AREA - "International POPular Group - The Essential Box Set Collection"

[spacefreak]

Who/what is "RPI?"

Another one of these ProgArchives labels. Spaghetti rock they used to call it in the 70s...

Area were one of a kind.

[MarKco]

They're also not all Italian anyway, right?

They almost were. Yan Patrick Erard Djivas (the first bass player, later in PFM) is French by birth, but has always been living in Italy. Demetrio Stratos was greek, but lived in Athens only his first 13 years. All the other members were italian, even though many of them had been living abroad for a part of their life (most notably Paolo Tofani, much more than just a guitar player).

There's much literature about Area, who were by far the most culturally interesting group in Italy in those years: heavily crossing over genres, truly experimenting, avant-garde without ever being posh. Love them :-) It's just a pity there's not much in English to read about them.
Also, right now the remaining Area are fraKctalizing themself: Patrizio Fariselli and Paolo Tofani toured lately with a different bass player than Ares Tavolazzi, who (thus Fariselli said) would be free to tour with other people in the spirit of Area and use the name. Saw them three together two times two years ago and they're yet the best band in Italy: wild but wise, adventurous yet controlled, they challenged the audience with some of their toughest works at the beginning of the set and after 3-4 tunes half of the audience walked away because they could not properly understand what was going on onstage. It was really a couple of great, great shows.

[Scrotum Scissor]

There's much literature about Area, who were by far the most culturally interesting group in Italy in those years: heavily crossing over genres, truly experimenting, avant-garde without ever being posh. Love them :-) and they're yet the best band in Italy: wild but wise, adventurous yet controlled, they challenged the audience with some of their toughest works at the beginning of the set and after 3-4 tunes half of the audience walked away because they could not properly understand what was going on onstage.

It was a true blessing of almost cathartic proportions to discover names like Area, Picchio dal Pozzo, Dedalus, Stormy Six, (early) Battiato, Roberto Colombo, Pierrot Lunaire and La Canzoniere del Lazio after first having been introduced to all the "ordinary" RPI bands. Those artists certainly proved that it wasn't all about Anglosaxon-wannabeing with a twist (tho' to my ears often a very interesting one). These "alternative" progressive acts still make out a dominant portion of my top-10 from 70s Italy.

[MarKco]

Being a Italian prog lover it's a great pleasure and a honour to read that :-)
Do you know this place? http://verso-la-stratosfera.blogspot.it/ It's all in italian but it shouldn't be a big deal (maybe you can let Google Chrome translate in english for you). They post a lot of interesting stuff: bootlegs, library, rarities... you can find a lot of gems there, and request for a re-post if they're not uploaded anymore.

[Zeuhlmate]

They almost were. Yan Patrick Erard Djivas (the first bass player, later in PFM) is French by birth, but has always been living in Italy. Demetrio Stratos was greek, but lived in Athens only his first 13 years. All the other members were italian, even though many of them had been living abroad for a part of their life (most notably Paolo Tofani, much more than just a guitar player).

He was raised in Alexandria Egypt, moved to Cyprus at 12, and Milan, Italy at 17.
According to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demetrio_Stratos

[MarKco]

You're right, I misread

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Pr33t]

For anyone who hasn't heard it, I'd run out and get Mauro Pagani's first solo album, which is an avant-folk combo of Area, PFM and Canzoniere del Lazio, with most members of those bands appearing somewhere. This one has grown on me a ton in recent years.

[remoraes]

does anyone know this?They cover at least one Area song, but I confess I did not recognize the name of most of them. (Ok, I am getting old and my memory is not the same anymore, but...... I am pretty sure I would recognize some....)

Confusional Quartet ‎– Confusional Quartet Play Demetrio Stratos


Bass – Lucio Ardito
Drums And Percussions – Claudio Trotta (from Deus Ex Machina)
Guitars And Electronics – Enrico Serotti
Keyboards And Electronics – Marco Bertoni

1 Cometa Rossa
2 Manifest'o
3 Alessandria
4 Against
5 Sembra
6 Mr. Troja
7 Cctv
8 Der Pasolini
9 Molto Poco
10 Fazzarazza
11 St. Maria Di Ouch!
12 Disco D'Oro
13 Ui

[Zeuhlmate]

For anyone who hasn't heard it, I'd run out and get Mauro Pagani's first solo album, which is an avant-folk combo of Area, PFM and Canzoniere del Lazio, with most members of those bands appearing somewhere. This one has grown on me a ton in recent years.

Yes, its a good one !

