Italy and Prog: An Ideal Environment, Part 2

The Prog scene in Italy was mostly a northern affair, as south of Rome poorer people stuck with older musical tradition. There was more in the way of a festival scene in the country, as opposed to the mostly solo concerts of other prog bands. “The festivals were often free of charge and boasted a level artistic freedom and competition seldom seen in popular music. Fans witnessed bands rise from obscurity to compete on the same stage as the heavy hitters. This musical competition created something of an upward spiral; everyone tried to outdo each other, producing unique sounds and incorporating disparate influences into their music. The variety of the music went through the roof, with every band sharing the same aspirations, though seldom the same sound.” [3] The avant-garde took decent hold in the mid 70’s, for example.

However, as time went on, Italian Prog suffered the same fate as British and American prog. By 1980, the scene dried up almost completely, with good albums fewer and farther between. Despite this, Italy left so many strong albums in its wake that it most certainly owns the title of one of the three most productive nations for classic prog, along with the UK and Germany.

Major bands include:

· Le Orme- I reviewed their Felona e Sorona album earlier this month, and information on their early carrer can be found there. After that album and 1974’s Contappunti, they started to decline in quality, but only after leaving a few classic albums of Italian prog showcasing the greatness of their electronics.
· Premiata Forneria Marconi- Perhaps the most famous of the RPI bands. Relased several albums, some of which even made a mark in the United States when in their English version. Their guitar work is defiantly amongst prog’smost inventive.
· Banco Del Muto Sorccorso- The last of Italy’s “Big Three”, they are also the only of the three whom I don’t own an album. From what I’ve heard on the internet, they have a thicker sound than contemporaries while still staying not far off from the Italian model. Also had some very political lyrics.
· Goblin- Evolved from Cherry Five, who’s album I reviewed last week. Famous for their horror movie soundtracks, particularly for Suspiria, Goblin also released some non- movie material.
· Area- This band is more into the jazz aspect of prog. Relased several higly rated albums in the mid 70’s, some of the stuff I’ve heard from them are quite fast and use interesting timbres.

Sadly, Italian bands all too often only released one album and disappeared, hindering there being many worth mentioning in an article this broad.

[3] http://www.progarchives.com/subgenre.asp?style=28 , “Rock Progressivo Italiano Definition”