Uomo Di Pezza [Import]

Le Orme | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 26, 1999)
• Original Release Date: 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Mercury Italy
• ASIN: B00000IPOL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #193,921 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Dolcezza Nuova

2. Gioco Di Bimba

3. La Porta Chiusa

4. Breve Immagine

5. Figure Di Cartone

6. Aspettando L'alba

7. Alienazione

Editorial Reviews

Japanese limited edition reissue of 1972 album that's out-of-print domestically, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The first REAL Le Orme record, January 5, 2000

By 

The Fountains of Zero (Resolute, NT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uomo Di Pezza (Audio CD)

This is the second record by the *progressive* Le Orme, and it is with this release that I consider them to have developed into the great band we all know and love.

Uomo Di Pezza is a hundred times better than Collage in almost every way imaginable - the compositions, the production, and the playing. That said, I feel constrained to point out that even though the songwriting took a huge leap forward here, Uomo Di Pezza is still at least a step behind their two masterpieces, Felona E Sonora and Contrapuntti.

The opening cut, Una Dolcezza Nuova, is a real treasure, with a stunningly gorgeous piano figure that gets right into your head and stays there for days. Ditto for Aspettando L'Alba, with an absolutely haunting minor-key riff played on acoustic guitar and what sounds like a celeste. These are my favorite songs on the disc and make it absolutely indispensable, in my opinion.

Alienazione is an excellent ELP-ish instrumental monster jam, and quite good for what it is - an opportunity for the band to stretch out a bit. I didn't find any of the other pieces all that compelling, though there are no bad tunes.

All things considered, this isn't a bad starting point if you haven't heard Le Orme yet. I might suggest Felona E Sonora as the best introduction, but you won't go wrong with this one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still relevant in the progrock realm, January 15, 2005

By 

Robert M Briggs III (Lake City, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uomo Di Pezza (Audio CD)

This album has haunted me since I first purchased it on vinyl in 1977. I finally found it on CD at a reasonable price, and still enjoy it as thoroughly as I did 20-odd years ago.
If you've never heard Le Orme (translate: "The Footprint"), they are something like a combination of ELP (instrumentation lineup) and early Genesis (in lyrical and melodical content). I bought an English/Italian dictionary to translate the song lyrics back in the '70s, and the lyrics are fascinating. In the title track, Uomo di Pezza (which translates loosely as "Cartoon Character"), the band portrays a figure whose solitary existence has been reduced to a world of dreams and hallucinations. In the closing lyric, the singer begs his creator "Please don't let me wake up like this!". In the song, La Puerta Chiussa ("The Closed Door"), the lyrics are about opening hidden portals in the listener's mind. At one point, the lyric (again, loosely translated) come across with the words "Why do you not open it? Perhaps it is Him." Most intriguing!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great album from one of Italy's finest prog bands, November 22, 2002

By 

BENJAMIN MILER (Veneta, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Uomo Di Pezza (Audio CD)

Uomo di Pezza is Le Orme's fourth album and their second venture in to prog rock (their first two were psychedelic pop not unlike From Genesis to Revelation). While Collage, their first prog album received only a mixed reaction, it's with Uomo di Pezza that people regard as the album that gave the band the classic sound. I have not heard Collage so I can't comment there. Anyway, Uomo di Pezza is a real grower, excellent production, stuffed with great numbers like "La Porta Chiusa", "Figure di Cartone" and "Aspettando L'alba". The instrumental "Alienazione" really took me by surprise. Most of it is on the ELP side, with heavy Hammond organ that makes me think of "Knife Edge" or the Italian prog band L'Uovo di Colombo. It's almost as if Le Orme wanted to be a heavy progressive rock band. But what really surprised me was a passage that used fuzz organ that sounded exactly like what Soft Machine's Mike Ratledge or Khan, Hatfield & the North, and National Health's Dave Stewart used, giving the unusual moment that Le Orme almost sounded like a Canterbury band! But most of the rest of the album is one the mellower side that makes up a great deal what they did on this album. Although I prefer their following album, Felona e Sorona, this is still a great album to add to your collection.