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Blocco Mentale - POA (expanded/remastered/mini-lp sleeve)

SKU 27-Vinyl Magic 032
"A very obscure and one of the rarest albums from Italian rock music scene of the 70's. This album takes on ecology as its theme and sings of the evil of polluting the planet. Terrific basic progressive music housed in a creative gimmick sleeve with window to flower. Blocco Mentale were a quintet, consisting of Aldo Angeletti (who wrote the music) on vocals and bass, Michele Arena on drums and vocals, Gigi "Roso" Bianchi on guitar and vocals, Filippo Lazzari on keyboards, harmonica and vocals, and Dino Finocchi on vocals, sax and flute. Musically Blocco Mentale is characterised by a progressive style with some personal touches. The best intruments are the horns and the keyboards. The album opens with angular staccato sax riffs and then slides into a lush melody somewhat reminiscent of PFM ( Premiata Forneria Marconi ) in their early (and best) days. There are rich vocal harmonies blended with organ and flute, and once again a Meditteranean sensibility which distinguishes much of the best Italian progressive rock. (The opening lines of that opening track, "Capita," are recapitulated in the closing lines of the sixth track, "Ritorno," but the album still has one track to go at that point, oddly enough.) Swelling Mellotrons blend into vocal harmonies, and give way to a cascading piano line. The music moves around a lot in the course of the album. The fourth track, "Io E Me," is an amazing Meditteranean blues, with a wailing harmonica taking the lead." "Here's an Italian band from 1973 that, instead of taking their cue from the keyboard driven sound of ELP, have more in common with the sound of Jethro Tull, early PFM, maybe Blodwyn Pig...there are near-schizophrenic outbursts of high speed sax-driven rock going right into the folky flute and guitar textures similar to Per Un Amico era PFM. Of course there are keyboards here, piano, Hammond, mellotron, and more, but it's more an integral part of the music than a dominant force and vehicle for solos. The band creates a diversity of moods and currents within their music, moving effortlessly between styles, doing fast changes from a simpler accessible folk styling straight into ripping bits of jazz-rock with intense involvement from all..."-Expose #3.



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