When
you first hold this CD in your hands,
you can't take your eyes from the
splendid artwork of Ed Unitsky, which
captures your eyesight with its double
version. Yet the new album of Italian
prog-rockers, which is co-released
by ProgRock and Galileo Records,
has more to show you than this. The
Italian prog-rock band wide-spreaded
its name in the decade of ‘90s
with some very interesting covers
to Genesis and Osanna, but after
five albums they are considered an
established force in the European
progressive rock and this very recent
release proves it.
The opening "My Darkside" will
seduce you with the sweet keyboard
solo in the middle part and "Emonionaut" exhibits
how a progressive rock track can
be both short and "digestible".
Yet, the real gem of the album is "That
Child" (and the consequent
interlude "Flesh"),
where Andy Tillison of the Tangent
fame takes part. Though they are
loyal to several milestone bands
of the genre, such as Genesis, Marillion
and IQ, the band updates its sound
with elements from Porcupine Tree
and Chroma Key. Moreover they structure
and orchestrate their songs similarly
to post-rock bands, as it is exhibited
in "It’s
You". However there is no need
to panic with these doses of modernization,
because the band offers some unique
samples of qualitative prog-rock,
such as "Solaris" (inspired
by Tarkovsky’s self-titled
motion picture), "Dreamlords" and
the instrumental "Sonya in
Search of the Moon - Part V".
The performance of all members is
of the highest standards. Simone
Baldini Tosi’s grating
voice is a true gift for the band,
but occasionally lowers the overall
quality of specific tracks, such
as the ending "The Lighthouse
Song".
To conclude, "Songs from the
Lighthouse" is certainly a
crucial step in the career of the
Italian quintet. It
is a strongly suggested release,
carefully and detailed crafted in
every single aspect that every prog-rocker
should purchase. |
