Borderline Books as HTML BOOK, a must for record collectors, believe me!

1. The Tapestry Of Delights — A Comprehensive Guide to British music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive eras 1963 — 1976 (by Vernon Joynson).

This third edition includes the original 600 pages of text, plus a new 90 page section containing around 1,000 new entries and/or updates to existing entries with lots of illustrations. There's also an expanded section on relevant sixties and early seventies compilation/soundtracks, plus an updated index. In total this 734 page guide comes with full discographies, personnel details, reissue information, comment on artistes, compilation listings and rarity scale. Over 3,200 entries and profusely illustrated with 12 pages of full colour.


2. Fuzz Acid And Flowers — A Comprehensive Guide to American Garage, Psychedelic and Hippie Rock (1964 — 1975) ( by Vernon Joynson).

The 4th edition of our guide to American Garage, Psychedelic and Hippie rock includes the original 403 pages of text, plus a new 163 page section containing over 1,400 new entries and/or updates to existing entries with lots of illustrations. There is also a vastly expanded section on relevant sixties and early seventies compilation/sound tracks plus recent retrospective compilations. Profusely illustrated with 8 pages of full colour.

3. Dreams Fantasies And Nightmares — From Far Away Lands — Canadian, Australasian and Latin American Rock and Pop 1963-75 (by Vernon Joynson).


A detailed enclopedic guide to the rock and pop music of the golden era from the early sixties to mid-seventies. Covering rock, pop, beat, folk, folk-rock, blues-rock, psychedelia, flower-pop, garage, progressive rock and more from Canada and Australasia 1963-76. It also includes a general introduction to Latin American beat, psychedelia, garage and progressive rock. Each section includes an A-Z listing of the artistes with discographies, personnel details and, for most entries, comment on the music. Details of relevant sixties and early seventies compilations and recent retrospective compilations are also included.The book is profusely illustrated throughout with black and white illustrations and there is also a 12-page colour section..

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//ChrisGoesRock

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Eyes of the day...

Willie Dixon - Charlotte, NC 1988-08-18 (Bootleg)

Size: 165 MB
Bitrate: 320
mp3
Found in my Blues mobile
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William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the upright bass and the guitar and as a vocalist, Dixon is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post-World War II sound of the Chicago blues.

Dixon's songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of the his most famous compositions includes "Hoochie Coochie Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Little Red Rooster", "My Babe", "Spoonful", and "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover". These tunes were written during the peak of Chess Records, 1950–1965, and performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Bo Diddley; they influenced a worldwide generation of musicians.
Dixon also was an important link between the blues and rock and roll, working with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley in the late 1950s. His songs were covered by some of the biggest artists of more recent times, such as Bob Dylan, Cream, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones. For a more comprehensive list of Willie Dixon's songs and artists who have recorded them, see List of songs written by Willie Dixon.

Willie Dixon Album US 1960

Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915. His mother Daisy often rhymed the things she said, a habit her son imitated. At the age of seven, young Dixon became an admirer of a band that featured pianist Little Brother Montgomery. Dixon was first introduced to blues when he served time on prison farms in Mississippi as an early teenager. He later learned how to sing harmony from local carpenter Leo Phelps. Dixon sang bass in Phelps' group The Jubilee Singers, a local gospel quartet that regularly appeared on the Vicksburg radio station WQBC. Dixon began adapting poems he was writing as songs, and even sold some tunes to local music groups.

Dixon left Mississippi for Chicago in 1936. A man of considerable stature, at 6 and a half feet and weighing over 250 pounds, he took up boxing; he was so successful that he won the Illinois State Golden Gloves Heavyweight Championship (Novice Division) in 1937. Dixon turned professional as a boxer and worked briefly as Joe Louis' sparring partner. After four fights, Dixon left boxing after getting into a fight with his manager over being cheated out of money.

Dixon met Leonard Caston at the boxing gym where they would harmonize at times. Dixon performed in several vocal groups in Chicago but it was Caston that got him to pursue music seriously. Caston built him his first bass, made of a tin can and one string. Dixon's experience singing bass made the instrument familiar. He also learned the guitar.

In 1939, Dixon was a founding member of the Five Breezes, with Caston, Joe Bell, Gene Gilmore and Willie Hawthorne. The group blended blues, jazz, and vocal harmonies, in the mode of the Ink Spots. Dixon's progress on the Upright bass came to an abrupt halt during the advent of World War II when he resisted the draft as a conscientious objector and was imprisoned for ten months.[1] After the war, he formed a group named the Four Jumps of Jive and then reunited with Caston, forming the Big Three Trio, who went on to record for Columbia Records.

