Lava - Tears Are Going Home
Lava are about as exciting as a wet and then frozen dishrag, one’s interest with them fades quickly after initial contact and one is left with a mild distaste. They’re one of the stinkers of the original Brain 1000 series, as if they were trying to ape early Hawkwind without the energy. This is a case where my original feelings haven’t changed in the decade since hearing this last, the singer’s heavily accented and raspy tone grates, the band sounds like they’re half asleep and there’s barely anything interesting or compelling about the music whatsoever. Even the era and sound doesn’t save this, had this been released in the modern time with a 75 minute duration, I may have died from boredom.
Utopia s/t
I never used to like this Amon Duul II-related piece either, but fortunately, unlike the Lava, this turned out to be pretty interesting after a rest, possibly the work I put in getting to know Carnival in Babylon and Wolf City more and I believe at least one song on this Utopia release crosses over with Wolf City, albeit a different version. Utopia has that same sense of diversity that WC has from song to song, not one piece of music resembles another much and perhaps that takes away from the flow of the music, but looking at this piece to piece, there’s some great music to be found. So I had no problem bringing this up above my cutoff threshold to a 9, and yes, I could probably see a 10 on this eventually.
CAP - …Nei Gorghi Del Tempo
I absolutely loved CAP when I saw them live but their albums are like throwing silly putty at a wall, they stick pretty high for a bit and then start to slide. This album is basically an early Banco clone, complete with riffs and motifs from songs like “Metamorphosis” and “RIP.” I was kind of amused listening to it because the last time I heard it I would have never noticed the similarities as strongly, but these guys are almost as guilty as Kyrie Eleison or The Watch. I was also, I suppose, pretty pleased to be able to cut it loose, cuz there ain’t nothing like the real thing. I’ll just remember it was a PFM cover they did at the gig. I should say, for that matter, that this, despite the fancy box, isn’t nearly as interesting as their later albums either. TKO.
Nico, Gianni, Frank & Maurizio - Canti D’Innocenza, Canti D’Esperenza
Let’s face it, no other Italian group popularized and adapted more English styles than the New Trolls. By this point in the game, we’ve got a branch in the family tree and one or so members went off and formed what was basically Ibis, although at this point they were just a big question mark. Before they went on to do the Yes thing, NGF&M recorded this rather strange and short little Italian album that sounds like a cross between Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, with vocals that are almost more intense than Gianni Leone’s. While this is no “Sun Supreme” by any measure, there’s the tendency for a few of these songs to lean in that direction, while NGF&M are making hard rock, they’ve got the Italian prog penchant for elaborate arrangements and there are actually a lot of cool things about this one that popped at me. I’m still probably hanging with a 9 on it, but it’s a keeper 9 just for now.