[Progatron]

For anyone who hasn't heard it, I'd run out and get Mauro Pagani's first solo album, which is an avant-folk combo of Area, PFM and Canzoniere del Lazio, with most members of those bands appearing somewhere. This one has grown on me a ton in recent years.

Yes, its a good one !

This is now on my annual birthday CD buying list, will have it in about a month's time! Thanks!

[tommy_n_chucky]

*bump*

I did a special tribute to one of my favorite jazz fusion bands (of all time)...so here goes..btw is there a new boxed set? I would love all their studio albums up to Tic Tac (1980).

My favorites first from each album:

Music♩♪♫♬ Volume: ▁ ▂ ▃ ▄ ▅ ▆ █ 100 %
(brought to you by the pimp gods )
(Area International Popular Group!)
☺/ღ˚ •。* ♥ ˚ ˚✰˚ ˛★* 。 ღ˛° 。* °♥ ˚ • ★ *˚ .ღ 。

Don't have a favorite from the debut album...so here's the whole capsule review:

From the first Arab prayer words to the the last note , everything in this album spells classic! It certainly is a very influential album not only for Italian groups ( bands such as Deus Ex machina owe a lot to Area) but also for RIO. Although Area is one of the prominent group thought of when RIO is mentioned , this album is not yet in that style but more to do with Canterbury style music.

Led by Grek-born Stratos, Area were very left wing politics and the title of this album is a denonciation of the Nazi slogan (translates into "work sets you free") written on the gate of the extermination camps! This title track is absolutely stunning veering often in Free style improv at the start before settling in its jazz-rock groove. All tiltes are strong but the real highlight IMHO is the closer Abbatimento dello Zeppelin. A lot of the ambiances will remind you of Canterbury classic bands but none exactly pin-pointed. Just one hint, some of the more inventful moments will remind you of Soft Machine but more in the Hugh Hoppe- mode tunes than in the Ratledge-Jenkins mode.

Very much a classic and highly influential! ~ Review by Sean Trane
http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=102

Arbeit macht frei ["Work Brings Freedom" inscribed at Auschwitz] is the debut album of the Jazz fusion band Area. It is notable for featuring Patrick Djivas (which is now known better for his work with Premiata Forneria Marconi) on bass and Eddie Busnello on saxophone, which parted after the release of the album. According to the booklet the lyrics were written by Frankestein (which is an alias for Gianni Sassi), and the music was written by Patrizio Fariselli. "Luglio, Agosto, Settembre (nero)" became Area's first hit (even if most of the 7" censored the word "nero", which was a reference to Black September). It was only released as a juke box only item, and the b-side was the song "Miña" by Italian prog band Aktuala. On the posthumous live release "Concerto Teatro Uomo", Demetrio Stratos says that "L'abbattimento dello Zeppelin" was composed after a pub on which they were playing asked them to perform "Whole Lotta Love". They didn't know the song and played that one instead, and they got fired. Guitarist Paolo Tofani can be heard quoting the main riff during his solo. "L'abbattimento dello Zeppelin" was also released as a 7", backed by the title track of the album, but failed to hit any charts. [wiki]

Arbeit Macht Frei (Il lavoro rende liberi) - Area (1973) full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZkvKLE5lCI


Again no favorite track, must listen start to finish!

Warning!!!! This album is real hazard to anybody's mental health and not just because of the radiations. Area's chronological second album (third in the Archives list) is actually a secret document that the left-wing activists they were destined for the Soviet Block!

Forget the titles of the tracks above, as they should read:

1) U235 + Ar + Honey = Pu 240
2) Zyrconium Yaltanium Germanium (Precipita Zero)
3) H + He = Kaboum
4) U238 = Co60 + Cs137 + Fu 2 + n' + n'
5) Lobotomia

If you think I am kidding you, get the album and you will actually hear what nuclear fission and nuclear fusion sound like, neutrons colliding with Vaginium69 . On the second track , torturing of a Co59 isotope whose nucleus is being ripped apart in order to evolve into Absurdium 89! On track 3 , you can hear a Zircon molecule copulating a Germanium electron on the G-string of the double-bass. How about that Strontium 90 isotope leaving an indelibile mark on contact with the snare drum for the fourth track! Then you shall listen to the last track , head out to CCCP and they will pull out this vital stuff!

