01	Zarathustra A) L'ultimo Uomo						03:51
	02	B) Il Re Di Ieri						04:47
	03	C) Al Di La Del Bene E Del Male						02:40
	04	D) Superuomo						06:31
	05	E) Il Tempio Delle Clessidre						02:54
	06	Degli Uomini						04:04
	07	Della Natura						08:28
	08	Dell'eterno Ritorno						06:18

KICP2710
Japanese Cd
European Rock Collection
King Records 1993.


MUSEO ROSENBACH

Stefano Galifi (vocals)
Enzo Merogno (guitar, vocals)
Pit Corradi (keyboards)
Alberto Moreno (bass, piano)
Giancarlo Golzi (drums, percussion, vocals)

Name Museo Rosenbach and you'll see a sparkle in the eyes of every european prog fan, their Zarathustra being usually considered as one of the best examples of the genre to come from outside England. Yet the band was not so successful at the time, even having problems for their supposed right-wing inclinations coming from the all-black cover, the Mussolini image in front cover collage, the Nietzsche-inspired lyrics.

Museo Rosenbach derived from the fusion of two late 60's bands from Sanremo, La Quinta Strada and Il Sistema, near the end of 1970, and their first line-up included future Celeste member Leonardo Lagorio on sax and flute. The only recordings Il Sistema ever made were released on LP and CD by Mellow in 1992.

The tracks for Zarathustra were ready at the end of 1972, when the band were suddenly contacted for a recording deal by Ricordi, who were interested in promoting new progressive groups such as Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Reale Accademia di Musica and the album was released in april 1973.

The long Zarathustra suite on side 1 is probably their best effort, with slight classical influences and keyboards in evidence as in the best italian prog tradition, but side 2 with three shorter tracks has some great moments. Vocalist "Lupo" Galifi has a very distinctive voice and keyboard player Pit Corradi adds a touch of originality to the band sound.

Museo Rosenbach had a short life, splitting soon after the album and some good concerts in the summer of 1973, and the two posthumous CD's released by Mellow let us understand what a great band they were.

A new 10-track album, Exit, has been released in 2000 by original bassist Alberto Moreno and drummer Giancarlo Golzi along with new members, in a more commercial direction than their brilliant debut album.


LP
Zarathustra Ricordi (SMRL 6113) 1973 gatefold textured cover
Contempo (CONTE 004) 1990 gatefold glossy cover
Album also reissued on CD by Contempo (CONTECD 004 - now deleted) and by BMG/Ricordi (74321 53184-2)
Rarities Mellow (MMLP 102) 1992 demos and unreleased tracks


CD
Live 1972 Mellow (MMP 102) 1992 live recording from 1972
Rare and unreleased Mellow (MMP 103) 1992 1972 demos with expanded line-up and unreleased tracks
Exit Carisch (CL77) 2000 new album by revised line-up


One of the masterpieces of the italian prog, Zarathustra is obviously rare and expensive.
The album has been reissued on vinyl by Contempo, and both the issues have a gatefold cover, that's textured in the original.
Also a japanese issue exists (King K22P280).

No counterfeits nor other foreign issues exist.

The Rarities LP and Rare and unreleased CD contain different tracks, all from their 1972 demos with some live recordings made before Zarathustra.


Zarathustra is an exceptional album, very complex and well done. This is one of those albums you must listen to first; a heavy, melodic, intelligent and atmospheric masterpiece.
The A side involves only one song with different sub themes. Sub theme L'ultimo uomo which begins with a very distinct theme song and with vocals rising in volume. The other that stands out of this 19 min. opus is Superuomo an energetic theme with a great Hammond sound.
Side B has three heavier songs that display Museo Rosenbach's ability to fuse heaviness with melodic incursions. Dell'eterno ritorno is probably the best highlight from this side. Starting with moog sounds, acoustic guitars and flutes and then exploding into a heavy fast paced number. The drumming on this part is excellent coupled with a great fuzzed guitar and terrific vocals. It then calms downs with a beautiful hammond riff that is followed by excellent vocals only to explode again into a grand finale.
Juan Carlos Lopez




