01	La Creazione						05:19
	02	Il Giudizio						10:15
	03	Il Diluvio						02:17
	04	Ora Non Ti Ricordo Piu						03:42
	05	Il Suono Del Silenzio						03:32
	06	Lei Sei Tu: Lei						02:06
	07	Cella 503						03:20
	08	Alzo Un Muro Elettrico						02:46
	09	La Grande Fuga						03:00

Rovescio Della Medaglia, Il (RDM) [Italy]

La Bibbia (71), Io Come Io (72), Contaminazione (73), Contamination (English Version) (75), Let's All Go Back/Anglosaxon Woman (75)

These guys released an album in English called Contamination which is taken from their third album Contaminazione, a classical rock album based on the life and works of Bach. This is a really good one, although nothing like their first one, a heavy album without the keyboards on their later ones called La Bibbia a concept work based on the early parts of the Bible. Their second album has not been reissued as of yet.

I've heard about 3/4 of Contaminazione--great, great stuff. They combine Bach motives, orchestral instruments, pipe-organs, choral voices, rock sections with guitar, synth, etc. And they do it all very well. Any fan of symphonic prog would be very pleased with this. -- Mike Ohman

Contaminazione is killer, one of the strongest classical oriented progressive albums ever made. La Biblia sucks.

Contaminazione is one of those CDs that experienced prog music listeners claim that no collection is complete without. While I could name at least a dozen that I consider "more essential" than Contaminazione, it remains one of the best progressive offerings ever recorded. RDM is short for the band's full name, Il Rovescio della Medaglia (yes, that means they're Italian). A rough translation to English is, "The other side of the coin.." Go figure. This and the album's being influenced by Bach's "Well Tempered Clavier" doesn't clue me on to any global concept, though it has the trappings of a concept work. Breaking from the progressive tradition of long tracks, Contaminzaione is less than 40 minutes in length but is made up of 13 tracks. Some of the titles are in English though all vocals are in Italian. A keyboardist's dream, RDM uses guitars, violins as lead instruments as well, though their keyboard and piano workouts dominant most of the themes. They have a rich, full seventies sound, coupled with classical orchestration. RDM is "classical rock" in the sense of ELP's Works Vol. I, though with the proficiency that that band had on their earlier releases. The orchestration works surprisingly well, blending with the traditional rock arrangements. Vocals are multitracked, choral in arrangement. However they have a progressive rather than choral feel to them. Heavy guitars and a tight rhythm section round out an excellent release. Contaminazione will appeal especially to ELP fans. Other Italian bands such as Maxophone and PFM also contain some of the same elements that make this CD worthwhile.

I have one RDM album, Contaminazione, which is most often cited as their classic release. The 36 minute album (with the 13 songs flowing together) is somehow derived from Bach's "Well-tempered Clavier" (harpsichord). If I made the translation right (doubtful), the title alludes to them contaminating a few ideas taken from the prelude and fugue of this particular work by Bach. Too bad Emerson doesn't 'fess up like this! As you'd expect, the music is very keyboard heavy though you'll also hear guitar and violin here and there. There's also a fairly strong vocal presence. One of the singers sounds a bit like John Wetton and there are several instances of vocal harmonies. Also appropriately, there exists plenty of counterpoint between all instruments and a strong classical aura to the entire album. There aren't too many albums where you'll hear a single electric guitar emerge out of a string quartet! Quite varied, original and excellent. Highly recommended.

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Il Rovescio Della Medaglia


Enzo Vita - guitars
Pino Ballarini - vocals, flute
Stefano Urso - bass
Gino Campoli - drums
Franco Di Sabbatino - keyboards
Luis Enriquez Bacalov - keyboards

Albums
La Bibbia 1971 RCA PSL 10521
Io Come Io 1972 RCA PSL 10545
Contaminazione 1973 RCA DPSL 10593
Contamination 1975 RCA TPL1 1049

CD Reissues
La Bibbia RCA ND74112, 1989
Io Come Io RCA 74321-22082.2, 1994 (limited edition)
Contaminazione RCA ND 74511, 1990 (ERC 32010 in Japan, 1989)



The masters of Italian progressive hard rock formed in Rome in 1971. 'La Bibbia' (1971) was a furiously violent but still astonishingly intelligent work. With simple but clever effects on percussion, bass and electric guitar, "Il Nulla" rose from silence to X-rated brute instrumental force, announcing the coming of "La Creazione". "Sodoma E Gomorra" contains the most perverted heavy guitar riffs you are likely to hear. On the longest track, "Il Giudizio", there is even one section where the electric guitar and bass perform a fugue-like section. This is a very entertaining album.



'Io Come Io' (1972) was an ever better work with crisper production. The interplay between wah-wah guitar and fuzz bass all over the place is simply incredible. The slightly baroque melody lines (like those of J.S.Bach) are played with such force, you would hardly recognise these classical sources. This may be the best hard rock or heavy progressive album to come out of Italy, but perhaps it should be disqualified due to the criminally short running time of just 29 minutes.



The classical influence behind RDM became evident even to the most dilettante listeners on 'Contaminazione' (1973). Compared to the previous albums, this is a soft-rock album, vaguely based on parts of J.S.Bach's harpsichord pieces. RDM had also expanded with the addition of keyboard player Franco Di Sabbatino. Their collaborator, Luis Enriquez Bacalov, having used New Trolls as 'guinea pigs' on 'Concerto Grosso No. 1', came up here with one of the world's best orchestral arrangements to grace a rock group's performance. This is indeed an incredibly difficult musical combination - no British rock group managed a consistently convincing album of this type, during the classic progressive rock era there between 1969 and 1973.