Only recommended to terrorist , nuclear physicists and babies under two years of age! ~ Review by Sean Trane

****

Caution Radiation Area is the second album of the Jazz fusion band Area and was released in 1974. This is the first album that contains the better known line up, with Ares Tavolazzi replacing Patrick Djivas on bass. This album is notable also for being the first one in which experimental music is introduced. For example "MIRage? Mirage!" contains a part in which the whole band can be heard whispering readings (for example a negative review of "Arbeit Macht Frei", a TV guide...), and "Lobotomia" (which means "lobotomy") is constructed using loud synth noise, with the clear intention to disturb the listener (as pointed out on the booklet). Quotes of opening themes of Italian TV programs are heard during the track. The lyrics for "Cometa Rossa" are sung in Greek. "Brujo" means "wizard" in Spanish.

Line-up / Musicians

~ Giulio Capiozzo / drums, percusion
~ Patrizio Fariselli / piano, electric piano, bass clarinet, synthesizer
~ Ares Tavolazzi / bass, trombone, contarabass
~ Paolo Tofani / guitar, flute synthesizer
~ Demetrio Stratos / vocal, organ, cembalo, percussion

http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=104
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caution_Radiation_Area

Area - Caution Radiation Area Full Album HQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au6XBZ86tOE


Crac! My favorite album and a tie btw my fav tracks:

"Imagine the power of an explosion, the brewing frustration and uncertainty of a generation, the freedom and joy of happiness, facing difficulties, overcoming the same difficulties - all presented and packaged in an uncensored form of expression that grabs you, stuns you, turns you inside out and leaves you alone on the ground, bleeding.and still asking for more! Behind these words there is an elusive truth in hiding, because even if much of Crac! is harsh, uncompromising, virtuosic and provocative music to the bone, it's not those qualities that makes me so very fond and attached to the album, but rather the pulsating emotional whirlwind and escapism you're invited to for the all too short thirty-eight minutes the ride lasts."

Artist: Area
Album: Crac!
Track: Megalopoli

Area - Crac - Megalopoli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB4tdDZNNoI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB4tdDZNNoI

The Apple of Odessa

*****

There was once an apple at the turn of a leaf.
Ride, ride, ride
together through the sea.
learned to swim.

Once at the top of the sea, where the world becomes small, the apple he left his old clothes and took her wedding dress is more red, more red.
The leaf smiled, was the first time for everything.
Shoot the apple in her arms, and departed.
They arrived in a country full of yellow corn people happy, full of happy people!

He joined the people singing and went down to the great square.
Here, other people joined in the chorus.
"Where are we? But where are we?"
Asked the apple.

"If you think the world is flat, then you came to the end of the world. If you believe that the world is round, then salt, and start the turn around!"
And the apple climbed, climbed, climbed, climbed, climbed.
The leaf instead jumped, jumped, jumped.
Back into the sea and no one saw her anymore.

Maybe for you, uh, the world was still flat.
Near the sea .... where the world becomes a little .... If you believe that the world is round, then salt, salt! It starts around the circle!

References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxoao2bJxTk
http://www.lyricsmania.com/la_mela_d...fariselli.html
http://translate.google.com/

Funny how Demetrio Statos jived about the "Flat Earth" back in '75

[tommy_n_chucky]

Diforisma urbano ~ Like submerging yourself in a warm and sumptuous analogue bubble bath. Industrial strength 'funky' with some glorious synth, bass and drum interplay and a memorable rejoinder theme which reappears at intervals throughout. Redolent of some of Miles Davis fusion work but free from the noodley meanderings of the latter. Many singers have designs on using their voice as if it were an improvising instrument, but none come as close to the startling effect Stratos achieves here. Makes even the redoubtable Sara Vaughan sound like a karaoke busker" ~ review by ExittheLemming

Maledetti (Maudits) is the fifth album of the Jazz fusion band Area and was released in 1976. It can be considered a concept album: during the XX° century, an imaginary bank in which history is stored, loses data from the XV° century ("Evaporazione"), causing people forgetting how to govern the world. Some new hypothesis are formulated: power to old people ("Gerontocrazia"), power to women ("SCUM", which uses as lyrics a reading of a writing by Valerie Solanas, the chief of the feminist party SCUM, which stands for "Society for Cutting Up Men"), and power to children ("Giro, giro, tondo" and "Caos (parte seconda)"). "Il Massacro di Brandeburgo numero tre in Sol Maggiore" is a fragment of Johann Sebastian Bach's third Brandenburg concerto. During the recording sessions of the album, Capiozzo and Tavolazzi left the band temporarily (noticeably they are absent on "Diforisma Urbano", "Giro, giro, tondo" and "Caos (parte seconda)") only to come back some months later. During these months in which they weren't in the band, the live album Event '76 was recorded at Milan's Università Statale. This was also the last studio album featuring Tofani on guitar. Most of CD re-releases contain two bonus tracks: an interview with Stratos, Tofani and Fariselli after the "Event '76" concert and the "Are(A)zione" version of "L'internazionale". From this album's tour, two posthumous concerts from 1977 were released: "Concerto Teatro Uomo" in 1996 and "Live in Torino 1977" in 2005.

