Exposé Online banner

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

by Mike Grimes, 1996-03-01:

Il Passo del Soldato Cover art 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?

by Mike McLatchey, 1996-03-01:

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.

Filed under: New releases , Issue 9 , 1996 releases

Related artist(s): Nuova Era

More info

Latest news

2021-02-14
SoundQuest Fest 2021 – SoundQuest Fest, first experienced as a live festival in Tucson Arizona in 2010 was created by ambient music pioneer Steve Roach. This 2021 event will unite a worldwide gathering of artists and audience members together for a 3-day online event unique in the realm of ambient music. From March 26-28th a continuous flow of streamed performances, audio-video wonder worlds and deep immersion zones will burn bright on Roach’s YouTube channel. » Read more

2021-02-10
Chick Corea RIP – The sad news has reached us that Chick Corea has Returned to Forever, so to speak. The innovative keyboardist and composer died on February 9 at the age of 79. With a career that spanned from the 60s until shortly before his death, Corea touched many listeners with the incredible variety of music he produced in his lifetime. » Read more

2021-01-18
Asia Minor Third Album on the Way – On January 29, AMS records will be releasing the long-awaited third album by classic Turkish-French band Asia Minor. Released last year in Japan, this will be the widespread debut of Points of Libration. The album features original members Setrak Bakirel (vocals, guitar) and Eril Tekeli (flute, guitar). » Read more

2020-12-09
Harold Budd RIP – Harold Budd, one of pre-eminent American composers of avant-garde and minimalism, has died of complications from the coronavirus. Budd came to prominence in the 70s, championed by Brian Eno on his Obscure Records label, with music that blended academic minimalism with electric jazz and electronic music. Much of Budd's best known work was done in collaboration with other artists, including Eno, Daniel Lanois, Robin Guthrie, Andy Partridge, John Foxx, Jah Wobble, and many others. » Read more

2020-11-20
25 Views of Worthing Finally Gets Released – A while ago, we wrote about the discovery of a "long lost" Canterbury-style gem by a band called 25 Views of Worthing. And now we're pleased to find out that Wind Waker Records has released their music on an LP. » Read more

More news

Previously in Exposé...

Garden Wall - Principium – Garden Wall are an Italian neo-prog four-piece who have recently released this, their first album. If the name of the band sounds familiar to you, recall Garden Wall was one of the names Genesis...  (1994) » Read more

Ozric Tentacles - Arborescence – The Ozrics are masters of the hypnotic groove, finding that seemingly endless psychedelic guitar and synth riff, a repetitive - nearly trance-like structure, and then exploring all of its...  (1994) » Read more

Out of Focus - Rat Roads – This is my first encounter with this classic German group, so knowing that the tracks are outtakes from their 1972 sessions for the album Four Letter Monday Afternoon didn’t tell me much. As the...  (2003) » Read more

P.L.J. Band - Armageddon – This is the second reissue for this Greek prog-psych classic, the first being a horribly scratchy vinyl transcription on the Second Battle label about six years ago. This latest is from the master...  (1996) » Read more

Cage - Secret Passage – There’s nothing new about a progressive rock band sounding a bit like classic Genesis, and unless you have a categorical dislike of bands that sound a bit like classic Genesis, Cage has a lot to...  (2011) » Read more

Random review

Listen & discover

The Drums Will Never Die

More recommendations
The Eighteenth Dream of Dr. Sardonicus Festival 2019

Print issues