Willie Dixon - UK EP 1965

Dixon signed with Chess Records as a recording artist, but began performing less, being more involved with administrative tasks for the label. By 1951, he was a full-time employee at Chess, where he acted as producer, talent scout, session musician and staff songwriter. He was also a producer for Chess subsidiary Checker Records. His relationship with Chess was sometimes strained, although he stayed with the label from 1948 to the early 1960s. During this time Dixon's output and influence were prodigious. From late 1956 to early 1959, he worked in a similar capacity for Cobra Records, where he produced early singles for Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy. He later recorded on Bluesville Records.

From the late 1960s until the middle 1970s, Dixon ran his own record label, Yambo Records, along with two subsidiary labels, Supreme and Spoonful. He released his 1971 album Peace? on Yambo, as well as singles by McKinley Mitchell, Lucky Peterson and others.

Dixon is considered one of the key figures in the creation of Chicago blues. He worked with Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Joe Louis Walker, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Eddie Boyd, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Washboard Sam, Jimmy Rogers, Sam Lay and others. His double bass playing was of a high standard. He appears on many of Chuck Berry's early recordings, further proving his linkage between the blues and the birth of rock and roll.

Dixon is remembered mainly as a songwriter; his most enduring gift to the blues lay in refurbishing archaic Southern motifs, often of magic and country folkways and often derived from earlier records such as those by Charlie Patton, in contemporary arrangements, to produce songs with both the sinew of the blues, and the agility of pop. British R&B bands of the 1960s constantly drew on the Dixon songbook for inspiration. In December 1964, The Rolling Stones reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of Dixon's "Little Red Rooster". By the late sixties, Dixon's songwriting and production work began to take a back seat to his organizational abilities, which were utilised to assemble all-star, Chicago-based blues ensembles for work in Europe.

In his later years, Willie Dixon became a tireless ambassador for the blues and a vocal advocate for its practitioners, founding the Blues Heaven Foundation. The organization works to preserve the blues’ legacy and to secure copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were exploited in the past. Speaking with the simple eloquence that was a hallmark of his songs, Dixon claimed, "The blues are the roots and the other musics are the fruits. It’s better keeping the roots alive, because it means better fruits from now on. The blues are the roots of all American music. As long as American music survives, so will the blues." In 1977, unhappy with the royalties rate from ARC Music, he and Muddy Waters sued the Chess-owned publishing company, and with the proceeds from the lawsuit set up Hoochie Coochie Music.

In 1987, Dixon received an out-of-court settlement from Led Zeppelin after suing them for plagiarism, in relation to their use of his music for "Bring It On Home" and his lyrics from his composition "You Need Love" (1962) for their track "Whole Lotta Love".

Dixon's health deteriorated increasingly during the seventies and the eighties, primarily due to long-term diabetes. Eventually one of his legs had to be amputated. Dixon was inducted at the inaugural session of the Blues Foundation's ceremony, and into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1989 he was also the recipient of a Grammy Award for his album, Hidden Charms.

Dixon died of heart failure in Burbank, California on January 29, 1992, and was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. Dixon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the "early influences" (pre-rock) category in 1994. Actor and comedian Cedric the Entertainer portrayed Dixon in Cadillac Records, a 2008 film based on the early history of Chess Records.

Willie Dixon 
1988-08-18
Unknown Venue 
Charlotte, NC 

Personnel:
♫ Willie Dixon - Vocals 
♫ Dennis Miller - Guitar 
♫ Carey Bell - Harmonica 
♫ Darren Darnell - Drums 
♫ Michael Morrison - Bass  

01. Ain't No Sunshine 8:23
02. I Don't Know  5:40 
03. Back Door Man 5:29
04. I'm Ready 5:53
05. I Just Want To Make Love To You 8:31
06. Rockin' The House 12:57
07. Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do 8:03
08. Unknown Instrumental 11:15 
09. Got My Mojo Workin' 6:09

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Stephen Stills - Selftitled (Outstanding 1st Album US 1971)

Size: 81.2 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRovk
Artwork Included
Source: Japan HDCD Limited Remaster Edition

Stephen Stills is an eponymous rock album by Stephen Stills, famous for his long-time membership in Crosby, Stills, & Nash. It consists of songs written by Stills and is one of four high-profile albums released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their 1970 chart-topping album Déjà Vu.

