If you were to ask me for a list of my favorite Italian progressive rock bands, Area (also known as Area – International POPular Group, or AreA) would easily rank among the top five. The group’s early sonic experiments make for fantastic, must-hear records. “Arbeit Macht Frei”, “Caution Radiation Area,” and “Are(A)zione” are as good as weird Italian prog ever got. Although I don’t remember as much of the Italian language as I did in college, I know enough that the lyrics are Communist/Socialist in nature, and I think one time I heard singer Demetrio Stratos utter the word “sleep”. But that’s as much as I can tell you about the lyrical content of Area’s songs.
Live Concerts Box was released in 2007 by Akarma and compiles “Concerto Teatro Uomo” (a two-disc set with a third disc, “Parigi-Lisbona.” The recordings were made circa 1976 in Paris, Lisbon and Milan. Tracks from “Arbeit Macht Frei,” “Caution Radiation Area,” “Crac!” and “Maledetti” are performed. Steve Lacy joins the group on saxophone and Paul Lytton on percussion.
Download and enjoy. This one doesn’t seem to come around that often.
Area
Live Concerts Box
(Akarma, 2007)
Disc 1 MediaFire DL Link
Discs 2 & 3 MediaFire DL Link
Sample Track:
Disc 1, Track 2 – “Arbeit Macht Frei” [MP3]
