Melos

About

Cervello (Brain) was one of those Italian prog bands that gave us one album then disappeared. Melo, was that one and only album from Cervello. Originally released in 1973 on the Ricordi label, same label that gave us Banco and Museo Rosenbach, the original LP comes with a gimmick cover, which is nicely replicated by Seven Seas Records in Japan on the 1st japanese-reissue. Anyway, if you’re a fan of Osanna, particularly Palepoli, you need Melo. As a matter of fact, guitarist Corrado Rustici was the younger brother of Osanna’s Danilo Rustici, so of course the comparisons to Osanna can’t be avoided. But I can also compare this with Semiramis (particulary because vocalist Gianluigi di Franco sounds just like Michele Zarrillo) and of Biglietto Per L’Inferno (because of that similar sinister atmosphere), so if you’re a fan of those group, you’re sure to enjoy Melos as well. Like Osanna, Cervello featured sax and flute, as well as the usual guitars and vocal, but unlike Osanna, the flutes and sax are more tame, and there’s no Mellotron like on Palepoli, but the music is still quite incredible. The opening “Canto del Capro”, which starts off with some really sinister chanting, before the music kicks in. Others highlights include “Trittico”, “Scinsione” and the title track. And while Cervello disappeared from sight after this album, Corrado Rustici did not, he was later with a band called Nova, before coming to the United State, and unfortunately, playing with the likes of George Michael and Whitney Houston, which really smells of sellout to me, which is too bad. On Melo, Rustici’s guitar playing is very much like Mahavishnu Orchestra’s John McLaughlin (no surprise as McLaughlin was one of Rustici’s guitar heros). As a matter of fact, if McLaughlin was a member of Osanna, it would end up sounding like Cervello. Anyway, as far as Italian prog is concerned, Melos ranks up there with Banco’s Darwin and Io Sono Nato Libero, Museo Rosenbach’s Zarathustra, Osanna’s Palepoli, and PFM’s Per Un Amico. .

via Last.fm

The Clerk says

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