Area ~ Maledetti (Maudits) 1976 ~ 02~Diforisma urbano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnSnuAFOUyE

http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=107

"Acrostico in Memoria di Laio" is a hoot. After starting with some tasteful, tame jazz by Area standards, you think maybe this song is going to be "normal." Nope. Halfway through, Demetrio starts this rant that I really wish I could understand. It sounds hilarious, almost like a PHONE SEX CONVERSATION. Someone who speaks Italian will have to enlighten me on what the hell this is about someday. ~ Review by Finnforest

"Acrostico In Memoria Di Laio" is a flow of ensemble of the band that produces a part of the complex melody repeated from the part of Intro of 16/15 rhythms with an overwhelming keyboard and complete Groove. Part of dash feeling in close relation to bright melody of acoustic piano. And, the part of complete Solo of the keyboard in close relation to the obbligati of the wind instrument might create one space. The progress of Chord will excite the listener. A peculiar talking about Demetrio Stratos that twines while continuing Groove completely demonstrates power of expression. ~ Review by Kazuhiro

"Acrostico in memoria di Laio" (Acrostic in memory of Laius) is a jazz rock track featuring "surrealistic" funny recitative vocals. An acrostic is a poem with a hidden a message, Laius was a king of Thebes killed by his own son, Oedipus... Like Laius a generation of losers have delivered their children to the fury of wild beasts, to the rage of history, to the flattery of the show business. Well, lyrics here describe a complex and tangled family tree and there are hints of psychoanalysis... ~ Review by andrea

"Acrostico In Memoria Di Laio" is a great track. Kind of jazzy with piano, bass and drums standing out. It settles after 2 1/2 minutes with spoken words to the end. ~ Review by Mellotron Storm

****

1978 Gli dei se ne vanno, gli arrabbiati restano! ("The gods depart, the angry remain!") is the sixth album of the Jazz fusion band Area and was released in 1978, as the title says. It is the first album without guitarist Paolo Tofani, and it's also the first album whose lyrics were not written by Gianni Sassi. Also, noticeably it's the only album in which Demetrio Stratos is credited as a composer.

Line-up / Musicians

* Giulio Capiozzo ~ drums, vibraphone, percussion
* Patrizio Fariselli ~ piano, organ, electric piano, synthesizer ARP Odyssey, Pro*Sploist, polymoog, omni
* Ares Tavolazzi ~ electric & acoustic bass, acoustic guitar, mandola, trombone, pocket trumpet, vocals
* Demetrio Stratos ~ vocal, organ, electric & acoustic piano, ocarina

Area - Acrostico In Memoria Di Laio (HQ)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S58hYDRfDz4


Probably my favorite track after Megalopoli, THIS IS MY JAM!

Tic&Tac is the eight album of the Jazz fusion band Area and was released in 1980. It's the first album without Demetrio Stratos as he died a year earlier, and it's generally more jazzy than progressive. This is the only album in which Larry Nocella performs. After releasing this, Area toured until 1983, then disbanded. Giulio Capiozzo in 1986 formed a jazz fusion band called Area II, but was the only original member. Area reformed officially in 1993 with a concert in Rome, as a trio, with Tavolazzi, Fariselli and Capiozzo. However, they didn't record anything new in studio until 1997 when the album "Chernobyl 7991" was released (without Tavolazzi). This album is completely instrumental, save for the final track "Antes de Hablar Abra la Boca".

Area - La Torre Dell'Alchimista (tic&tac)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtPvdowPG2M

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tic%26Tac

[Zeuhlmate]

^^^

Just posted 3 great tracks in the NP section.

[tommy_n_chucky]

^^^

Just posted 3 great tracks in the NP section.

I couldn't find it..could you post the link? [new to this board]

I just read this review yesterday:

http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=1386721

Which mentioned this album...

PERIGEO - AZIMUT (1972) FULL ALBUM
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18r5q2
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...gW8xzSNUxKfDlf

And one of my favorites from Demetrio Stratos:



And last but not least, I've always thought Alberto Piras was the spiritual successor to Stratos. I mean even he couldn't outdo him, but still close...