Museo Rosenbach - Zarathustra (1973)

Museo Rosenbach's only album, Zarathustra, is another one of the clearly essential Italian albums. Firmly entrenched on the heavier end of the Italian spectrum, this is of the defining 'heavy-prog' albums. The music is undeniably dark, completely glorious and proceeding with bombastic classical grandeur, dominated by surging guitars, blazing Hammond leads and of course the omnipresent mellotron. The band competently moves through occasional quiet moments with nice flute and mellotron before ripping into massive metallic bowel shaking riffs with godly mellotron weaving in and out of them. Earth shattering. The vocalist has a nice bluesy, throaty voice that lends itself excellently to the proceedings. Of course, being Italian, the melodies here are phenomenal, and Museo Rosenbach manages to weave a gorgeous melodic web in with their brute force, pulling everything together in moments of shuddering climax.

The first five tracks on here make up the lengthy title suite, which stands as one of the most solidly composed side-long epics in the progressive rock tradition, leaving little, if any breathing room between consecutive mindblowing passages. The rest of the album is pretty much just as good: addictive, melodic pieces with a dark, aggressive undercurrent. Zarathustra is one of the truly essential Italian classics. - Greg Northrup [2000]




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Museo Rosenbach
Zarathustra
BMG Ricordi ()
Italy 1973

Giancarlo Golzi, drums, percussion, vocals; Alberto Moreno, bass, piano; Enzo Merogno, guitar, vocals; Pit Corradi, mellotron, Hammond organ, vibraphone, Farfisa electric piano; Stefano "Lupo" Galifi, vocals

Tracklist:
1. L'Ultimo Uomo — 3:55
2. Il Rei di Ieri — 4:40
3. Al di la del Bene a del Male — 2:39
4. Superuomo — 6:25
5. Il Tempo delle Clessidre — 2:52
6. Degli Uomini — 4:04
7. Della Natura — 8:28
8. Dell'Eterno Ritorno — 6:18

total time 39:33


conrad

This album is regarded by many people as one of the best Italian progressive rock albums of all time. However, the fact that it was often linked with Il Balleto di Bronzo's Ys, which I don't mind but feel is overrated, and Osanna's Palepoli, which I have never managed to get into, put me off buying the CD for a long time. In the end, it was probably my low expectations that meant that I ended up enjoying this album so much.
Comparisons to Ys are probably most instructive. The two albums share a dark, and sometimes menacing, atmosphere. Where Ys relies on the virtuosity of keyboard and guitar leads, Zarathustra has its strength in the subtle and deceptively brilliant use of the mellotron and a knack for conjuring up memorable musical phrases. Apart from the mellotron, played about as fast as the tape switching mechanism will reliably allow, the sound is dominated by Hammond and guitar, played in the style of Martin Barre's heavier work from the early seventies. The vocals of Stefano "Wolf" Galifi are of a harsh style that many dislike, but I actually enjoy. They are raw enough to be passionate, but not so much so that they're grating. I would probably be less approving if I understood the Neitzsche-inspired lyrics, but as those are in Italian, I can safely ignore them without much effort.

This album does have a number of shortfalls for me. The sound quality isn't great. That's part of this album's charm, but in places the production really needs to be better. Song structure is also a bit of an issue for me: there are lots of good ideas on this album, but in places they don't seem to have been put together with much thought as to the overall effect.

Quibbles aside, this is a strong album. Darker and heavier in nature than the more romantic Italian bands, this album never really becomes oppressive due to the abundance of strong melodies and memorable riffs. Despite not quite being in the top tier of Italian prog for me, this album has not killed my Italian prog collection...

review by Conrad Leviston — 9-12-05