Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno ~ Italy

Per… un Mondo di Cristallo (1972)

---Mar 2005

Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno reminds me of Jumbo’s 3rd effort in that every time I hear the album, it actually gets better. Every time. For Jumbo that started in 1988 – for RRR it was 1989. They share some of the same qualities… musically all over the map, intense vocals, sublime dynamic shifts, outstanding musicianship, each song has multiple shifts. I swear they composed these sections separately and patched them together randomly. Imagine the second or third Delirium taken to the nth degree. The masterpiece has to be ‘Un Palco di Marionette’, which seems to be an influence on bands like Semiramis. RRR along with Il Balletto di Bronzo, Banco del Mutuo Succorso, Premiata Forneria Marconia, Metamorfosi, and Quella Vecchia Locanda were the trailblazers of 1972, setting the stage for Italy’s finest year. I personally consider this as one of the greatest albums from the classic Italian progressive rock scene.

---11/29/23

In hearing the album for the first time since (I sense a theme), the above review makes the claim: "Every time I hear the album, it actually gets better. Every time." So true. I credit Per… un Mondo di Cristallo as one of those albums that really opened a lot of doors for me. I admit to struggling with this title when I first heard it. Even though I had managed to breakthrough with Jumbo, Italian albums on first landing always seemed difficult to grasp. I feel that RRR was the one where that trend stopped. There's about 60 minutes of music on this 37 minute release. I mentioned the other day that while Museo Rosenbach's Zarathustra is at the very top tier of my album collection, it still barely makes the Top 10 in Italy. Per… un Mondo di Cristallo is one of the albums that is ahead of it.

Ownership: 1972 Cetra (LP). Gatefold. Acquired in 1999.

First copy: 1989 Fonit Cetra (CD). Acquired in 1989.

1989; 3//05; 11/29/23 (review)

RRR reformed in 2009 and have since released a number of albums. None of which I've heard to date.

11/29/23 (new entry)