Le Orme, Italy

Italian progressive rock

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Latest album: Il Leone e la Bandiera (2024)

Verita Nascote (1976)

After the disappointing commercial effort Smogmagica, Verita Nascoste is a nice return to form for Le Orme. Having acquired a full time guitarist for the previous effort, Le Orme had a new sound to experiment with. Not that Le Orme do much with it. On the contrary, the guitar seems to only add color and little else. By now, Le Orme are completely a song-based rock band, though more complex than their American contemporaries. This quality is displayed clearly on Verita Nascoste, where Le Orme's unique style makes for an overall enjoyable listening experience. 'In Ottobre' is an excellent example of how Le Orme could incorporate their progressive era sound into a tight commercial style rock framework. Throughout, Aldo Tagliapietra's voice is as wonderful as ever. There's even some nice violins on the pensive title track. While not as essential as their classic progressive rock albums, Verita Nascoste is a very pleasant listen, and a fine addition to the Le Orme catalog.

---3/11/01

Felona e Sorona (1973)

Le Orme's fifth release (and 3rd progressive album), Felona e Sorona, is generally considered their masterwork. The album is progressive rock by the numbers: 1) A heady concept with fantasy lyrics; 2) One long composition broken into nine subsections; 3) Keyboards galore featuring Mini-Moog, Mellotron and the familiar organ. The "formula" track as found on Collage has now been turned into an album length exercise. Going about it in this way, Le Orme came up with a fail-proof album that stills satisfies today. While it would be easy to pass off Felona e Sorona as a typical pretentious progressive rock album typical of the day, few deliver the goods as well as Le Orme. As with any ambitious project such as this, there is plenty for the listener to sink their teeth into. Many dynamic changes between the singer-songwriter tendencies of Aldo Tagliapietra and the bombastic keyboards of Tony Pagliuca. However what possibly keeps Felona E Sorona from the top echelon is the lack of allowing creativity and experimentation into the mix, so it appears most of the album seems restricted by an unspoken protocol. Exceptions to this are the eerie 'Attesa Inerte' and the ambitious closer 'Ritorno al Nulla', both reminiscent of the Uomo di Pezza balance of soft composition, jazzy grooves, and heavy rock. Overall, another classic Le Orme album and a must own for fans of Italian progressive rock.

---3/11/01

Uomo di Pezza (1972)

Uomo di Pezza, Le Orme's fourth album and second progressive rock era release, opens appropriately enough with an organ prelude quickly joined by a complex and heavy rhythm section. Silence begets a piano melody and then Aldo Tagliapetra's beautiful voice enters. The model found on Collage has been rediscovered and exploited.

So with that, Uomo di Pezza is ostensibly going to be a more sophisticated affair. As well, concerning instrumentation, Le Orme becomes more diverse. Here they add more acoustic guitar to the mix and the organ isn't as prominent as the newly acquired Mini-Moog. Gone are the jams and the reckless abandon found on Collage, to be replaced by more angular and thought-out creative music. 'La Porta Chiusa' is the perfect example of the new and improved Le Orme. A thundering bass and drum layer is offset by a Moog dial turn (as in turning the radio from soft to loud). Aldo then begins to sing softly, but somewhat eerily, only to find counterpoint with a thunderous organ, Moog, bass, and drum maelstrom. For pure songwriting, 'Figure di Cartone' and 'Aspettando L'Alba' are brilliant examples of melancholic beauty, especially the latter (which would've been the perfect soundtrack to an arty Italian film). Aldo's emotional voice is perfect for this kind of style and unfortunately they were unable to capture this magic on their later, more commercial, efforts. The album closes with the raucous instrumental 'Alienazione', perhaps the only acknowledgement of their previous history with heavy psych rock, via their opus Collage.

What separates Uomo di Pezza from the other albums in their canon is the perfect balance between the raw heaviness found on the predecessor - with the more uppity aspirations of pretension to be heard on their next opus. A true classic and, for me, Le Orme's finest work.

---3/11/01

Collage (1971)

In the late 1960's, Le Orme were one of the few Italian bands to attempt an American styled psychedelic music, and the results varied from high quality original compositions to trite mimicry. By 1971, Le Orme had changed directions to the new music movement sweeping Italy: Progressive rock. Collage, Le Orme's first progressive album and third overall, is a stripped-down affair with only organ, piano, bass, and drums. The exception is the opening title track which could be considered the bridge between their psych and prog composition styles. This track has a kitchen-sink mentality and features an orchestra, pseudo-baroque motifs, and some trendy of the era moves. The next piece however, 'Era Inverno', is the beginning of the classic Le Orme sound. Aldo Tagliapietra's instantly recognizable alto voice opens the song and then is followed by Tony Pagliuca's fabulous organ and the energetic drumming of Michi dei Rossi. Of all the songs found on Collage, this one would be the model for the future. The amazing 'Cemento Armato' follows. Le Orme has never been known for being a jam band, but this eight-minute organ trio number is one of the greatest of its kind. Blistering organ work and the rhythm section of Aldo and Michi are as hot here as anywhere to be found in their entire canon. Another highlight can be found on 'Evasione Totale', an experimental organ jazz rock piece with heavy echoed keyboards and groovy rhythms. Overall, Collage is Le Orme's most energetic, raw, and experimental album. As such, this album tends to be overlooked by those awed by their more polished follow-up efforts. Fans of heavy organ rock, as more commonly found in Germany, will likely adore Collage.

---3/11/01

Other albums heard: Ad Gloriam (1969); L'Aurora Delle Orme (1970); Contrappunti (1974); In Concerto (1974); Smogmagica (1975); Storia o Leggenda (1977); Elementi (2001)

2/14/19 (new entry)