For Malibran's 4th album Oltre L'Ignoto I stated "Their debut was more of an English styled neo prog album, and I eventually parted with it. I plan on revisiting the other pair in short order." And roughly four months later here we are with Malibran's sophomore effort. This is the album where they broke ranks with their British neo prog beginning. However the first 2 tracks here (totaling 17 minutes) maintain the English vocals and the music overall recalls the great Ezra Winston, arguably the godfather of the Italian prog renaissance. It's more polished and mature than their debut The Wood of Tales. For the remaining 35 minutes, Malibran slips into Italian most comfortably, and this includes the 27 minute title track finale. They have eliminated all doubt that their commitment remains with progressive rock through and through. The production and sound choices are clearly from their own era - that of the early 90s. However flute remains the primary instrument, giving it the 70s authenticity we all craved at the time. The songs are well written and repeated listens are encouraged and welcomed. I've owned the album since it first came out, and almost 30 years later, its musical value increases. In fact I enjoyed a +1 listen last night. Having said that, it still falls behind Oltre L'Ignoto. I'll be curious how the 3rd one stacks up. Its day is coming soon.
Ownership: CD: 1993 Pegaso. Jewel case release with a very nice poster booklet and excellent artwork. Their first album was LP only (at the time), and is probably its best asset, so it appears the band was interested in maintaining a semblance of that culture here when CDs were the only choice for consumers. It's limited and numbered, so you would think it would be worth quite a bit today, but prices remain the same as when first released. Though a 1000 copies is a lot for a niche prog buying market (currently only 33 claim ownership on Discogs, including me). In addition, it's been reissued twice in the last 10 years, and the Mellow release has bonus tracks. Interesting about the numbering, because they appended it on the booklet and backplate. On my copy the former is #940 and the latter #976, so it looks like they got them mixed up in production. I suspect the US got the high numbers originally considering I was an early customer.
3//94; 10//09; 10//11; 6//15; 10/8/22 (new entry)
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