The album features an array of well-known guest musicians, including David Crosby and Graham Nash, who contributed vocals. Ringo Starr drums on two tracks under the pseudonym "Richie," which he also used for his contribution to the London Sessions album by American bluesman Howlin' Wolf, recorded in England the same year. Stills' album is also the only album in rock and roll history to which both Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix supplied guitar work. Hendrix died before the album was released—Stills dedicated the album to "James Marshall Hendrix."

The song "We Are Not Helpless" was written in response to Neil Young's song "Helpless" from the Déjà Vu album and the song and "Black Queen" have remained in the performing repertoire of both Stills and CSN. "Love the One You're With," Stills' biggest solo hit single, peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 19, 1970, and another single pulled from the album, "Sit Yourself Down," went to #37 on March 27, 1971.

The album peaked at #3 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart in the week of December 5, 1970. It was reissued by WEA after being digitally remastered using the HDCD process on December 5, 1995. "We Are Not Helpless" and "Love the One You're With" were first performed in concert on May 12, 1970 during Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Déjà Vu tour. In 2009 Crosby, Stills, & Nash released Demos featuring an early demo of "Love the One You're With".

Stephen Stills - Australian EP 1972

Reviews of the album were decidedly mixed ranging from positive to lukewarm. Allmusic calls it "a jaw-dropping experience" just short of Crosby, Stills & Nash and Déjà Vu while others such as Rolling Stone were less effusive, qualifying the somewhat negative tone by writing "I'm not saying I don't like this album."

Talk about understatement -- there's Stephen Stills on the cover, acoustic guitar in hand, promising a personal singer/songwriter-type statement. And there is some of that -- even a lot of that personal music-making -- on Stephen Stills, but it's all couched in astonishingly bold musical terms. Stephen Stills is top-heavy with 1970 sensibilities, to be sure, from the dedication to the memory of Jimi Hendrix to the now piggish-seeming message of "Love the One You're With." Yet, listening to this album three decades on, it's still a jaw-dropping experience, the musical equal to Crosby, Stills & Nash or Déjà Vu, and only a shade less important than either of them. 

The mix of folk, blues (acoustic and electric), hard rock, and gospel is seamless, and the musicianship and the singing are all so there, in your face, that it just burns your brain (in the nicest, most benevolent possible way) even decades later. Recorded amid the breakup of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Stills' first solo album was his effort to put together his own sound and, not surprisingly, it's similar to a lot of stuff on the group's two albums. But it's also infinitely more personal, as well as harder and bluesier in many key spots; yet, it's every bit as soft and as lyrical as the group in other spots, and all laced with a degree of yearning and urgency that far outstrips virtually anything he did with the group. "Love the One You're With," which started life as a phrase that Stills borrowed from Billy Preston at a party, is the song from this album that everybody knows, but it's actually one of the lesser cuts here -- not much more than a riff and an upbeat lyric and mood, albeit all of it infectious. 

Stephen Stills - German Single 1971

"Do for the Others," by contrast, is one of the prettiest and most moving pieces of music that Stills has ever been associated with, and "Church (Part of Someone)" showed him moving toward gospel and R&B (and good at it, too); and then there's "Old Times Good Times," musically as good a rock song as Stills has ever recorded (even if it borrows a bit from "Pre-Road Downs"), and featuring Jimi Hendrix on lead guitar. "Go Back Home" (which has Eric Clapton on guitar) is fine a piece of bluesy hard rock, while "Sit Yourself Down" features superb singing by Stills and a six-person backing chorus (that includes Cass Elliot, Graham Nash, and David Crosby) around a great tune. "To a Flame" is downright ethereal, while the live "Black Queen" is a superb piece of acoustic blues. All of this is presented by Stills in the best singing voice of his career up to that point, bolder, more outgoing, and more powerful (a result of his contact with Doris Troy) than anything in his previous output. 

He also plays lots of instruments (à la Crosby, Stills & Nash, which is another reason it sounds so similar to the group in certain ways), though a bit more organ than guitar, thanks to the presence of Hendrix and Clapton on two cuts. If the album has a flaw, it's the finale, "We Are Not Helpless," which slightly overstays its welcome. But hey, this was still the late '60s, and excess was the rule, not the exception, and it's such modest excess.