All three albums by RDM are strongly recommended and deserve much greater international recognition.

Taken from Scented Gardens of the Mind - A guide to the Golden Era of Progressive Rock (1968-1980) in more than 20 European Countries, by Dag Erik Asbjornsen, Borderline Productions, ISBN 1-899855-12-2


===============


Artist

IL ROVESCIO DELLA MEDAGLIA



1971-73
Pino Ballarini (vocals, flute)
Enzo Vita (guitar)
Stefano Urso (bass)
Gino Campoli (drums)

1973
same as above with:
Franco di Sabbatino (keyboards)

1974-75
as above without Pino Ballarini



Formed in Rome in 1971, from the ashes of the 60's band I Lombrichi. First great success at Viareggio Pop festival. One of the most popular live bands in Italy during the early 70's RDM were renowned for their powerful performances, always played at the loudest possible volume.

First album La Bibbia released in 1971 is mainly hard-rock, recorded live in studio.
The second one, Io come io, is in the same style, with ambitious philosophical lyrics inspired from Hegel works. A short album (less than 30 minutes) but a very good one.

After the entrance of a fifth member, keyboard player, Franco Di Sabbatino, the third album Contaminazione is released with the help of argentine composer Luis Enriquez Bacalov (who had already worked with New Trolls for their Concerto Grosso and Osanna) and is more in a symphonic direction.

In 1974, after the stealing of their expensive PA, the band was close to a split, with singer Ballarini leaving and the others continuing as an instrumental-only band. The live album Giudizio avrai, privately released by the band, is taken from this period.

Last single release is from 1975, then the band had various line-up changes up to 1977.

In early 90's guitarist Enzo Vita reforms the band with a new line-up and releases a new CD called Il ritorno, different from their past production and more AOR-inspired, as its follower Vitae (recorded earlier).







LP
La Bibbia RCA (PSL 10521) 1971 includes 8-page 11" round booklet
RCA/Contempo (NL 74112) 1989 reissue with same cover design and insert
Io come io

RCA (PSL 10545)

1972

gatefold cutout cover with single lyric sheet glued in - very first copies came with metal medallion on cover
Contaminazione RCA (DPSL 10593) 1973 gatefold
RCA/Contempo (NL 74511) 1990 reissue with same gatefold cover
Contamination
RCA (TPL1-1049) 1975 same as above, english version with single cover
Giudizio avrai Private (RDML 75) 1988 gatefold with embossed logo
First three albums have been reissued on CD by RCA (ND 74112, 74321 22082-2 and ND 74511)

SINGLES (with picture sleeve except where noted)

La mia musica
La grande fuga RCA (PM 3730) 1973 promo-only with no cover
Let's all go back
Anglosaxon woman Frog (FRS 3001) 1975

CD (relevant issues)

Il ritorno DB (1771 20013-2) 1995 new album by revamped RDM
Vitae VM2000 (VM 069) 1999 1993 album






Both the original and the reissue of La Bibbia contain a round booklet representing a golden medallion, with live pictures of the band.
While the cover reissue is easy to distinguish because of the barcode, Contempo logo and smooth cardboard, the booklet is almost identical to the original, and only a side-to-side comparison can help tell one from the other. As original booklets are often missing, many collectors replaced them with the reissue booklet.

Io come io has never been reissued on vinyl, original has a thin cardboard gatefold cover with a large hole in the middle where a bronze medallion was housed in the very few copies (a real rarity among collectors). The gatefold cover contains a single sheet glued in the center with the lyrics.

Contaminazione and Contamination have different covers, the second one being released for foreign markets in english version.

No counterfeits should exist of any albums. Contaminazione has been reissued in Japan and Korea, while Contamination exists in US (on Peters label) and german and canadian RCA issues.








Il Rovescio Della Medaglia - Contaminazione (1973)

Another excellent Italian album, albeit one that took a lot of getting used to for me. RDM's Contaminazione is a classical adaptation of one of Bach's works, hence the name. Usually classical adaptations aren't exactly my thing, with the only other particular achievement of this kind I can think of being Los Canarios' Ciclos. However, this album is extremely varied and melodic, not to mention impeccably performed, so a few listenings were all it took to really get my head around the rather unconventional structure of the album.

Contaminazione is divided into 13 tracks, however these divisions are rather arbitrary and only serve to confuse the listener. The album is really intended to flow together as one piece, however this is certainly not a "prog epic" in the conventional sense either. The band seems to jump from theme to theme constantly, with not much repetition and just strings the various parts together until the end of the album. The approach is kind of off putting, but once I really "got into" the album, I began to be able to anticipate the different parts are really become accustomed to the way it was put together, and then being able to focus on what is actually an amazing performance.

The instrumentation here is very exciting. RDM employs a full symphony orchestra to deliver many of the classical, plus classical piano, harpsichord, trumpets, and not to mention the conventional rock instruments. The vocals are typically strong in the Italian tradition, and approach some quasi-operatic tendencies, though some parts are a tad cheesy. Overall this is probably the best album length adaptation of a classical piece that I know of and another extremely well done Italian prog album. - Greg Northrup [Februrary 2001]