I Santoni - Noi. 1972 Italy

I Santoni is somewhat typical of the transitional band from Italy going from singer songwriter beat/psych over to progressive rock. You'll hear similar bands from Italy like Capricorn College, I Califfi, and Era di Acquario. But that only tells part of the story. There are also some complex instrumental charts played by sax, flute, and Hammond organ that gives it a strong whiff of the progressive rock movement that was just about to sweep Italy for the next 5 years. In this regard, Delirium's Dolce Acqua, Blocco Mentale, and even first album Jumbo come to light. If all this reads well to you, then I Santoni's Noi is likely to satisfy at a high level. I really enjoy albums such as Noi, but it does stop short of being excellent. For those of you looking for the next early 70s Italian progressive rock monster, this isn't it. Move further on in the stack.

Ownership: CD: 1995 Mellow. This reissue is bare bones even by Mellow's standards. No booklet, just a single card with the cover. Taken from vinyl. To be fair, it sounds good despite this. These are the kind of CDs that lead people to being OK with downloads.