Detailed Reviews [Taproban - 2002 - "Ogni Pensiero Vola"]

Prologue. I have never heard of this band before.

The Album. First, I have to admit that although the Italian Progressive Rock is very conservative (there is no trace of RIO, let alone, Fifth Element). Most Italian bands create a truly original music within the framework of Art-Rock. (Don't throw dust in my eyes asserting that Art-Rock is the same Glam-Rock, i.e. the Masque Show, to be precise. Art is Art, and Art-Rock is Rock, which is raised to the power of Art - in all meanings of this noun.) Taproban is one of those bands. There is really only one song on "Ogni Pensiero Vola": Pegaso il cavallo alato (track 5). Apart from the repeated couplets and refrains, this song however, contains more or less a large-scaled instrumental part in the middle of it. Very short vocal parts are also featured in the middle of Prologo (1), in the end of L'enigma della Sfinge (2), and in the beginning of Il tempio araidico (9). All three of these compositions are the classic Symphonic Art-Rock masterpieces, as well as the best tracks on the album. The last of them, though, is an absolute winner. Of course, it's because of its duration (13 minutes), which are more than enough to develop the diverse and large-scaled arrangements. All of the said three compositions are filled with various essential progressive ingredients. Since Taproban is a modern keyboard trio, the solos and passages of synthesizers (plus organs - on 9), as well as interplay between them, play a prominent role on almost all of the tracks that are featured on the album. A bass guitar and the drums are active on four of the said tracks and also on Il Signore del bosco (7). The passages of acoustic guitar are present only on the first two tracks of the album and on La Ninfa dormiente (8). In all, there are six excellent compositions on "Ogni Pensiero Vola". (The song Pegaso il cavallo alato (track 5) is just merely good in my view.) Apart from those three compositions that feature very short vocal parts, these also include Il Signore del bosco, La Ninfa dormiente, and Il tempio araidico (tracks 7, 8, & 10). (Oh, yes, I should have mentioned that all six of the remaining tracks on the album don't contain any vocal parts.) The first of them was performed by all three of the band members. It contains interplay between a few excellent solos and passages of synthesizers supported by the tight rhythm section. The second one entirely consists of the beautiful passages of acoustic guitar and synthesizer and interplay between them as well. The last track on the album is filled with medieval colors created by the oboe-, clavier-, and fanfare-like solos of various synthesizers. It's clear that all three of the remaining tracks were included on the album only due to the lack of material to present a full-length album. Both Orlando che squarta un pastore and La Tartaruga e la Fortuna (tracks 3 & 4) are for most part based on the strange 'synthetic' effects. La Casa pendente (6) is one of the dullest tracks I've ever heard in my life. (I can't call it differently than just "track"). It entirely consists of a clown-like idle talk mixed up with the chaotic noises.

Summary. Just exclude these three out-tracks (the flies in the ointment) when programming your CD player and listen to the 35-minute album of the excellent Italian Progressive. Please notice that the album is losing the whole star only because of the presence of them on it.

VM. April 17, 2002