Campo di Marti were one of the Italian scene's one album wonders. Coming from Tuscany, their lineup was Enrico Rossa (guitar/ vocals/mellotron), Alfredo Barducci (horns/keyboards), Paul Richard (bass/vocals), Mauro Sarti (drums/flute/vocals) and Carlo Felice Marcoveccio (drums/vocals). The band took their name from a train station in thier home town of Florence. This band's self titled album was released in 1973. On it, they play a range of guitar dominated symphonic prog songs, from heavy to melodic to pastoral in tone.The albums has 7 tracks, all titled "____" tempo with Italian numbers. "Primo Tempo" is the first, and at 8 minutes, is the longest. Banking on hard rock guitars. It goes back and forth between guitar and keyboard driven sections with many speed changes. "Secondo Tempo" is more up the vane of the light, flowing prog, not dissimilar to Genesis. Next, "Terzo Tempo" has lots of guitar fuzz to start off before going into a bass, piano, and guitar heavy symphonic prog workout. This one is the best on the album, filled with emotion. "Quarto Tempo" is a shorter song, and it fills out the A side of the record with lots of keyboards, reminiscent of ELP.
"Quinto Tempo" takes the flutes and turns into a piece that brings up images of the Italian Countryside. It's nice to chill out to, and meshes very well into the earlier, harder songs, a hard feat to do. Afterward, "Sesto Tempo" follows mostly the same mold as "Quarto Tempo", but the band is a little more ambitious here and takes full advantage of the drummers. Last but not least, "Settimo Tempo" ends the album on a cycle by emulating "Primo Tempo" with similar beat and form. It's got a nice groove due to almost Motorik like bass and drums.
This one really impressed me the first time I heard it and has since grown further on me. Campo di Marti is a very versatile work, with several styles going on in different tracks. Yet, they all manage to blend together into an album that is married firmly to the Progressive Rock scene of Italy while distinguishing itself in the process. Even though every member is credited to vocals, they rarely sing, but that only adds to the free form landscapes the band carves. There's a little on here for everyone, and while it might be hard to find, this is one true lost gem.
The only shame about this album is the fact the band did not do any more. Grade: A-
"Quinto Tempo" takes the flutes and turns into a piece that brings up images of the Italian Countryside. It's nice to chill out to, and meshes very well into the earlier, harder songs, a hard feat to do. Afterward, "Sesto Tempo" follows mostly the same mold as "Quarto Tempo", but the band is a little more ambitious here and takes full advantage of the drummers. Last but not least, "Settimo Tempo" ends the album on a cycle by emulating "Primo Tempo" with similar beat and form. It's got a nice groove due to almost Motorik like bass and drums.
This one really impressed me the first time I heard it and has since grown further on me. Campo di Marti is a very versatile work, with several styles going on in different tracks. Yet, they all manage to blend together into an album that is married firmly to the Progressive Rock scene of Italy while distinguishing itself in the process. Even though every member is credited to vocals, they rarely sing, but that only adds to the free form landscapes the band carves. There's a little on here for everyone, and while it might be hard to find, this is one true lost gem.
The only shame about this album is the fact the band did not do any more. Grade: A-
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