FEATURED CD - Il Balleto Di Bronzo: Ys

[Duncan Glenday]

Per Greg Northrup on Gnosis:

Il Balleto di Bronzo's Ys is an unequivocal classic, and stands as one of the very best albums out of Italy, and perhaps among the finest examples of dark, heavy progressive. However, newbies to the Italian scene might want to approach this one with caution, since it can be tougher to get into than some of the other popular Italian works. This was one of the first Italian albums I got, and I was frankly unprepared for it. The pyrotechnic keyboards, thundering rhythms, the angular, punishing guitars and the abrasive vocals made for a work that I found initially dense and unrewarding. For an album that many have hailed as the best progressive rock album of all time, I was a little disappointed. Of course, I've come around by now, and certainly hold this album in high regard as one of the jewels of Italian prog, but that personal anecdote should serve as a caveat for those expecting to be blown away immediately, especially if not particularly predisposed towards the more dissonant branches of progressive rock.

Still, Ys is a complete monster. The music on here is thundering, cacophonous and simply unrelenting in its sheer, brute force. This also stands as one of the best keyboard-based albums of all time; Gianni Leone employs the full range of classic keys, from Hammond, Moog and Mellotron to piano and harpsichord, pitting them in savage, fiery duels that will absolutely tear your head off. These are contrasted against violent guitar riffs and surging basslines, making for a chaotic, mindbendingly complex ride. The music is punctuated by Leone's caterwauling operatic vocals, which are perhaps the toughest part of the album to get into, but are eventually endearing and nothing if not emotional. Take "Introduzione", an absolute beast of a cut that builds from volcanic climax to climax, as Hammonds and Moog duel it out for supremacy. Take the opening riff of "Epilogo," with its brilliant arpeggiated theme that simply bursts at the seams with intensity. The entire album is a series of mindblowing passages, with few spots of respite to be found. An indispensable Italian classic, without a doubt.

http://gnosis2000.net/reviews/balletto.htm

[100423]

The rawness and wild ambition of this album makes it one of my favorite RPI albums.

[battema]

My first entry into 70's Italian prog rock, and still a favorite.

[jeffo621]

Raw, over-the-top, dark, intense, not for the faint-of-heart.

I bought this one around fifteen years ago when I was first getting into Italian Prog, mostly because of its reputation as one of the best ever. It took a while to grow on me, and I still listen to it regularly. Not one of my all-timers, but a brilliant album nonetheless

Amusing YS-related anecdote: Right around the time I bought this album, I had just started working at a University. I asked one of the Italian Professors if he could help translate it. He struggled a bit, and we only worked though the first verse or so, but it was kinda cool.

[TheLongshot]

I picked this up when they had played at NEARFest years ago, but the album never made an impression on me. Maybe I should come back to it now that I'm a bit more familiar with Italian Prog.

[Paulrus]

This is a crazy album. It's not something I listen to unless I'm really in the mood for it, but I like how it's so not like so much of the Genesis-inspired Italo-prog that was around at the time. I guess it can be compared to Le Orme's Felona e Sorona, but it's even more frantic and almost punk-ish. It can be a bit wearing, but it definitely scratches a certain itch. It was cool to see that Gianni Leone was taking this album on tour not long ago.

[Yves]

I rarely make it past the opening track but then again I'm not big on ItalProg; unless I'm seeing it live. If one must like this record (or genre) in order to maintain prog cred, consider mine revoked.

[lovecraft]

Like Mars Volta 30 years early. Never did much for me this one.

[100423]

I rarely make it past the opening track...

Well, just start with the second track!

Like Mars Volta 30 years early. Never did much for me this one.

Maybe that explains why I love The Mars Volta too.

[infandous]

Great freaking album. Very intense, very unique. I haven't listened to it in ages, I'll need to pull this one out again. It's certainly not my favorite of the 70's Italian stuff, but it's up there. Those Italians always had a way of making overly dramatic music and singing credible (when British or American artists do it, it usually sounds cheesy or contrived........Peter Hammill not withstanding )

[jeffo621]

If one must like this record (or genre) in order to maintain prog cred, consider mine revoked.

I always find it amusing that there are people out there who think along those lines e.g. "If you don't like this then there is something wrong with you." Music is so subjective. Get over it folks - people can have different opinions.

Besides, Yves, one day you might "get" YS, and you know how tough it is to get your prog cred reinstated?

[Yves]

I dropped my prog cred in a metal waste basket, poured lighter fluid on it, and set it aflame a while back!

[battema]

I always find it amusing that there are people out there who think along those lines e.g. "If you don't like this then there is something wrong with you." Music is so subjective. Get over it folks - people can have different opinions.

Skullhead would like to have a word with you, apparently

[Wounded Land]

What a great album! I just listened to this the other day for the first time in a while. Whereas a lot of RPI took a little while to grow on me, Ys grabbed me right away. That's probably because it's a lot more aggressive than, say, PFM or BMS. It's bordering on proto-metal at times (like that tritone groove they throw down at the end of the album.

