“Felona E Sorona” by Le Orme

Bagi yang gak mengikuti Italian Prog, mungkin nama LE oRME cukup janggal. Namun, jangan sepelekan grup ini. Ini adalah satu dari tiga grup prog rock Italy yang patut dibanggakan, selain BANCO dan PFM.

ORME, LE — Felona E Sorona
Review by Gatot (Gatot Widayanto)
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

This is a masterpiece Italian progressive rock album by Le Orme (one of three progressive acts from Italy with other acts were Banco & PFM). The music is original in style even though there are styles that remind me to bands like The Nice, ELP, Refugee, Genesis and Yes. The key elements of the composition comprising keyboard as major act while bass guitar is also quite dominant, followed with drums. They wrote the music with tight composition, dynamic time signatures, quite complex yet the melody has been maintained catchy and there are heavy influences of classical music.

Melodic Symphonic Prog, in Dark Mood ..

The album opener, “Sospesi Nell Íncredibile (In between)” (8:43), is an inspiring and challenging to observe. It starts with ambient yet energetic organ work in symphonic style reminiscent of ELP or the Nice or Refugee followed with drumming in dynamic way plus bass guitar work. The first 2 minutes plus, the music deals with acrobatic nature of organ work until at approx minute 2:25 when the vocal enters in dark mood. The organ follows the music at background. In the middle of the track there is stunning organ work augmented by tight bass lines …and later, the drumming enters dynamically and combined together they make great progressive sound. It’s one of my favorite tracks.

“Felona” (1:58) is basically an acoustic guitar, accompanying vocal, while the next track “La Solitudine Di Chi Protegge Il Mondo (The maker)” (1:57) which has catchy melody demonstrated by vocal, backed up beautifully by piano touches in classical music style. The organ solo at the end of the track is really a great embarkation point to higher energy track “L’Equilbrio (Web of time)” (3:47) which flows brilliantly at the end of previous track, seamlessly. This is another great composition as the music style changes from one segment to another. The keyboard work at approx minute 0:38 demonstrates symphonic nature of the song. And the bass guitar plays dynamically here. The keyboard work at minutes 1:22 is quite similar with Genesis “The Fountain of Salmacis”. Influenced? It might be … as “The Fountain of Salmacis” is from “Nursery Cryme” album released in 1971. But overall, this track is superb!

“Sorona” (2:28) is a very melodic and nice song in acoustic version, no drumming, with dark mood. I like the way how simple keyboard work augmented by simple guitar fills provides great foundation for “melodic” vocal to enter the music. It’s so sad in nuance, dark, but it’s truly a nice melodic vocal line. Especially, because it’s said in Italian language and I think Italian is the best language for progressive music. It’s better than English, really. Just compare this track with ELP’s “The Sage”… I think you will honestly say that “Sorona” is much better. Don’t believe with me? Try it now!

“Sorona” flows wonderfully to next track “Attesa Inerte (The plan)” (3:25) which starts ambient with great symphonic multi-layered keyboard sound augmented by nice bass guitar work. At 0:48 the music changes the style and .. oh my God! The vocal line enters brilliantly here, in similar vein like “Sorona”. Again, the use of Italian language has made the song sounds so solid. The music turns to ELP-like with its keyboard-driven work. The song moves seamlessly to “Ritratto Di Un Mattino (The Balance)” (3:29) which the first half is an acoustic keyboard work and the later half comprises drums and other instruments.

“All Ínfuori Del Tempo (Return to naught)” (4:08) sounds like different style than the previous tracks even though still in the corridor of Italian typical prog. It uses acoustic guitar and vocal in straight forward composition. Full music only appears at the end of the track. The album concludes with “Ritorno Al Nulla” (3:34) through the sound of long sustain keyboard followed with brilliant organ work and drumming that reminds me to The Nice or Refugee. This last track is a nice instrumental.

Overall, what can I say about this masterpiece work with killing melody in almost all individual track? Considering the year of release, you might compare this album with Genesis “Selling England By The Pound” or ELP “Brain Salad Surgery” and this album is at par excellent with those two legendary albums. I consider the music of this album is a melodic symphonic prog with dark mood. Keep on proggin’ ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild – GW (i-Rock! Music Community)

Album Details:

Studio Album, released in 1973

Track Listings

1. Sospesi Nell Íncredibile (In between) (8:43)
2. Felona (1:58)
3. La Solitudine Di Chi Protegge Il Mondo (The maker) (1:57)
4. L’Equilbrio (Web of time) (3:47)
5. Sorona (2:28)
6. Attesa Inerte (The plan) (3:25)
7. Ritratto Di Un Mattino (The Balance) (3:29)
8. All Ínfuori Del Tempo (Return to naught) (4:08)
9. Ritorno Al Nulla (3:34)

Total Time: 33:39

Line-up/Musicians

- Aldo Tagliapietra / vocals, bass, guitar
- Toni Pagliuca / keyboards
- Michi Dei Rossi / drums

Releases information

LP Philips 6323 023 (1973)
Late 70’s Philips / Successo (6323 023)