. They released their debut CD Glispiriti Icorpi Elementi independently in 2008, and it had been a well-kept secret outside Italy. For Vieux Carré play in the classic Italian symphonic prog style of PFM, Le Orme, and Banco, and this album is way too good to remain unknown. One must also mention Genesis, because three of the songs are sung in English, and singer Marco Rambaldi reflexively switches to a Peter Gabriel style on those songs. (Or maybe it’s a Bernardo Lanzetti style.) The band’s first demo (when they were known as Chiaroscuro) contained covers of Firth of Fifth and The Musical Box, so the Genesis influence is not imagined. There is also some jazz influence, which the best first-generation Italian bands had as well. It’s mostly the songs sung in Italian that have that old magic; lovers of vintage Italian prog will understand.
The Watch - Timeless ($16.99) 
The Watch - Primitive ($15.99)
The Night Watch - Twilight ($15.99) out-of-stockItalian band The Watch, formerly The Night Watch, are a clone of Gabriel-era Genesis. Even their singer sounds like Gabriel. It isn’t really necessary to say much more, though of course The Watch don’t have quite the songwriting abilities and melodic sense of Genesis. No one does. The Watch do mimic all the Genesis sounds and surface details perfectly, so take a little trip back...
Primitive is from 2007, Vacuum from 2004, Ghost from 2001; these are all digipacks. Twilight is their 1997 first CD. This is the 2009 edition which comes in a cardboard sleeve as opposed to the original jewel box version; it counts as only one-half CD for shipping.
Live 2008 contains seven live tracks including a cover of Twilight Alehouse (the 1971 Genesis non-LP B-side) in a medley with a song from the Primitive album. Live 2008 comes in a mini-LP style sleeve and counts as only one-half CD for shipping.
Planet Earth? (2010, digipack) sticks to their tried and true style, but with longevity and playing lots of live shows, The Watch are getting rather good at what they do. John Hackett guests on flute. Here are mp3 excerpts from the tracks Welcome to Your Life, Something Wrong, Earth, and Tourist Trap.
It was a busy 2010 for The Watch as they toured most of Europe and North America performing their Genesis tribute show. Timeless (2011, digipack) contains seven original songs plus three reinterpretations of very early 1969-70 Genesis tracks (In the Wilderness, Let Us Now Make Love, Stagnation). John Hackett guests on flute on one. Stagnation is live, taken from the 2010 shows, giving newcomers an idea of how incredible and ‘timeless’ that music and this band sound when performing Genesis. Here are mp3 excerpts from the tracks One Day, Soaring On, End of the Road excerpt 1 and excerpt 2, and Thunder Has Spoken excerpt 1 and excerpt 2.
Yleclipse - Trails of Ambergris ($16.99) 
This band from Sardinia began under the name Eclisse with the privately-released Mercury and Sulfurus (2000), sounding close to Genesis and Marillion with a Gabriel-style vocalist singing in both English and Italian. The band then changed their name to the unpronounceable Yleclipse and released Prime Substance (2002, 49-minutes) on the Mellow label. The recording quality here is markedly improved. The style is similar, with the eight tracks evenly divided between English and Italian lyrics. We prefer the Italian-language tracks, which are reminiscent of bands such as Aton’s, who have aspects of both 1970s Italian prog and neo-prog in their sound, with the lyrical vocals tying the two together.
Yleclipse stick with English lyrics throughout Opus (2006, 59-minutes) and Trails of Ambergris (2008, 75-minutes), and Genesis remains their primary influence. The Watch are the best comparison, but Yleclipse are not the complete Genesis clones that The Watch have been to this point. Both bands have a ways to go before they become the tunesmiths that Genesis are. Sonically Yleclipse are sometimes closer to early Marillion, probably less a direct influence than simply having the the same Genesis starting point and ending up in the same general area. In any event, Yleclipse have polished this style by now, so these CDs are easily recommended to fans of The Watch and Mangala Vallis. This is the MALS label edition of Opus.
