From ProgReviews.com
“Le Orme’s fourth album is the group’s second after deciding to become a progressive rock band with the previous release, Collage. Uomo di Pezza is the first of three albums generally acknowledged by progressive rock fans as the band’s best work. Most people rate this album’s successor, Felona e Serona, as the band’s high point, but of the two I slightly prefer this one. Like most other Italian symphonic prog bands, Le Orme weren’t at the forefront of innovation; Uomo di Pezza sounds at various times like ELP, Genesis, and, to a lesser extent, Yes. Perhaps it’s because of their origins as a pop band, but, ironically, Le Orme exhibit a stronger individual style on Uomo di Pezza’s shorter, less “progressive” tracks. Like Genesis, Le Orme made their music with a focus on composition and atmosphere rather than technical virtuosity. Both bands also had a preference for writing very melodic passages and Uomo di Pezza is, for the most part, filled with these.
One reason why I prefer this album to the next one is the varied textures. Whereas Felona e Serona can occasionally overwhelm with organs and synthesizers, this album balances the heaviness with a healthy complement of 12-string guitars, piano, harpsichord and mellotron. The contrasts that Le Orme produced on this album are exhibited right from the opening track. “Una Docezza Nuova” begins with some bombastic organ chords and briefly changes to a brisk romp of keyboards, but it soon dissolves into the plaintive piano melody that introduces the vocals. The piano passages remind me a lot of the style of Genesis’ Tony Banks, and the singer, Aldo Tagliapietra, has a voice that occupies a place somewhere between Peter Gabriel and Yes’ Jon Anderson. The song has a great melody and is one of my favorites on the album.
Two of the longer tracks, “La Porta Chiusa” and “Alienazione,” are the ones that immediately stick out as being influenced by ELP, as they are dark and dominated by dissonant organ blocks. “La Porta Chiusa” is particularly icy and the nasty-sounding Moog synthesizer is a great addition to the overall atmosphere. But it’s on the shorter vocal tracks like “Giocco di Bimba,” Breve Immagine” “Figure di Cartone” and the vocal part of “Una Dolcezza Nuova” that I hear a band hitting its stride and finding its niche in the genre. “Figure di Cartone” stands out to me as mostly ably presenting this band’s strengths: catchy melody and creative sonic juxtapositions. The instrumentation of the vocal portion of the song is mostly 12-string strumming, but much of the rest of it is an unexpected solo played by that greasy Moog from “La Porta Chiusa.” A very good album.”
Le Orme
Uomo Di Pezza
(Philips, 1972)
MediaFire DL Link
01. Una Dolcezza Nuova
02. Gioco di Bimba
03. La porta Chiusa
04. Breve Immagine
05. Figure di Cartone
06. Aspettando L’alba
07. Alienazione
