Search - Le Orme :: Contrappunti

More Experimental

Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 03/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is somewhat similar to its predecessor "Felona e Serona" in that it opens with a very ELP-like flourish on the title track, segues into a very nice acoustic piece (Frutto Acerbo), and then continues through a series of shorter pieces. What makes this CD more satisfying is that while retaining the trademark moodiness and the great melodies, Le Orme takes somewhat greater risks with their arrangements and compositions. For example, rhythmic experimentation increases as on "Aliante", which is just a 7/8 reworking of the "Apocalypse in 9/8" sub-section from "Suppers Ready" by Genesis, "India" is an odd piece that that uses unusual (for Le Orme) scales (hence the title "India"), and "Notturno" is a dark and atmospheric piece of minimalism played primarily on acoustic piano and organ, with various synthesizer and percussion effects in the background. Unfortunately, this experimentation comes at some cost, and the songs really don't flow as well as on "Felona e Serona" or Uomo di Pezza". Notwithstanding, this is a fantastic piece of music and is the last full-blown progressive work from Le-Orme. Highly recommended."

Satisfying

Gerald Simmons | portland oregon | 02/14/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you're searching for those 70's Moog sounds, they're all here. But perhaps it's not the Moog used here, but some Italian brand. At any rate the first track sounds like Le Orme doing a Tarkus type composition. Very complex indeed. Le Orme always seems to do an obligatory acoustic number for the second track on their albums, so expect that. It was on this album that I realized that the singer is trying to sound like Jon Anderson. But because of the Italian lyrics, you are not tempted to make that comparison. The rest of the album is more experimental compared to other Le Orme outtings, and has a heavier edge but still maintaining their trademark style. Because they only have three members the added effort on the keyboardist's part to play in a more busy fashion really fills out their sound. On some of their other works it seems that if they get a bit lazy you feel that some instrument is missing. I suppose that is because whoever is doing the singing cannot play their instrument as well when they sing so everything slows way down when there is singing. But I suppose that is part of their style. This is still equal to the best of their works."