Friday 22 November 2013

Verso la locanda (Quella Vecchia Locanda, 1972)

A very interesting track, this is. Taken from the Quella Vecchia Locanda's eponymous first album, it shows a brilliant acoustic opening plot, with flute, guitar and especially violin in the foreground. Then, a short electric riff introduces the only sung section, a nostalgy slow tempo one, followed by a jazzy improvisation featuring a very good piano and immediately leaving place to a typical prog-rock acceleration providing a strong conclusion to the song. 

The painter Giancarlo Impiglia created this
suggestive artwork for "Quella Vecchia locanda".

Even if this "Verso la locanda" ("Towards the Inn", in English) is to be appreciated together with the whole concept album, I still like it as a stand alone, because it features all the main ingredients of the succulent dish we call "Italian prog": poetry, good melodies, moody plots, sharp changes and pleasant acoustic passages. In short, this could be suggested as a crash-test for the genre beginners. And I bet they'll ask for more.

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