01. "Love the One You're With" – 3:04
02. "Do for the Others" – 2:52
03. "Church (Part of Someone) – 4:05
04. "Old Times Good Times" – 3:39
05. "Go Back Home" – 5:54
06. "Sit Yourself Down" – 3:05
07. "To a Flame" – 3:08
08. "Black Queen" – 5:26
09. "Cherokee" – 3:23
10. "We Are Not Helpless" – 4:20

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Stephen Stills - Netherland Single 1971

Darrell Banks - Here to Stay (Great and Rare Soul US 1969)

Size: 80 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Included
Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

More superb soul ballads and crying songs from Darrell Banks, who not only made some excellent singles but had done some songwriting and producing for Stax in the '60s. Sadly, he was killed before he ever attained the level of popularity and exposure that he merited.

Darrell Banks (born Darrell Eubanks) (July 25, 1937 – February 24, 1970) was an American soul singer.

Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Banks grew up in Buffalo, New York, and learned to sing in gospel churches before choosing a career in secular music. He signed with Solid Hitbound Productions/Revilot Records, who released his 1966 single "Open the Door to Your Heart" (which, curiously, is legally named "Baby Walk Right In"), written by Donnie Elbert. 

When the single came out, Banks was credited as the songwriter instead of Elbert, and a protracted legal battle ensued; however, while the courts settled the matter (eventually in Elbert's favor), the tune scaled the US charts, peaking at #2 R&B and #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. A second single, "Somebody (Somewhere) Needs You", hit #34 R&B and #55 pop later that year. Moving to Atco Records, he released the singles "Here Come the Tears"/"I've Got That Feelin" and "Angel Baby (Don't Ever Leave Me)"/"Look into the Eyes of a Fool" in 1967, neither of which charted. Atco also released a full-length of his which included his Revilot singles. Atco subsidiary Cotillion Records released his last single under the Atlantic Records umbrella, "I Wanna Go Home"/"The Love of My Woman".

From there Banks signed to Stax Records, who released another full-length album of his in 1969 material and two more noncharting singles. They would be Banks's last recordings; in February 1970, Banks was shot and killed by policeman Aaron Bullock in Detroit, Michigan after Banks intervened in his affair with Banks's girlfriend, Marjorie Bozeman.

Born Darrell Eubanks in Mansfield, OH, (1938), the gospel-voiced soul singer stepped out as Darrell Banks from the east side of Buffalo, NY, where he lived since a toddler. He sang in church before going secular and wailing at local watering holes. He befriended Doc Murphy, a dentist whose nightclub the Revilot lounge was one of those "holes." A scorching song written by fellow Buffalo resident Donnie Elbert got Banks off and running, not in Buffalo, but further west in Detroit, MI.

Banks hooked up with Lebron Taylor and Solid Hitbound Productions via some type of license agreement with Doc Murphy; Lebron used the name of Murphy's Buffalo nightspot (Revilot) for the label which debuted in 1966 with "Open the Door to Your Heart" (whose legal name is "Baby Walk Right In"), the tune Donnie Elbert wrote for his Buffalo buddy. The recording took place when Elbert was on the road. No problem there. But when it came out, only Banks was credited as songwriter. A shocked Elbert checked with Broadcast Music Incorporated (B.M.I.) thinking Revilot's secretary inadvertently omitted his name, something that happens all the time; it's what's on the contract that counts, a record label is not a legal document. Elbert found the song clearance form submitted by Banks listed him as the sole writer allotting him 100 percent of the writers' share of "Open the Door to Your Heart" performance income. Elbert eventually got the mess straight, while copies of the 45 rpm list only Banks' name, newly issued CDs credits both Banks and Elbert. Still a sore point for Elbert, according to him, all Banks did was speed the tempo up a bit, for this he attempted to take full credit and ended up with 50 percent of a soul classic. The irony of this scenario is that Banks wasn't a songwriter, "Open the Door to Your Heart" is the only song he ever wrote, which he really didn't. Elbert, however, has more than 125 songwriting credits logged with B.M.I. While the legal battle ensued, the song scored an impressive number two R&B and number 27 pop showing in 1966, Banks' biggest ever.

