Great Italian progressive rock
B. E Jackson | Pennsylvania | 08/20/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This Quella Vecchia Locanda album is different from Il Tempo Della Gioia. The songs are shorter, and more to the point. However, the choice of instruments is more expanded on this one- you can clearly hear piano, violin, and guitar solos. Those same instruments sound a bit muddy on the other album. It resembles Jethro Tull a little bit, in fact.
The vocals are of course in Italian, but the way the album flows, there's probably just as much focus on the instrumental playing as there is on the vocal melodies. I love how unpredictable the songwriting is. You never know which direction these songs are going to take as they develop into other instrumental jams and vocals. A pretty violin solo may progress into a heavy and intense violin jam, or a keyboard solo may swing into a beautiful flute passage. These are signs of a great album!
Everything sounds quite lovely though, and I highly recommend a great early 70's rock album that unfortunately never became more popular."
Simply great
Lord Corkscrew | Borgo Fornari (GE), Italy | 01/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"this is one of the landmark records in Italian prog history
yeah people, I'm saying that this can be compared to the best moments of PFM and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso...
sometimes it sounds like early Jethro Tull, but it's very original indeed and the approach is romantic and classical (there are many violin parts)
buy it now!!! It's just GREAT!"
Worth Seeking Out
Cosmic Music Fan | Mars | 07/28/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is one of the best prog records of the 70s and has a great meaty violin sound blended with some wicked Mini Moog. I suppose because of the occassional flute Quella Vecchia Locanda gets labelled "sounds like Jethro Tull", but they are way more original, complex and interesting than that label implies. This album is an amazing blend of classical and rock and darts between heavy and light on the turn of a dime. I prefer this to their second album which sounds restrained and stilted. The production and sound is excellent. This one of my favorite records and if you like 1969-1974 era Crimson you'll dig the vibe of this too."