Search - Il Volo :: Essere O Non Essere? Essere

Instrumental prog rock from Italy

honey_dripper | Ul-San South Korea | 05/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Il Volo was an Italian progressive rock band that released two albums. (This supergroup included former members of Formula 3 and Osage Tribe.) Their music has all the usual keyboard works together with some electric guitar play. This album was their second from 1975 and sounds like a colder and jazzier version of typical Italian symphonic prog rock like PFM, Le orme and Banco. It contains a mainly instrumental work but some fine musicianship ,inventive arrangements and production. *Il Volo means 'The Flight'"

Excellent Italian prog rock

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 11/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Il Volo only managed two albums, and then broke up, never overstaying their welcome. They came out of the ashes of such groups as Formula 3 (Alberto Radius, Gabriele Lorenzi), Osage Tribe, and others. Gabriele Lorenzi played keyboards (Eminent, which I suspect was dropped after their debut for the Solina, Moog, organ), and Alberto Radius played guitar. The rest of the band consisted of keyboardist Vince Tempara (piano, electric piano, clavinet), bassist Bob "Olov" Callero, guitarist Mario Levezzi (mostly acoustic), and drummer Gianni Dall'Aglio. In 1975, they released their second (and final album) Essere o non Essere, once again on the Numero Uno label, and this album is definitely an improvement over their debut. It's now almost completely instrumental, with one one sung track, and pop ballads like "Il Canto Della Preistoria" (on their 1974 self-entitled debut) are nowhere to be found. The band now included something that sounds like an electronic sax. You can see the improvement right away with "Gente in Amore" with great use of funky clavinet and nice use of synth and percussion. "Medio Oriente 249000 Tutto Compreso" has a bit of a Middle Eastern feel, reminding me a tad of Area, but without those silly vocals of Demetrio Stratos, of course. "Essere" is the album's only sung track, nice piece, especially the clavinet and spacy synths. "Alcune Scene" features some nice use of Solina in the background, with Fender Rhodes electric piano. I like how the band kicks into a nice fusion jam, and it's plain to see drummer Gianna Dall'Aglio was influenced by many of the fusion greats. "Svegliandomi Con Te Alle Sei Del Mattino" starts off mellow, with the Solina before getting more intense, with those strange electronic sax sounds (no one is credited to sax, or Computone Lyricon, an electronic wind instrument). "Canti e Suoni" starts off mellow, then it gets intense after that. There are wordless voices on this song (as is on some of the other cuts on this album). It didn't take much to make this a better album than their debut: they removed the pop ballads, and give it an even funkier feel (that reminds me a bit of Goblin's Roller or Eela Craig's One Niter). No doubt about it, Essere is the better of the two albums, and I highly recommend this album."

Ecstatic, Period.

honey_dripper | 06/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, I don't think all of the songs on this CD are great. But you SHOULD have this amazing CD for the last track, Canti e Suoni. I have a huge collection of progressive rocks but there are only a couple of songs I think 'Ecstatic'. One is 'the onlything she needs' by UK (79 Danger money), and 'Canti e Suoni'. Generally I don't buy a CD only for a song or two but this was a true exception. I hardly bother with the other songs on this CD. Canti e Suoni is what I want from this CD. And beautiful album jacket is a bonus. Strongly recommened! ---------Young"