Customer Reviews

Contrappunti

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I actually own the original Italian LP. At first I thought it was a bit of a letdown compared the consistency and excellency of Felona e Sorona. I was almost ready to give Contrappunti a two star rating, but then it really grew on me. This album finds Le Orme a bit more on the experimental side, and I was a bit thrown off about that, but I got used to it. I do think some of the best keyboard work I've heard from Toni Pagliuca (at least of the Le Orme albums I've heard) can be found here, you get plenty of great lush Moog, string synths, and even a little Mellotron. Let's get with the songs on this album. The title track, all instrumental, sounds exactly like it came off an ELP or Triumvirat album, and this was the big reason why Le Orme was called the Italian ELP, but don't expect much of the rest of the album to sound like that. The second cut, "Frutto Acerbo" is an acoustic number in the grand tradition of Felona e Sorona's "Felona" and "All'Infuori del Tempo". "Aliente" sounds like Le Orme wanted to get funky, so you get yourself clavinet and some cool use of synths. "India" was the band being strange by adding some odd ethnic influences, including synthesizer attempting to sound like a sitar. Also there are some strange synth effects as well. "La Fabbricante D'Angeli" and "Maggio" are more or less typical Le Orme progressive numbers, although the latter is more adventurous, especially the cool synths that start the cut. In between those two cuts is "Notturno" which is basically a piano and synth piece, which sounds like it should have belonged on one of Eno's ambient albums, like Music For Airports. Perhaps the biggest thing missing on Contrappunti is the conceptual flow you find on Felona, so it ends up sounding a little disjointed. But still the same, Contrappunti is a worthwhile album to get, but you are much better off starting with Felona e Sorona, before you come to this one.

This CD is somewhat similar to its predecessor "Felona e Serona" in that it opens with a very ELP-like flourish on the title track, segues into a very nice acoustic piece (Frutto Acerbo), and then continues through a series of shorter pieces. What makes this CD more satisfying is that while retaining the trademark moodiness and the great melodies, Le Orme takes somewhat greater risks with their arrangements and compositions. For example, rhythmic experimentation increases as on "Aliante", which is just a 7/8 reworking of the "Apocalypse in 9/8" sub-section from "Suppers Ready" by Genesis, "India" is an odd piece that that uses unusual (for Le Orme) scales (hence the title "India"), and "Notturno" is a dark and atmospheric piece of minimalism played primarily on acoustic piano and organ, with various synthesizer and percussion effects in the background. Unfortunately, this experimentation comes at some cost, and the songs really don't flow as well as on "Felona e Serona" or Uomo di Pezza". Notwithstanding, this is a fantastic piece of music and is the last full-blown progressive work from Le-Orme. Highly recommended.

In my opinion, Contrappunti shines as Le Orme's finest album. It is a rich tapestry of songs weaving heavy keyboards and haunting guitars, all set to a solid rythmn section. The band are truly great musicians, and it really shows on this fine LP. Great counterpoint on many of the tunes.

My favorite tune is "Frutto Acerbo", a real gem composed on acoustic guitars, piano and mellotron.The highlight though, is the beautiful vocals of Aldo Tagliapietra. This song along is worth the price, and demonstrates why Italian is the best language of music!

If you're searching for those 70's Moog sounds, they're all here. But perhaps it's not the Moog used here, but some Italian brand. At any rate the first track sounds like Le Orme doing a Tarkus type composition. Very complex indeed. Le Orme always seems to do an obligatory acoustic number for the second track on their albums, so expect that. It was on this album that I realized that the singer is trying to sound like Jon Anderson. But because of the Italian lyrics, you are not tempted to make that comparison. The rest of the album is more experimental compared to other Le Orme outtings, and has a heavier edge but still maintaining their trademark style. Because they only have three members the added effort on the keyboardist's part to play in a more busy fashion really fills out their sound. On some of their other works it seems that if they get a bit lazy you feel that some instrument is missing. I suppose that is because whoever is doing the singing cannot play their instrument as well when they sing so everything slows way down when there is singing. But I suppose that is part of their style. This is still equal to the best of their works.

For me this album is a slight step down for Le Orme. I like it, but I don't think it is quite as good as "Felona E Sorona" or "Storia O Legganda". The album starts out sounding just like Emerson Lake And Palmer although as it goes along it develops more uniqueness. Much of the album is rather dark in nature, and flows along with the band even adding some what would later be known as world music influences to some of the material. Overall this is another strong Le Orme album, but just not quite as good as some of their previous stuff.

For some reason, many progressive listener's do not like this release from Le Orme. There are not a lot of vocals in it and it is, in many ways, harder than some of their other stuff, but this recording stands on its own as is. It is darker than most of their stuff, so one might want to keep that in my when purchasing. Like "Welcome" by Santana was an "odd-ball" release, yet a cherished one. Thus, we could say that about this record. It is hard, dark and at times, complex.

This fine recording is perhaps one of this bands better efforts. Where it is not quite up to the standard of their masterwork Felona e Sorona it is not far behind. Production, composition and performance are all solid. They were one of the finest Italian bands in progressive rock. Le Orme had a unique sense of melody that was rivaled by few in any genre. One need not understand Italian to enjoy the beauty of their music. Highly recommended...Simon

I was very disapointed with this cd. It is generally considered to be one of Le Orme's best, but I find it stagnant. I will say the vocalist is wonderful. He has a beautiful and expressive voice. However, musically I found the songs mundane and pedestrian. The biggest problem is that they just don't go anywhere. I kept expecting some kind of tempo change, or solo, or something, and it just never happened. Maybe if I put it away and try it again later, but after several listens, I just don't feel anything from this one.