This one was a welcome birthday present from daughter's boyfriend, who is something of an aficionado of Italian prog rock. My previous knowledge was limited to PFM, so I'm always keen to hear more. Area claim, on the cover, to be 'international popular group', although I suspect only one of those words applies.
Opening with some synth noodling and an odd time signature, Cometa Rossa, rocks into life and all is going swimmingly, until some Demis Roussos like vocals end the listening fun. ZYG starts with some industrial/electronic noises before the drums usher in some first rate prog guitar/keyboard themes (think Focus). Brujo starts slower, more jazz-rock than prog, building into a quicker, fuller piece, although never developing any sort of 'hook' which would make it memorable, with the final minute and a half seeing a return of the vocals - perhaps he's worked out how much we can stand.
Mirage? Mirage! has a moody start, with some strange noises generating an atmosphere, and it's enjoyable in a 'what's going on here' sort of way. Then there's a drum solo (thankfully only a minute - my thoughts on drum solos are well known), before bass and keyboards kick in to rescue us, but it's still just noodling. The final track Lobotomia starts with high pitched synth annoyance, and if the intent of Lobotomia is to consider one, it's working.
While there is much here that is interesting, and worthy of revisiting, much seems self-indulgent and going nowhere. Experimental music does need to give some indication of what the point is, and I'm not sure this does.
2* - an interesting listen, but not enough of substance to engage.
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