Album: Sulla Bolla di Sapone (2014)
Genre: Prog Rock (Symphonic Prog) / Italy
It sure is refreshing to listen to the debut album by Italian prog rockers FEM Prog Band. Sulla Bolla di Sapone is a great retro prog rock album, probably my favorite prog rock album since 2010! I know you probably want reasons why I think Sulla Bolla di Sapone is pretty special. I will point out, first, that most of the songs are mid paced or a bit faster and there are only a couple of the more "serious" type of prog rock songs toward the end of the album and those are EASILY least favorite of the album even though I still like them. The rather speedy songs have some superb retro keyboard playing and we even get some nice piano work, too. What is great is despite the crazy good keyboard work, the guitar and bass both get their chances to shine, too! It probably helps that there is a pretty fair amount of prog rock fusion to the music which always emphasizes the musicianship on an album. It is GREAT that there are 15 tracks on Sulla Bolla di Sapone. There are no drawn out songs that you wish were done already which seems to be the norm on prog rock albums these days. Hell, 7 of the tracks are under 3:10 in length and the longest track is only 6:15 in length! The band likes to keep throwing fresh ideas at us and this works superbly. Yes, Sulla Bolla di Sapone is some retro sounding Italian prog rock, but it is much different than I am accustomed to hearing on an Italian prog rock album. The album doesn't contain the slowish and emotional songs dominated by the singer, who often sounds like he is about to breakdown and cry. Make no mistake about it. The band's new vocalist Massimo Sabbatini certainly has the voice to sing like this, but the band avoids this and lets Massimo show what an excellent singer he is. His voice fits the band's music so much better than the prior singer. Surprisingly, as good as Massimo is, he actually sings far less than you would expect and there is quite an abundance of instrumental music on Sulla Bolla di Sapone. Don't be concerned because the music is excellent without vocals and the musicianship extremely impressive during the instrumental sections. About halfway through Sulla Bolla di Sapone I thought I really had FEM Prog Band figured out. That was until the band surprised me with some harmonies and brass sound to the music that reminded me of one of my favorite artists The Alan Parsons Project. Then the band throws some flute playing into a couple of songs. It is excellent but really was unexpected. Sulla Bolla di Sapone is a concept album of sorts, based on a story of the same name. Even though the album takes us on the bit of a roller coaster ride of emotions, I never felt I needed to understand what was being sung as the music itself does a pretty darn good job. Oh, the lyrics seem to be all sung in Italian so you may not understand them any better than I did. Sulla Bolla di Sapone really is a great album and should be enjoyed by fans of Italian prog rock as well as any fans of excellent retro keyboards in their prog rock. This is especially true since everything is so well done on Sulla Bolla di Sapone and the music so catchy and impressive. Review by "Butterflyman" (Rate Your Music).
RATING: 9 / 10 **FANTASTIC**
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Genre: Prog Rock (Symphonic Prog) / Italy
It sure is refreshing to listen to the debut album by Italian prog rockers FEM Prog Band. Sulla Bolla di Sapone is a great retro prog rock album, probably my favorite prog rock album since 2010! I know you probably want reasons why I think Sulla Bolla di Sapone is pretty special. I will point out, first, that most of the songs are mid paced or a bit faster and there are only a couple of the more "serious" type of prog rock songs toward the end of the album and those are EASILY least favorite of the album even though I still like them. The rather speedy songs have some superb retro keyboard playing and we even get some nice piano work, too. What is great is despite the crazy good keyboard work, the guitar and bass both get their chances to shine, too! It probably helps that there is a pretty fair amount of prog rock fusion to the music which always emphasizes the musicianship on an album. It is GREAT that there are 15 tracks on Sulla Bolla di Sapone. There are no drawn out songs that you wish were done already which seems to be the norm on prog rock albums these days. Hell, 7 of the tracks are under 3:10 in length and the longest track is only 6:15 in length! The band likes to keep throwing fresh ideas at us and this works superbly. Yes, Sulla Bolla di Sapone is some retro sounding Italian prog rock, but it is much different than I am accustomed to hearing on an Italian prog rock album. The album doesn't contain the slowish and emotional songs dominated by the singer, who often sounds like he is about to breakdown and cry. Make no mistake about it. The band's new vocalist Massimo Sabbatini certainly has the voice to sing like this, but the band avoids this and lets Massimo show what an excellent singer he is. His voice fits the band's music so much better than the prior singer. Surprisingly, as good as Massimo is, he actually sings far less than you would expect and there is quite an abundance of instrumental music on Sulla Bolla di Sapone. Don't be concerned because the music is excellent without vocals and the musicianship extremely impressive during the instrumental sections. About halfway through Sulla Bolla di Sapone I thought I really had FEM Prog Band figured out. That was until the band surprised me with some harmonies and brass sound to the music that reminded me of one of my favorite artists The Alan Parsons Project. Then the band throws some flute playing into a couple of songs. It is excellent but really was unexpected. Sulla Bolla di Sapone is a concept album of sorts, based on a story of the same name. Even though the album takes us on the bit of a roller coaster ride of emotions, I never felt I needed to understand what was being sung as the music itself does a pretty darn good job. Oh, the lyrics seem to be all sung in Italian so you may not understand them any better than I did. Sulla Bolla di Sapone really is a great album and should be enjoyed by fans of Italian prog rock as well as any fans of excellent retro keyboards in their prog rock. This is especially true since everything is so well done on Sulla Bolla di Sapone and the music so catchy and impressive. Review by "Butterflyman" (Rate Your Music).
RATING: 9 / 10 **FANTASTIC**
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2 comentários :
buen fin de semana, mi hermano. Gracias
Obrigado Juan Manuel ..... sempre muito gentil !!! Abraços...
Danilo
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