01	Preludio (paura)						03:42
	02	Movimneto I (egoismo)						04:35
	03	Movimento II (Dubbio)						03:28
	04	To Satchmo, Bird and Other Unforgettable Friends (dolore)						05:41
	05	Sequenza I e II (ipocrisia e verita)						03:39
	06	Johnnie Sayre (il perdono)						04:51
	07	Favola o Storia del Lago di Kriss (liberta)						04:25
	08	Dolce Aqua (speranza)						05:50
	09	Jesahel						04:05

Delirium [Italy]
Updated 7/31/00
Discography
Dolce Acqua (71)Lo Scemo Del Villaggio (72)Delirium III: Viaggio Degli Arcipelaghi Del Tempo (74)

Reviews
A very original band who released three albums and were very difficult to classify. These are the type bands that hold the most interest for me and the range of styles on Delirium's Lo Scemo E Il Villaggio are astounding. Their first Dolce Aqua has also been reissued in Italy.
Heavily folk influenced early 70's Italian band with nice melodies and good vocalist. Their first album Dolce Aqua is nice enough, but could hardly be considered progressive IMO. A second album Lo Scemo E Il Viaggio is purportedly better, with more fusion creeping into their sound.
In the first LP the instrumental songs are near to the jazz and the other songs are a mixture between commercial and vangard music. the second one is very similar to the first. The last one has more vangard sound. When the band dissolved Ettore Vigo went on to play in the Kim and The Cadillac.
I have heard only the first album, Dolce Acqua. It is a concept album, each song being about a different feeling/state of mind (fear / egotism / doubt / pain / hypocrisy / truth / forgiveness / freedom / hope). It's rather rock than prog, but the use of flute and piano gives the album a distinctive proggy sound at moments. My preferred song is "Favola o Storia del lago di Kriss" (Freedom) as well as "Dolce aqua" (Hope). The release in CD contains a bonus track, "Jesahel", which is beatiful without being progressive. The main singer of Delirium (Ivano Fossati) went on to pursue a very successful solo career as a cantautore. His career was/is very rock oriented, his greatest hit was "La mia banda suona il rock" in 1979. -- Toni Agalliu




DELIRIUM



1970-72
Ivano Fossati (vocals, flute, acoustic guitar)
Mimmo Di Martino (guitar, vocals)
Ettore Vigo (keyboards, vocals)
Marcello Reale (bass, vocals)
Peppino Di Santo (drums, percussion, vocals)

1972-75
Fossati replaced by:
Martin Grice (flute, sax, keyboards, vocals)



Delirium came from Genova, from a previous beat band called I Sagittari, and formed in 1970, releasing their first single a year later.
Canto di Osanna, presented at first Viareggio festival was a successful single and gave the band an immediate notoriety. They had also won a Radio Montecarlo rock contest in 1971.

First album, Dolce acqua, also from 1971 contains a good and original mix of prog, jazz and some tuneful melodies, with the leading role of singer Ivano Fossati is evident, with his furious flute soloing one of the band's most distinctive elements. The album, housed in a nice triple gatefold cover, is structured in various movements like a classical suite, but here and there some parts seem a little incoherent with the whole LP. It was not a great success, as demonstrated by the fact that no less than three tracks from it appeared on singles a year later.

In 1972 their memorable TV presence at Sanremo music festival gave them their best success ever with the hit single Jesahel, soon followed by a similar song, Haum!

Always during their career Delirium mixed the commercial side of their singles with the more difficult approach of their albums, and this is particularly evident in this first phase.

Ivano Fossati left the band during 1972 to pursue a solo career that's still successful today, even with a lighter (but always full of jazzy and ethnic influences) kind of music.
His replacement was an englishman, Martin Frederick Grice, that along with the ever present flute also was a brilliant sax player.

Second album Lo scemo e il villaggio still has some jazz influences and a string use of sax by the new member, with the evident lack of a role singer in the band, all members taking the lead singer place. The track La mia pazzia is the closest to first album's style.

Third album follows in 1974, called Delirium III (Viaggio negli arcipelaghi del tempo) and judged by many as their most mature work. La battaglia degli eterni piani contains a dark-inspired atmosphere never heard in their previous releases, the flute has again a prominent role and the sax is only present in Viaggio n.2. This is also the first album to feature electric guitar, as Mimmo Di Martino only played the acoustic in previous albums.

The band was at the end of their career, also due to the low interest shown by the media, and after some more commercial singles in 1974-75 they came to a split.

Apart from Ivano Fossati the only other member to stay in the professional music filed was keyboard player Ettore Vigo with rockers Kim & the Cadillacs.
In early 90's, following a successful Jesahel disco remix, the band reunited with some CD's containing new versions of their best tracks.







