Nicola Randone´s first CD was a big surprise to me. I didn´t know what to expect and initially my impressions were not very good. This is by far the most different and experimental work I heard by this talented musician until now. However, by the third spin onwards I found myself enjoying more and more its content. Ok, it does not have the sophistication of his latter work specially last year´s brilliant Linea Di Confine. He had yet to find his personal vocal style too. But that does not mean all the right elements weren´t right there since the very beginning. In fact, he proved to be a terrific songweriter early on.
Morte Di Un Amore is certainly dense and less accessible than much of his work, and still is quite melodic, interesting and daring. For exemple, while I liked the opener Vision (a good prog song, by the way) at first I didn´t like a track like Il Pentimento Di Dio. Dopo La Fine Del Mondo. I mean, have you ever heard a reggae tune sung in italian? And it does have a gregorian chant at the last part! And the most interesting thing is that, after a few listenings, this stuff works! And so goes on. Some tracks offers a glimpse of his future compositions, like the beautiful ballad Tuttle Le Mie Stelle. But mostly this CD requires some atention to be fully appreciated. Then the whole 50 minutes of its duration seems very short, a sure sigh of a fine record.
His vocal parts are a bit awkward on some parts, but in general he puts his beautiful and emotional voice in good use. The instrumental is more subtle than most prog bands and while his vocals are deeply rooted in the tradition of the italian popular singing, the music has a strong prog base that reminds bands like PFM, Locanda Delle Fate, Le Orme and others. Morte Di Un Amore also proves that his songwriting skills were already in great shape when he recorded his debut. There are no weak tracks nor fillers. All made better by the use of the right production and fine performances ofl the musicians involved.
Conclusion: a nice surprise! And a very good start for one of Italy´s most important prog artists to appear in the new millenium. Rating: four strong stars.