Darrell Banks Is Here!Banks followed with Marc Gordon and Frank Wilson's "Somebody Somewhere Needs You" (a Motown song that wasn't originally or ever recorded by a Motown artist). Ike & Tina Turner first did the catchy romp on Loma Records (really just Tina, Ike's nowhere on the record). Banks' rendition charted at number 34 R&B and number 55 pop and provided chitlin' and the grits & gravy circuit work for the singer; it was his last chart record. The Revilot deal somehow switched to Atlantic Records' Atco division for two nonstarters: "Here Come the Tears" b/w "I've Got That Feelin'" and "Angel Baby (Don't Ever Leave Me)" b/w "Look into the Eyes of a Fool," both in 1967. Banks never issued an album on Revilot to commensurate the success of the hit single, but both Revilot singles were compiled on his 1967 Atco album Darrell Banks Is Here, as well as, both sides of the Atco singles and nuggets like "I'm Gonna Hang My Head and Cry" from the writing team of Rose Marie McCoy, Donald Bell, Cleveland Horne (the Fantastic Four), and Gene Redd who worked with Kool & the Gang on Delight Records. Atco switched him in-house to Cotillion Records for a final release "I Wanna Go Home" written by Fred Briggs (aka Coldwater Stone) and Don Davis, b/w "The Love of My Woman" in 1968. Revilot continued issuing singles on artists like the Parliarment, Rose Batiste, J. J. Barnes, and others without Doc Murphy's involvement. Changing cooks again, Banks signed with Stax Records' Volt division for two singles and an album issued in 1969. "I'm the One Who Loves" followed by the two-sided gem "Beautiful Feeling" and "No One Is Blinder (Than a Man in Love)" sold well but didn't create any overtime at Stax's pressing plants. The Dramatics later cut an equally stirring rendition of "Beautiful..." for their Dramatically Yours album.

Banks, an exciting entertainer, was often less than pleasant away from the footlights. He was moody, quick tempered and kept a "don't tread on me" Sonny Liston scowl on his face. Not the type of guy you approached with "wass up." Stax Records rattled his nerves when they compiled a song recorded by Steve Mancha on the Rare Stamps LP and credited it to him, which Banks considered an insult; both Mancha and Banks recorded the song, somebody just mixed them up, easy to do, since both singers, as well as J. J. Barnes sounded similar (especially since all were produced by Don Davis at the time). The original album featured just J. J. Barnes and Steve Mancha but a CD reissue added Banks' and his entire Stax LP Darrell Is Here to Stay, which included Banks' Johnnie Taylor sound alike "Don't Know What to Do," "Forgive Me," and the Mancha composition "I Could Never Hate Her."

Tragedy aborted Banks' recording output at seven singles and two albums. The man considered by many as soul's finest voice was shot dead March 1970 in Detroit by Aaron Bullock, an off duty policeman who was seeing Banks' woman (Marjorie Bozeman). He was waiting when Bullock dropped Bozeman off after work; when Banks grabbed her, Bullock intervened, Banks pulled a gun, and the officer reacted with deadly force ending Banks' four turbulent years as a recording artist/entertainer. Bozeman, a barmaid, allegedly was trying to leave Banks, who was divorced and the father of two kids.

Diehards will want to cop J. J. Barnes' The Groovesville Masters for the duet featuring Barnes and Banks entitled "Harder You Love." Goldmine Records released a compilation of Banks' two albums and three unreleased tracks: "I Will Fear No Evil," "I'm Knocking at Your Door," and "The Harder You Love," in 1997 entitled The Lost Soul which includes some unreleased tracks -- check it out. [AMG + Wikipedia]

01. Just Because Your Love Is Gone  3:31
02. Forgive Me 2:32
03. Only The Strong Survive  2:45
04. Don’t Know What To Do  2:20
05. When A Man Loves A Woman  3:04
06. We’ll Get Over  2:33
07. Beautiful Feeling  3:26
08. I Could Never Hate Her  2:06
09. Never Alone  2:44
10. No One Blinder (Than A Man Who Won’t See)  3:01
11. My Love Is Reserved  2:50
12. I'm The One Who Loves You  2:38

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Not to be missed: Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - Darwin (Great Italian Progressive Rock 1972)

Size: 104 MB
Bitrate: 256
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Ripped by: ChrisGoesRock
Artwork Inclded
Source: Japan 24-Bit Remaster

Darwin! is the second album by Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. It was released in 1972 on Ricordi. It is a concept album about Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution.

The album is highly rated by progressive rock fans as one of the top albums in the genre.
Darwin! will remain Banco del Mutuo Soccorso's masterpiece. This album, the band's second, is the proud equal of Premiata Forneria Marconi's Per Un Amico and Le Orme's Felona e Sorona in the Italian progressive rock hall of fame. In Darwin!, every promise made by Banco's eponymous debut was realized. Vittorio Nocenzi's writing has flourished into complex songs blending Italian songwriting, bel canto, and progressive rock.

