01	Oro Caldo						18:31
	02	Stanza Citta						01:45
	03	Animale Senza Respiro						21:36

OSANNA - Palepoli (1972)
Now this is an extremly special and 'out-standing' album.If you take elements from Jethro Tull - the heavier parts with theflute and drums - and the furious King Crimson - mixed with Il Ballettodi Bronzo (without the 'classical' feeling) you might get close toOsanna in sound. There are 2 long tracks here divided with a shorter one.The first track "Oro Caldo" - is like a wild rollercoaster. It mixesthe heavier flute/dist-guitar/drum- parts with some awesome mellotronthemes.And I am not sure that I am completely content with all of the furiousparts here, but the calmer moments are simply heaven. But OK, most of the track flows together very well and there are justsome minor flaws here and there that could have been replaced. But let's not complain about these SMALL details. Rather this album will appeal to everyone into heavy prog with extremly loud and raw parts, paired with more mellow and awesome mellotron-moments.
So the first time I heard this album I didn't get it at all. I couldnt understand theultra positive reaction this album had. To me some parts on the album were extremlytedious and irritating. This is an album you have to listen to, than put away, then listento again. Not one you hear on a daily basis. So now when I have had time to melt it, someparts still don't do anything for me while others really sums up whats great with bandslike Jethro Tull and Van der Graaf Generator.
But some final words, this album only gets better after each listen, and it is very worthy of that legendary cult reputation it has got. I mean really, there are no repeated themes here, instead new themes and melodes keepp coming all the time, mostly in a frenzy and angry way. Can't help but being very ompressed by that. So that's it folks, another of those essential italian albums that its slightly criminal NOT to own.

1. Oro Caldo (18:30)
2. Stanza Cittа (1:45)
3. Animale Senza Respiro (21:36)





Palepoli (1973)

1. Oro caldo - 18:30
2. Stanza citta - 1:44
3. Animale senza respiro - 21:45



Lello Brandi - Bass
Elio d'Anna - Saxophone
Massimo Guarino - Drums
Danielo Rustici - Guitar
Lino Vairetti - Synthesizer, Keyboards, Vocals





Osanna's opus, Palepoli, is considered by many to be one of the finest examples of Italian progressive rock out there. Like Il Balleto Di Bronzo's YS, it is also fairly abrasive and inaccessible, which could disappoint many listeners looking for a good introduction to that prog hotbed. Both albums have a hard rock edge, and where Il Balleto based much of it's sound on keyboard pyrotechnics, Palepoli uses tons of saxophone and flute, though still mining much of the same sort of dissonant and experimental territory.
I hear healthy doses of two of my favorite bands in Osanna's music, Van Der Graaf Generator and Jethro Tull, as well as a significant King Crimson influence. This makes for an extremely chaotic and heavy blend, with wailing saxes and driving guitars, as well as a significant portion of ripping flute melodies over a solid hard rock foundation. Occasionally, the music lapses into quiet melodic moments reminiscent of Genesis circa Nursery Cryme or Trespass. A major problem with the album is the fairly horrendous sound quality, and many of the more chaotic moments, which could be absolutely mind blowing, end up sounding like a jumbled mess of screechy saxophone and drum parts. This album truly needs a remastering job before I can enjoy it on the same level as many of the other Italian classics.
The album is basically two songs spread out over what were originally the two LP sides, with a sort interlude at the end of side 1. The main song on side 1, "Ora Caldo" is excellent and is definitely able to hold my interest over the entire track. The song definitely recalls the best of early Tull and Van Der Graaf, but infected with their own distinctive style. The vocals are also quite good and though the poor sound quality takes away from it, it doesn't obstruct the music that much. The side 2 track is not quite as strong, being much more experimental and not as cohesive. By this point my attention would start to wander and the muddled sound quality definitely started to grate on my nerves. I don't know if there is a remaster of this album coming out any time soon, but if there is, wait for it. Otherwise this is a fairly solid Italian release, and they are definitely a number of absolutely incredible moments on the album.

- Greg Northrup



Osanna: Palepoli (1973)
Reviewer: Ben Miler


Osanna was one of the great Italian prog rock bands. Maybe not as well known as PFM, Le Orme, or even Banco for that matter, but definately worth looking in to. Palepoli is Osanna's third album, and was the very first Italian prog album I ever heard and I was just totally amazed! It also shows how much the band had progressed as well, starting off with the bluesy/jazzy/hard rock of L'Uomo (1971), to the classical orchestra with rock band of Milano Calibro 9 (1972), which was a film soundtrack, and this one.
Palepoli was the only Osanna album sung entirely in Italian, which was a real smart move for this band as singing (partially) in English on previous albums was definatley not the band's strong points (the same goes for PFM, particularly on their 1973 album Photos of Ghosts), although those are still fine albums. This time around, the band went for two side length cuts, "Oro Caldo" and "Animale Senze Respiro", with a short incidental piece called "Stanza Citta" in between. This is Osanna at their most aggressive.

If you enjoy David Jackson's works with Van der Graaf Generator, you're certain to enjoy Elio D'Anna's sax work (he even played more than one sax at once, just like Jackson). The saxes throughout the album are very aggressive and can be quite squeaky at time. Keyboardist Lino Vairetti added a Mellotron to his setup (he also used the ARP 2600 synth as well), and uses the tron throughout with very spectacular results. This is also Osanna's most Mellotron-drenched albums as well, so if you're a Mellotron fan, you need to start with this album.

The music throughout the album is very unpredictable. It might start off gentle, with acoustic guitar and Mellotron, then they get in to some very aggressive sax and flute jams (the flutework, also from D'Anna himself, is much in the style of Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson), then the music becomes quiet again, then goes through some experimental passages, complete with toying with the Sample & Hold feature on the ARP 2600 synthesizer (which creates a random series of sounds at varying pitches). So don't buy this album expecting structured music, this is an album once the band gets bored with one thing (which never seems to be more than a minute) they go on to the next thing.

Palepoli is one truly amazing album, and totally unpredictable. There are so few Italian prog albums I've been able find that has the mood of this one, the closest being by Cervello, who released an album called Melos (1973), but that should come as no surprise as Cervello featured guitarist Corrado Rustici, who was the younger brother of Osanna guitarist Danilo Rustici. For those more used to the gentler side of Italian prog, such as PFM, Le Orme, Celeste, or Locanda Delle Fate, Palepoli will come as a shock, as this is definately one of the more harsh and abrasive Italian prog albums out there (with the exception of Il Balletto di Bronzo's YS, of course).

This album truly is nostalgic for me, prior to hearing this album (back in 1993), I didn't even know there was a large Italian prog scene (I was only barely aware of PFM at the time). So if you like the more heavy, aggressive side of Italian prog, you are certain to enjoy this album.



More Info

- Elio D`Anna: flute, saxes
- Lino Vairetti: vocals, 12-string guitar, ARP 2600 synthesizer, Mellotron
- Danilo Rustici: electric and 12-string guitars, Mellotron
- Lello Brandi: bass
- Massimo Guarino: drums, percussion

Related Link: Official Osanna webpage http://www.osanna.it/