Uomo di pezza

A leading light of the first wave of Italian prog rock, Le Orme could be seen (at least in their classic early- to mid-'70s incarnation) as sort of a Mediterranean version of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. They blended rock and classical influences in a trio format of keyboardist, drummer, and vocalist/bassist/guitarist. The band's second album, Collage, set them on the prog-rock road, but the follow-up, 1972's Uomi di pezza, is where Le Orme's baroque-rock blend really came into its own. Toni Pagliuca definitively emerged as a multi-keyboard master, weaving bold, vivid synthesizer lines among his organ excursions and Mellotron orchestrations. And frontman Aldo Tagliapietra's fluid, passionate vocal delivery is the ideal vehicle for the songs he penned with his keyboard-playing cohort. From the graceful melodicism of "Una Dolcezza Nuova" and "Gioco Di Bimba" to the madly whirling intensity of "Alienazione," Le Orme reached a new compositional level here. While this album's follow-up, Felona e sorona, would become the band's benchmark, Uomi di pezza is close on its heels.