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Il Giro Strano — Il Pianeta della Verità
(Black Widow BWR 230, 1973/2021, CD / 2LP)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2023-01-11

Il Pianeta della Verità Cover art

Il Giro Strano, The Strange Ride in English, is one of those obscure 70s Italian progressive bands. They had no hope of releasing an album, but left a lot of demo tapes, reels, and cassettes. They recorded their only album, La Divina Commedia, in 1973, but it never saw the light of day until nearly twenty years later in 1992 on Mellow Records. Now after an additional thirty years, Black Widow Records has reissued the album as Il Pianeta della Verità on both CD and double LP with two bonus tracks. Given that the album was not professionally recorded and that the bonus tracks are sourced from tapes, the sound quality is below par, muffled, and tinny. Which is a shame since the music presented here consists of rare musical jewels. The music flows effortlessly, propelled by Riccardo Gabutti (bass), Delio Sismondo (drums), Mario Pignata (bass and guitar), Valentino Vecchio (guitar), Alessio Feltri (organ), Mirko Ostinet (lead vocals), and Mariano Maio (sax and flute). I am reminded of bands like  Kyrie Eleison, T2, The Nice, and even Jethro Tull. Feltri’s organ is foremost across the album, but not quite at the same level as Keith Emerson. The music is primarily prog and jazz fusion instrumentals with the occasional Italian vocals, getting quite heavy at times. The one departure is the bonus track that closes the album, a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You.” A decent cover with Ostinet channeling his inner Robert Plant and Vecchio doing his best to sound like Jimmy Page. Unfortunately the poor sound quality detracts from an enjoyable listening experience. Sound quality aside, Il Pianeta della Verità is well worth investigating, if only for its nostalgic snapshot in time of 70s prog rock.

Filed under: Reissues, 2021 releases, 1973 recordings

Related artist(s): Il Giro Strano

 

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