Customer Reviews

Crac!

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This is an album that has been one of my very favorites for almost thirty years - and it sounds just as strong and envelope-bursting today as it did then. Area released a number of albums over the course of their career - containing various types of compositions, with varying degrees of success. Most of what they recorded is amazing stuff - they could rock with the best of the prog acts of their day, with some of the funkiest jazz fused with experimentation and politics. CRAC! is their third album, released originally in 1975 - and, I think, one of their most accessible. Some of their other releases, while extremely innovative and rewarding to the serious listener, could be a little daunting for those just coming into contact with them for the first time.

The rocks on which their sound was built are Ares Tavolazzi (acoustic & electric basses, trombone) and Giulio Capiozzo (drums & percussion) - these two guys are phenomenal in their power, precision and musicianship, one of the absolute best `rhythm sections' I've ever heard (and the term doesn't do them NEARLY enough justice, considering their contributions to the whole). Layering their talents on top of this foundation are Patrizio Fariselli (electric & acoustic pianos, synth, bass clarinet, percussion) and Paolo Tofani (electric guitar, guitar synth, flute) - two more astoundingly talented players/composers. Fariselli is incredibly fast and melodic in his keyboard work - and I would rank Tofani right up there with the top guitarists of the era. His guitar synth work is very tasty indeed. Check out his beautiful work on `Gioia e rivoluzione' - I could listen to him play like this for much longer than the opportunity afforded on this short (under five minutes) track.

...which brings us to Demetrio Stratos (voice). I don't really know where to begin in describing what he did. Demetrio took the human voice into realms that were hitherto unexplored. He sang of course - and he yodeled and shrieked and cooed and performed vocal gymnastics that were absolutely mind-blowing. When he `just' sang, he was demonstrating abilities that are WAY beyond the reach of most humans - and when he went further, improvising fantastically, it was stellar.

All of these elements merged into the one-of-a-kind band that was Area. CRAC! is made up mostly of songs, with a couple of instrumental pieces (with Demetrio's voice as additional player), and the album concludes with a track entitled `Area 5', a collaboration between the band and experimental composers Juan Hidalgo and Walter Marchetti. The opening track, `L'elefante bianco', is one that I literally wore out on my first copy of the LP - thankfully, CDs are more durable when it comes to using the `repeat' button!

Humor me - an anecdote: I worked in a record store when this album was newly released, and it spent a lot of time on the turntable there (hey - I was the manager, so who was going to stop me, SAPETE?). One day when I was playing it (`Elefante bianco' had just kicked in, at pretty good volume...), a young woman came dashing into the store, demanding to know what we were playing. I showed her the cover - she was amazed at what she was hearing. She started hanging out at the store, and wound up being one of our best (and brightest) employees. Are you out there somewhere, Renae...?

At any rate - if you enjoy bold, wildly experimental (yet infinitely listenable) music, PLEASE don't pass this album by.

If you've ever delved into ancient Yes or Emerson Lake and Palmer Albums....or maybe picked up a copy of something by King Crimson, you've only scratched the surface! Area seem to fuse the most intriguing elements of all prog that came before them with a few new twists that make their music a delightful and memorable experience. Do yourself a favor and buy this CD!

Crac! was Area's third album and what an album it is! Original copies came with a sticker, but like the gun insert found in Arbeit Macht Frei, the sticker for Crac! is difficult to come by. Although they cut back the experiments of Caution: Radiation Area (such as "Lobotomia"), they released what is considered their most accessible album in their discography therefore making this the recommended starter for newcomers. The album certainly has a jazzier feel than its predecessor, but once again, this group have proven they were such amazing musicians, with tight and solid performances. Not to mention Demetrio Stratos himself. "Mela del Odessa" is one of those cuts I get a kick off, where the band gets all funky with the horns and that rhythm. "Gioia e Revoluzione" actually uses acoustic guitar, and is that rare example of acoustic guitar used in their music, so it has a bit of that folk influence. The band tends to tag an experimental piece at the end, in this case "Area 5", with strange use of piano and Demetrio Stratos screeching.

For my money, Area is by far one of the greatest fusion/prog acts ever! They never made a mistake when Demetrio Stratos was in the group, and this is simply a prime example what I'm talking about, Crac! is another must-have album!