review by thomas

Everything did change for this band when Gianni Leone on vocals and keyboards joined. They soon after released the concept album “Ys”. The music can be very avant-garde and at the same time give you the impression that the whole album is just one long jam. But the group plays the piece with perfection and carefully structured and thought-over notes, so the jam impression is just an illusion. Besides bass, drums, guitar and vocals, the keyboards from Leone dominate the sound, he plays organ, piano, moog, mellotron, celesta and spinetta (all the right stuff!). The album also features guest Daina Dini on vocals. The music is – although typically seventies – very timeless and under the avant-garde and heavy progressive sound that dominates the music you can hear jazz playing, heavy metal, classical music and more. Very fine playing and performances from all band members; many times just brilliant, especially the keyboards.

The five movements of the album flows together as a whole with few breaks. To fully appreciate the complex and difficult-to-get-into music one must be patient for it requires much time. This is one of the very best offerings from Italy and at the same time one of the strangest (it may not seem that way after the first few listening times) album to come out of Italy during the seventies. Heavy progressive with an overall avant-garde feeling and with keyboards that are incredibly good.