Cf8QTrzWcAAy1XF.jpg

"When compared to the band’s previous output, Devoto might come across as more straightforward: this, however, is true only up to a point. In fact, the album’s multiple layers will unfold upon repeated in-depth listens. Deus Ex Machina have also outdone themselves in terms of producing memorable melodies, which obviously works wonders for the album’s accessibility – as proved right from the start by the title-track, whose chorus can get stuck in your head for days. The deceptive quality of the album’s supposedly streamlined nature emerges in songs such as “Distratto da Me”, whose appealingly melodic, mid-paced intro suddenly turns into an almost free-form instrumental section sounding like Area jamming with Deep Purple."

Deus Ex Machina – Devoto (2016)
September 12, 2016 by progmistress
https://progmistress.com/2016/09/12/...a-devoto-2016/

“Extremely tight, lots of texture and dynamic shifts and flawless acrobatic vocals...by one of the genre's best...” ~ Icon

“Everyone in Deus Ex Machina is a virtuoso.” ~ AllAboutJazz

Following an eight-year absence, the Italian rock/progressive group Deus Ex Machina bursts back onto the international scene with Devoto. Blazing into contemporary focus with Devoto, Deus Ex Machina is poised to transcend the accomplishments of its past.

Devoto retains Deus Ex Machina’s distinctive blend of fiery, complexly designed music, passionate bel canto vocals, virtuosic instrumental performances and analogue-heavy textures. Here as before, DEM’s music combines both the energy and beauty of early Mahavishnu Orchestra and Larks' Tongues in Aspic-era King Crimson; classic 70s hard rock influences from AC/DC, Deep Purple and, most unmistakably, Led Zeppelin; hints of RIO-tinged avant-progressive; and the unmistakable Mediterranean vibe of fellow 'Rock Progressivo Italiano' combos like PFM. But just as each successive album has represented something different yet still unmistakably, unequivocally DEM, Devoto takes a more direct, immediate approach: a more hard-hitting, gut-punching, visceral Deus Ex Machina.

https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/devoto

[Zeuhlmate]

I couldn't find it..could you post the link? [new to this board]

http://www.progressiveears.org/forum...l=1#post794028

[Crawford Glissadevil]

My favorite Italian Box Set Ever.

[tommy_n_chucky]

My favorite Italian Box Set Ever.

Is that so? umm.. Nigeria has talent too other than the "advance fraud fee"

Frank Zappa's twin brother from a different mother?
https://www.turntablelab.com/product...by-erykah-badu

Guess it's time to use the search engine again.

[Mascodagama]

And last but not least, I've always thought Alberto Piras was the spiritual successor to Stratos.

The singer who most strikes me as a spiritual heir to Stratos is Claudio Milano of Nichelodeon (among other formations):

[Zeuhlmate]

There is some 'Demetrio' in Alberto Piras's voice too

[Crawford Glissadevil]

Is that so? umm.. Nigeria has talent too other than the "advance fraud fee"

Frank Zappa's twin brother from a different mother?
https://www.turntablelab.com/product...by-erykah-badu

Guess it's time to use the search engine again.

Take your meds...

[tommy_n_chucky]

There is some 'Demetrio' in Alberto Piras's voice too

Cool gotta listen to that album again. "Diacronie Metronomiche" is an excellent live-in-studio album. Also I should get the Live Imparis DVD.

[Buddhabreath]

The singer who most strikes me as a spiritual heir to Stratos is Claudio Milano of Nichelodeon (among other formations):

Really interesting, for some reason I was not aware of Nichelodeon. Thanks, I'll check them out!

[Werbinox]

Oh - never heard that.

Yeah - Area is does not really fit in with bands like PFM, Banco or Le Orme - more avant and jazzier. They're also not all Italian anyway, right? In terms of originality and having their own sound, I think Area stood out among the usually-cited Italian bands of the '70s.

You bring up something interesting. Those we call "Italians" come from all over - Greece / Spain / North Africa / Northern Europe, etc. Italy has been invaded and migrated to for centuries by so many people, not in the least inhibited by ancient Rome's penchant to make the peoples it conquered citizens. The Romans who built the Republic were not the Romans of the Empire a Century later, but more of a mixture. And that is till Italy today...kind of like America in its way. Demetrio Stratos was of Greek descent but lived and worked in Italy like many whose ethnic strain began elsewhere. So - what is "Italian" anyhow? More of a cultural heritage than a strictly ethnic one in my opinion.

[Werbinox]

When I had the great fortune to walk around Bologna and Ferrara with Alberto Piras the above subject was one of our long conversations. What is "Italian"? It is a mixture, one of histories headiest!

[GuitarGeek]

There is some 'Demetrio' in Alberto Piras's voice too

The very first time I heard Deus Ex Machina, that was one of the things i picked up on, I thought, "Yeah, you can tell this guy has listened to Area".