NP: Soft Machine Third

[Sputnik]

I like this album, but don't love it or hold it in the regard some seem to. There are parts that I think are awesome, but some of it coasts a bit without much going on to my ears. It also doesn't seem to add up to much in the end, I don't get a strong sense of flow or cohesion to the album, or even some individual tracks. It's just kind of "wild," which I guess is the sort of the point, but I'd still wish for a bit more structure. Maybe understanding the lyrics would help. This is probably due for a fresh spin, so I'll queue it up and see how I feel about it now.

I was really looking forward to seeing these guys at NF2000, but they were a little disappointing to me. I thought the bass was way too loud, at least where I was sitting, and it sort of drowned out the keys. I also sort of missed the band not having a guitarist. I thought maybe they would do some new stuff after that gig, but I never saw anything from Leone since then, other than a live album that I thought was only so-so.

Bill

[JKL2000]

You can't spell Yves without Ys.

I love this album. Might have been my first RPI. A bit spooky and very cool.

[JJ88]

I've only been familiar with this for a relatively short amount of time but I very much liked what I heard. A veritable feast for the ears of vintage keyboard sounds too. That doomy last track on the original album is quite spectacular IMHO.

[simon moon]

One of the most brilliant prog albums ever. From any country.

Like Mars Volta 30 years early.

I don't see that comparison at all. It will have me scratching my head for the rest of the day.

[JJ88]

^There's more restraint on 'Ys' than TMV- it's not relentless. Then again I've said before the mastering with the latter band really doesn't help.

[TCC]

Love it: a classic, briliant and desert island album for me !

[zravkapt]

Ys grabbed me right away. That's probably because it's a lot more aggressive than, say, PFM or BMS.

Same here. Still not that big on PFM but I've always loved YS. I never understood the TMV comparisions I've heard over the past few years.

[zombywoof]

Oh yeah, killer record!! One of the best RPIs!!

[Scrotum Scissor]

This is a crazy album. It's not something I listen to unless I'm really in the mood for it, but I like how it's so not like so much of the Genesis-inspired Italo-prog that was around at the time. I guess it can be compared to Le Orme's Felona e Sorona, but it's even more frantic and almost punk-ish.

The notion that much/most of the 70s RPI was about post-PFM'ish "Genesissies" is largely a myth. I collected Italian progressive during the early years of reissues (1989-95), and soon came to know this myth by numbers. I'd say the MAIN bulk of RPI was anything but "Genesissy", and that the latter notion stems mostly from the lack of a frame of reference on the part of the receiving end among certain anglosaxon "prog" audiences whose need to adapt the objective to its own domain is ever as relentless.

The one dominant trend with Italian rock groups during the era approx 1970-73, was that near-manic stew of hard rock aggression with more intriguing structures and patterns - and often sans the most overt sophistication of most British progressive bands. Many of them sound unusually raw to non-accustomed ears; Biglietto per L'Inferno, Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno, Campo di Marte, Procession, Capitolo Sei, Semiramis, Flea, even bigger names like Osanna - the list goes on and on. Some great playing with wildly ambitious ideas amidst often a semi-chaotic approach to arrangements and form. A lot of this arose from the particular influences of these acts; VdGG, Jethro Tull and King Crimson were held in extremely high regard from an early point, and indeed it shows. There were other schools of course, like the keys-heavy bands (The Trip, Orme, Metamorfosi, L'Uovo di Colombo, Latte e Miele etc.) who displayed a prominent influence from The Nice/ELP and Quatermass, to the more refined senses of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Quella Vecchia Locanda, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Maxophone, Arti e Mestieri, Museo Rosenbach and Locanda delle Fate (where indeed a pronounced Genesis-vibe became apparent), the jazz-influenced experimental bands (AreA, Picchio dal Pozzo, Il Baricentro and countless others) and so on. Il Balletto di Bronzo emannated from that formerly mentioned "manic" bulk, yet with Ys created something altogether utterly idiosyncratic and just, well - different.

The "complexity" or much alleged "inaccessability" (they are sadly often mistaken for one another) of this work rests on the grand scale of its overall structural concept, I think. It was an idea that simply demanded the tone of brute energy by which it was delivered; the feeling of charge and attack, of release and response, of doom and disaster. Anyone who read the original saga narrative of 'Ys' will know the depths of allegorical implications here. And yup, these weren't "fairies" or "fountains" or "topographics" of any kind - they were words and musical tales of despair and the destruction of the cosmos itself.

I love it. It attains an instrumental power and authority of conviction which VERY few 70s "symphonic" progressive acts would even come close to achieving, and I suppose this is what Steven Stapleton recognized when adding it to his infamous 'Nurse With Wound-list'. I also find it fascinating how the album's influence totally transgressed the "prog"-circuit and has been given credit with Japanoise bands, extreme metal acts and numerous purveyors of fringe rock in general.

The only other Italian act to match this combination of cerebral levels and sonic force was Cervello, whose Melos remains my no. 1 "symph" progressive title from down there.

The comparison with The Mars Volta is apt, although they were never really that successful at it. Modern progressive bands who come far closer to this sheer "transcendence of intense presence" in their music are Discipline and the now long-gone Time of Orchids, or someone like The Locust for that matter.

[zombywoof]

I always, always enjoy posts from the Scissor Man.

[mellotron storm]

A top two RPI record for me along with Alphatuarus' self titled album, I keep flipping back and forth as to which one I like best.