The arrival of guitarist Rodolfo Maltese crystallized the band's luxurious sound, all topped by Francesco Di Giacomo's operatic vocals. The majestic "L'Evoluzione" opens the album, providing some of the best moments ever recorded by this band (along with "Canto Nomade per un Prigioniero Politico"). "La Conquista Della Posizione Eretta" ("The Conquest of the Wrong Position") reproduces the same pattern as "Metamorphosi" from the first album: a frenetic instrumental theme, scaled down toward the end to let room for a very emotional verse. "La Danza de Grandi Rettili" is a rare jazzy number.

Di Giacomo shines on "750,000 Anni Fa...L'Amore?," a heart-wrenching ballad much closer to Italian pop music than progressive rock. The album comes to an end with "Ed Ora la Domando Tempo al Tempo," a short piece inspired by merry-go-round music. The original version of the album bears a cover with a pocket watch. Never satisfied with the sound quality of the original tapes, the band re-recorded the whole album in 1991 and issued it with blue cover artwork. Purists turned their back on this new version, but it is actually very well performed, even though it has lost the vintage 1970s Italian flavor.

This is a fantastic album and is solely responsible for introducing me to Italian symphonic prog. I decided to go out on a limb and challenge myself with something different long ago after hearing great things about this album. It starts off nice and slow with the epic l'evoluzione with some gentle yet ominous sounding synth and then it builds adding guitar and drums and other instruments before ascending to becoming a prog freakout. At this point I was immediately hooked and decided that BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO were a fantastic band and as the song went on I was amazed I had delayed for so long in listening to this and I was enthralled as the song traversed emotional and atmospheric landscapes through the dark to the grand to the contemplative to the uplifting and finally to the mellow yet fitting ending, a very underrated prog epic and the perfect song to start the album with although unfortunately not all the songs are as good.

Next up is la conquista della posizione eretta which is another great song, which within the confines of symphonic prog is a remarkably heavy piece with driving rythmn similar to zeuhl in a lot of ways and a brooding atmosphere (and great use of tympani) before near the end tapering off and becoming more mellow and melodic. From here the album lose a lot of steam unfortunately and it's mostly downhill from here to the jazzy laid back la danza dei grandi rettili to the more typical Italian prog of cento mani cento occhi to the emotive lamenting piano driven 750.000 anni fa...l'amore. The next song Miserere alla storia is another highlight of the album with more of the dark tones featured earlier on in the albums with some fantastic memorable melodies, unfortunately once again the album loses steam into the final song which is fairly uneventful. The good part though is that even though there is a fairly big disparity between the decent songs and the great songs the less prominent tracks all have some great bit in them and are fairly memorable

I like the instrumentation on this album a lot, the album is heavily reliant on synths, they the main meat and potatoes of the music and they are used very effectively from heavy distorted organ sounds to sawtooth sounds to vibraphone sounds to straight up piano with all kinds of different sounds in between, my favourite being during the middle quieter part of l'evoluzione. The guitar is fantastic, it's not dominant at all but it comes in at all the right times with a furious fuzz tone and there are several parts with some amazing harmonised guitar passages a lot of the time though it's well down in the mix and it's hard to know it's there - not that this is a particularly bad thing as this approach is perfectly suited to the music. The bass has a pretty good tone but I tended not to notice it much to be honest. The vocals are okay, I don't like the guy's voice very much but he suits the music and sings in tune and that's all I can ask for really it doesn't detract from the experience at all.[Source: Wikipedia, AMG, progarchives.com]

Personnel:
♦ Gianni Nocenzi - clarinet, piano, keyboards
♦ Pier Luigi Calderoni - drums, tympani
♦ Renato D'Angelo - bass, guitar, guitar (bass)
♦ Francesco DiGiacomo - vocals
♦ Vittorio Nocenzi - organ, synthesizer, keyboards, clavinet
♦ Marcello Todaro - guitar (acoustic), guitar, guitar (electric), vocals

01. L'Evoluzione (13:59)
02. La Conquista Della Posizione Eretta (8:42)
03. Danza Dei Grandi Rettili (3:42)
04. Cento Mani E Cento Occhi (5:22)
05. 750,000 Anni Fa ... L'Amore? (5:38)
06. Miserere Alla Storia (5:58)
07. Ed Ora Io Domando Tempo Al Tempo Ed Egli Mi Risponde ... Non Ne Ho! (3:29)

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