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Campo Di Marte (Italy) - 1973/1993 - "Campo di Marte"
(51 min, Black Widow)


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TRACK LIST:

1.  Primo Tempo 8:10
2.  Secondo Tempo 3:20
3.  Terzo Tempo 6:20
4.  Quarto Tempo 3:20
5.  Quinto Tempo 3:15
6.  Sesto Tempo 5:12
7.  Septimo Tempo 8:28

All tracks: by Rosa.

LINE-UP:

Enrico Rosa - vocals; electric & acoustic guitars; Mellotron
Alfredo Barducci - piano & organ; flute & horns (+ vocalize on 5)
Mauro Sarti - flute; drums (+ vocalize on 5)
Felice Marcovecchio - drums (+ vocalize on 5)
Paul Richard - bass (+ vocalize on 5)

Produced by Rosa & Campo Di Marte.
Engineered by G. Berlinghini at "Milano Recording".
 
Prolusion. "Campo Di Marte" is so far the only official album by the Italian band of the same name. It was released on LP in 1973, and Mellow Records has reissued it on CD twenty years later. If you wish to read the review of the latest effort of Campo Di Marte's main man Enrico Rosa, click >here.

Synopsis. There are seven tracks on the album, three of which (1, 3, & 6) contain vocals with lyrics in Italian, and one of the four instrumentals (5) choral vocalizes. The music is incredibly original and interesting, which, though, was more than typical for that era. Overall, "Campo di Marte" is an album of a unified stylistics, the name of which is certainly Classic Symphonic Art-Rock. Among a few insignificant exceptions are the opening track Primo Tempo, standing out for its heaviness (which may remotely remind of that in King Crimson circa 1974), and Quarto Tempo with its mellowness. You'll hear the magic sounds of Mellotron and Hammond, blistering duels between piano and flute, electric and acoustic guitar, bass and drums, excellent dramatic vocals, and highly intricate, diverse, and intriguing arrangements in general. The album is filled with everything necessary to immediately carry away any listener, who will fall in love with it straight at the first listen and once and forever. And yet, I can assert that if you've listened to "Campo di Marte" just once, you haven't heard it! The main virtue of this album, as well as the other real masterworks released at the heyday of Progressive's glory, is that it will take many hours (happy hours, though!) until we completely comprehend it. There are myriads of tiny, yet, wonderful nuances that can be noticed and 'gathered' only bit by bit. And we'll get back 'here' many times during our life, as there is nothing more attractive than a true Classic for the Future in the world of Arts, and not only.

Conclusion. Well, Campo Di Marte has only one album (at least so far), but it's as great as most of the classic masterworks of Classic Symphonic Progressive. Need I really add anything more here?

VM: September 25, 2003


Related Links:

Mellow Records
Enrico Rosa
Campo Di Marte


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