Exposé Online banner

Nuova Era — Il Passo del Soldato
(Pick Up Records PK 1910, 1996, CD)

by Mike McLatchey, 1996-03-01:

Il Passo del Soldato Cover art Nuova Era are one of the few newer Italian groups performing music in the 70s style of dramatic/romantic/ symphonic rock with strong hints of Banco, PFM, Metamorfosi etc. Their second album, Dopo l'Infinito, turned a lot of heads after its release in late 1989, in retrospect it certainly was one of the best early entries in the modern resurgence. The new album Il Passo del Soldato is their fourth album, three years since their last, and comes after some serious personnel changes. Guitarist/lead vocalist Alex Camiati has left the band leaving quite a hole, as his contribution to the Nuova Era sound was considerable. As the band only decided to replace the vocals, the lack of guitar has made a certain difference in the sound, but the newcomer's strong Alberto Piras (Deus Ex Machina) influenced vocals are a definite improvement on Camiati. Overall, Nuova Era retains the strong melodic feel as on their earlier albums and Pini's keyboard tones have definitely been improved. This album is much like the last couple with these personnel changes and has some very strong moments. Fans of the 70s Italian sound should warm to this quickly, its a great album and certainly one of the best of its genre this year, yet I think some directional changes are in order here for Nuova Era to retain their freshness, keep true to the "Nuova" part of the name, and not remain fully retro.

by Mike Grimes, 1996-03-01:

This album could have been reviewed as a new release back in 1976 if it was judged by the musical instruments used to make it. Nuova Era, especially in the keyboard department, sticks to the tried and true instruments of progressive rock — Hammond organ, Mellotron, piano, and ultra fat monophonic synthesizer. And why not? Those instruments have outlived most of the artists who got famous playing them. Nuova Era proves that an interesting album can still be made using the antique instruments. The music is based around a three piece lineup that includes bass, drums, and keyboards. The bass and drum work on the album, the vocals too for that matter, don't really stand out as good or bad. The keyboards are the highlight of this release. Walter Pini really knows how to tickle the ivories (and the plastic). His Hammond work is especially good. It seems that the vocals are less frequent than they really are because of the numerous long instrumental breaks. The vocals are not all that memorable, even though he does occasionally span the entire range of human hearing in a second or so — jumping from low natural voice to high falsetto in the blink of an eye. You must have to be able to do that to obtain your singing license in Italy. Although the instrumentation dates the sound of the material to a degree, the live feel to the album is refreshing. It feels and sounds like they are playing in the same room with you. The music isn't over-produced and slick like the albums of so many other artists today. And did I mention the keyboard player?

Filed under: New releases , Issue 9 , 1996 releases

Related artist(s): Nuova Era

More info

Latest news

2019-04-24
Help MoonJune Bring Great Music to Life – Like many music lovers around the world, we’ve been thrilled and amazed to hear the recordings that have been released by MoonJune from sessions at La Casa Murada in Spain. Such label stalwarts as Mark Wingfield, Markus Reuter, Asaf Sirkis, Tony Levin, Dusan Jevtovic, Vasil Hadzimanov, and many more have gathered in various combinations at the studio to produce some of the most creative music in recent years. Now, label head Leonardo Pavkovic is offering a compilation, La Casa Murada - MoonJune Sessions, Volume One, as a fundraiser for upcoming sessions. » Read more

2019-04-10
The Pineapple Thief to Tour North America – November and December of 2019 will see The Pineapple Thief bringing their music to Canada, Mexico, and the US, and famed drummer Gavin Harrison will be on board. The band has been touring extensively in Europe, but North America will be new territory for them. » Read more

2019-03-25
Scott Walker RIP – Noel Scott Engel, better known as Scott Walker, was one of the most intriguing and enigmatic musical figures in the second half of the 20th Century. His strange career started with The Walker Brothers, an American pop group that featured no one named Walker and no brothers. After moving to England in 1965, they had a series of hit singles. Scott's solo work started with Scott in 1967. Starting in the 80s, his work took an increasingly avant-garde turn. » Read more

2019-03-20
Freedom to Spend Unearths June Chikuma's Archives – Jun (June) Chikuma is well known for her video game and anime soundtracks, but she also released an album of experimental electronic music back in 1986 called Divertimento where she indulged the kind of spontaneity that wouldn't work in a soundtrack. RVNG Int'l label Freedom to Spend is bringing this overlooked item to broader attention with a deluxe reissue. » Read more

2019-03-03
Seaprog 2019 Lineup Almost Complete – The Seaprog festival in Seattle is scheduled for June 7-9 this year, and they've announced their lineup of performers. The revitalized Trettioåriga Kriget will cap Friday night, perennial favorites Marbin are on Saturday, and District 97 will finish off the fest on Sunday night. In support, they've booked a stellar variety of artists from the Northwest and around the world, including EchoTest, Markus Reuter and Trey Gunn, and the live debut of the amazing Troot project. » Read more

More news

Previously in Exposé...

Jim Cole and Spectral Voices - Innertones – A few years back I reviewed Jim Cole’s then-latest release The Way Beyond, a heavily processed drone-like dreamscape sourced exclusively from overtone singing. This latest release offers some of...  (2008) » Read more

Hedningarna - 1989-2003 – Readers of this magazine have likely noticed over the last few years the fondness that several on the staff have for artists on the NorthSide label, with Hedningarna consistently getting good reviews....  (2004) » Read more

Fluxury - Perishable Goods – This is also labeled “Part One of the Privacy Suite” – whatever that means. Musically, it’s a kind of well-crafted prog-pop concept work, heavy on keyboards, featuring both male and female...  (2006) » Read more

Psychomusak - The Extasie – You want psychedelic? The music here, spread out across five long purely instrumental tracks, each ranging from ten to twenty minutes, evokes a hallucinatory half dreamlike state by offering pulsating...  (1996) » Read more

Trusties - Human Wheel – The last time we heard from this excellent Finnish band was their previous album We Just Want to Rule the World from 2003 (review in issue #29). At that point Trusties was a trio, with a solid...  (2010) » Read more

Random review

Listen & discover

Shankar Father / Daughter Sitar Jubilee

More recommendations
Paul Sears - Angels & Demons That Play book

Print issues