LP
Dolce acqua Fonit (LPX 11) 1971 triple gatefold laminated cover
Fonit / Vinyl Magic (LPP...) 1991 standard gatefold cover
Lo scemo e il villaggio Fonit (LPX 18) 1972 gatefold laminated cover
Fonit / Vinyl Magic (LPP...) 1991 standard gatefold cover
Delirium III Cetra (LPX 29) 1974 gatefold laminated cover
Fonit / Vinyl Magic (LPP 421) 1991 standard gatefold cover
All the albums reissued on CD by Fonit (CDM 2025, CDM 2027 and CDLP 421 - all now deleted) and recently by Warner/Fonit (with nos. 266202, 289132 and 271192)



SINGLES (with picture sleeve)
Canto di Osanna
Deliriana Fonit (SPF 31284) 1971 both unreleased tracks
Jesahel
King's road Fonit (SPF 31293) 1972 both unreleased tracks
Haum!
Dubbio Fonit (SPF 31295) 1972 B-side from the first album
Dolce acqua
Favola o storia del lago di Kriss Fonit (SPF 31297) 1972 both tracks from the first album
Treno
E l'ora Fonit (SPF 31300) 1972 both unreleased tracks
Signore
Buana, the rainbow Fonit (SPF 31313) 1974 both unreleased tracks
Leoa de laoa
Pane vero vino puro Aguamanda (AG 9002) 1974 both unreleased tracks
Jill
Live love and be free Aguamanda (AG 9007) 1975 both unreleased tracks
Cowboy
Corri bambino Cetra (SPB 36) 1975 both unreleased tracks





All the Delirium releases are rather common due to the great success many of them had, with the only notable exception of the third album, Delirium III (Viaggio negli arcipelaghi del tempo). Interesting to notice that, though it was the same label, the third album appeared on Cetra rather than Fonit label (see Fonit page for further explanations).

The three original albums are all housed in laminated gatefold covers, the first having a triple gatefold while Lo scemo e il villaggio has a heavier gatefold cover.

The Jesahel single had foreign releases in Sweden (Sonet T-7890) and other european countries. It was also covered in english by another (german?) group.

No counterfeits or other foreign issues should exist.











Delirium - Lo Scemo E Il Villaggio (1972)

Delirium was another in a long line of Italian progressive rock bands that lasted long enough to release a few albums, and then disappear without a trace. I find it quite frightening at how talented and overlooked many of the Italian bands were, even in their homeland. Thankfully, Delirium was something of an exception. They acquired a certain degree of fame and even scored at least one #1 single in the Italian charts (according to The Return of Italian Pop book). After releasing an album of pleasant folk rock (Dolce Aqua), Delirium adjusted their lineup slightly and delivered a true classic of Italian progressive rock.

Lo Scemo e Il Villaggio opens with a nice instrumental ("Villaggio", which is more or less the title track), and you may think you accidentally slipped in Jethro Tull's Living in the Past album! There's some great Ian Anderson style flute playing along with excellent Hammond organ. What I love about this album is that it's so cheerfully 1972, sure, it's outdated as hell at times, but that's part of its charm. Stylistically, we are taken all over the prog rock map, but mostly I'm reminded of The Moody Blues and Jethro Tull, along with Italian folk influences. "Gioia, Disordine, Risentimento" almost has a Canterbury sound, with nice sax and a shuffle-like tempo. This track will make you smile. "La Mia Pazzia" follows; believe me, you'll be humming this one long after the CD is over. It's sort of a hippy pop song, but so damn catchy that I for one can't help but admire it. However, my favorite tracks are the ones drenched in Mike Pinders-type mellotron strings, notably "Dimensione Uomo" and "Pensiero per un Abbandono". In fact, the former has possibly the most gorgeous mellotron melody I've ever heard. Romantic, melancholic and mystical, it's the quintessential Italian love ballad. Listening to this song and indeed the entire CD, it's amazing to think at how much the world of popular music has changed in the past thirty years.

Though a newcomer to the Italian "scene" might be wisest to begin with PFM, Le Orme or Banco, one shouldn't overlook Delirium. For my money, it's as essential as QVL, Il Balletto di Bronzo or Museo Rosenbach. The follow up, Delirium 3, is also highly recommended... Oh, and dig the threads the band members are wearing inside the CD booklet! - Steve Pettengill [October 2001]

1. Villaggio
2. Tremori Antichi
3. Gioia, Disordine, Risentimento
4. La Mia Pazzia
5. Sogno
6. Dimensione Uomo
7. Culto Disarmonico
8. Pensiero Per Un Abbandono

Mimmo di Martino - Acoustic Guitar, Voice
Peppino di Santo - Drums, Percussion, Voice
Marcello Reale - Bass, Voice
Martin Grice - Sax, Flute, Voice
Ettore Vigo - Piano, Organ, Mellotron, Voice