Zaal - Onda Quadra ($19.99) Zaal is the instrumental jazz-rock band led by Agostino Macor, who is the keyboardist in most of Fabio Zuffanti’s bands: Finisterre, Maschera di Cera, Hostsonaten, LaZona, Rohmer, and Merlin. La Lama Sottile (2004) is mostly melodic jazz-rock dominated by keyboards and violin, highly-structured. But it also makes forays into symphonic progressive, with some Frippian guitar. Fabio Zuffanti plays bass on this album. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Onda Quadra (2010) is Zaal’s second, which comes in a heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve. There’s a new lineup on this one. Of Macor’s other bands and projects, the music comes closest to Rohmer though jazzier and not quite as ambient. But it is just as contemporary, with some minimalist and experimental aspects. Read reviews at Prog Archives.
Riccardo Zappa - Chatka mini-LP ($19.99)The classic first two albums from a guitarist who might be thought of as the Italian Gordon Giltrap and who is one of the top Italian acoustic guitarists. Celestion is from 1977, Chatka from 1978. Zappa is joined by other musicians on keyboards, bass, and drums on these instrumental CDs. Zappa was innovative, playing an amplified classical guitar using a pickup and applying effects such as tape delay echo. These mini-LP editions come in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 8-page bilingual booklet.
Zaq - Zaq ($15.99)This is the 2002 debut by an Italian quintet (flute, keys, bass, drums, percussion) born from the ashes of Aria Palea, one of the more original of the 1990s Italian progressive bands, playing instrumental jazz-rock with flute in the lead. It leans more to the jazz side than the rock side, though there are elements of symphonic rock and Italian folk here and there.
Zauber - Profondo Blu ($15.99)
Zauber - Phoenix remastered mini-LP ($19.99)Zauber are a long-lived Italian symphonic prog band who you can also hear on several of Mellow Records’ tribute CDs. They are from the Italian romantic prog tradition, but are not purely a throwback; witness the Celtic-flavored tune that opens Profondo Blu (2001). Their sound is on the soft side, dominated by keys and flute and often close to Camel. Profondo Blu is Zauber’s sixth album. Here they feature excellent male vocals in Italian, and cover two Frank Zappa songs as well as a bit of ELP’s Tank, Dvorak’s New World Symphony, and a Debussy piece with a long French name that we’re not going to type.
Venti / Live is a compilation of live recordings to celebrate Zauber’s 20th anniversary. The recordings are from four different venues, most tracks recorded in 1996 but some in 1994. On most of the tracks, Zauber are augmented by second flute player Dino Pelissero, and on some tracks by a female singer, guitarist Marcello Capra and a percussionist.
Il Sogno is the CD reissue of Zauber’s 1978 debut album plus four bonus tracks. Here they are primarily instrumental, with some very nice female lead vocals. The music is dreamy Italian prog dominated by keyboards and flute, roughly in the Genesis and Camel veins. This was their only album for a long time, as their second was not released until 1991. (Their 1990s albums were mostly older recordings from the 70s and 80s.) You can find songs on YouTube: Valzer su Bach, Glockenturm, Liliana, Il Sogno, Canzone per un’Amica, Id, Deimos, Dietro la Collina, Spleen, Riflessioni.
This mini-LP sleeve version of Phoenix is the 2009 edition on AMS, which is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies and comes in a heavyweight gatefold sleeve with 12-page bilingual booklet. Phoenix contains recordings made in 1977, just before the release of Il Sogno. The original Phoenix album was carefully remastered for the AMS CD and one bonus track added.
Fabio Zuffanti - Ghiaccio ($16.99) The self-titled CD is from 2009 and is the first album for Fabio Zuffanti under his own name, as his work in the bands Finisterre, Rohmer, LaZona, Hostsonaten, La Maschera Di Cera, Aries, and Quadraphonic just doesn’t keep him busy enough. You can divide Zuffanti’s output into his classic prog rock work and his modern, mellow, cutting-edge work. His solo CD is of the latter, a mix of electronica, songwriter, post-rock, ambient and dreamy psychedelia. Zuffanti plays a long list of instruments and sings in Italian, and the album remains low-key, slow tempo, and surreal, with an introverted, rainy-day feel. Of his other projects, it comes closest to Rohmer. Heavyweight gatefold mini-LP sleeve with 12-page booklet.
Ghiaccio (2010) is Zuffanti’s second. Read the review at Notes from the Optic Nerve. Watch the video for the song Il Costruttore di Elefanti.