Detailed Reviews [Marco Galetti - 2005 - "La Luce che Illiumina i Sogni"]

Prolusion. The former member (and leader) of Italian band Arcansiel, Marco GALETTI is now walking a solo path. He states that he simply on his site that prefers to work alone now, wishing to have full artistic control over his work, which was his reason for leaving Arcansiel.

Analysis. Early Vangelis. This is what flashed into my mind as the opening strains and subsequent theme of E Vorrei began to play. Vangelis's "Albedo 0.39", "Heaven & Hell", and especially "Spiral", come to mind. Galletti's E Vorrei has an immediately accessible, infectious theme, played using a combination of synthesizers, backed by chimes (tubular bells), sequenced keyboards and drums. An obvious contrast between Galletti and Vangelis, though, would be the inclusion of vocals, performed in a high tenor, softly. The title track (translated means "the light that illuminates dreams") is a melancholy, minor-keyed beauty, played in a slow tempo, mostly presented by the piano, keyboards and synth orchestra including French horn. The vocals here and throughout the album, are quiet, almost whispered, as though the message is an intimate secret to be shared between Marco and the listener. A sweeping, mournful guitar solo graces the latter portions of the song. "We take you now to the hotel Martinette in Brooklyn". This line from the 1939 Orson Wells radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" is repeated intermittently throughout Punti Indefiniti, a faster song, light drum work with harpsichord propelling the tempo. The theme is played by alternately by piano and synth strings. L' Aria che Respiri (The Air That You Breathe) begins like a Baroque piano sonata (with drums added) for the first few measures, but then shifts into chords like the opening of a power pop ballad by David Foster. This and the next song are in more of a Pop-Rock vein than the rest of tracks. Abbracciandoti (Embracing You) has a Latin beat (sorry, I don't know the difference between a Rumba and a Samba) with the theme played on an organ, sounding like lounge music. Again, the vocals are mostly quiet, almost whispered to begin, but then become quite impassioned, the most forceful on the album. About 3/4 of the way through, the line from "War of the Worlds" returns, along with a number of what sound like BBC News broadcast excerpts, which signal a change in the tone of the sound, leaving the anguished love song for an upbeat outro. Questa Luna leans toward Space Music in its use of synthesizer and overall textures, while retaining something of a Latin beat. Nell' Infinito Cielo is pure pop, with a simple, bouncy 4/4 beat in almost a do-wop style, complete with ascending chime-like background vocals. Rittorna il Sole brings the album back to a more symphonic sound for the finale. Piano features strongly and synthesized choral backgrounds, reminiscent of Wakeman's chorus work on "Six Wives of Henry VIII." The drum work is a distraction at times, too heavy and too disco, simply speaking, too synthetic. Pity. It's a pretty tune otherwise.

Conclusion. "La Luce che Illumina I Sogni" is very melodic Symphonic Art Rock. It suffers a bit from OMBS (One Man Band Syndrome), particularly in the drums, which is not to say that they are played badly, but rather the electronic drum kit is not a favorite of mine. It's my complaint regarding other multi-instrumentalists as well, who use electronic drums as their default setting. Galleti also relies a bit too heavily on synthetic sound, when actual instruments would bring more life to the mix. The melodies are good, but this is not challenging stuff, which may also be its shortcoming for listeners who want something more adventurous. The listener does not have to work to acclimate to Galletti's music, as it is very "user friendly." It can easily become background music. All in all, though, it is a very pleasant album of low key, Symphonic Art Rock.

KW: January 20, 2006