MAURO PELOSI is an Italian singer/song-writer, who released four personal albums in the 70's,a couple of them being of interest for progressive rock fans.At late 60's he collaborated with Beldisc Label,but soon he would quit due to disagreements related to his musical direction with the director.After doing his military service in 1969,he returned to Milan and he was signed by Phonogram Label.In 1972 he released his first solo output ''La stagione per morire''. PELOSI was helped by a mass of great musicians such as Gianni Leone and Gianni Stinga from ''Il balleto do bronzo'', keyboardist Mike Logan of ''The motowns'' and drummer Dave Baker from early-''Le orme''.

Despite the presence of musicians from the progressive rock scene,''La stagione per morire'' walks on the typical way and style of the Italian singer/song-writer albums with lots of lyrical moments, however it hold also enough progressive sounds.The atmosphere is really calm and pessimistic with depressive lyrics sung, of course, in Italian and Ronnie Jackson (ex- Simon Luca) dominating the compositions with his acoustic guitar...but most of the songs contain some really atmospheric keyboard work :Smooth piano passages,distinctive organ sounds and mostly light symphonic-related mellotron parts of high calibre.There are also some pastoral flute and violin parts in here,which add the album a folkish/traditional flavor.The compositions are quite strong with nice vocal arrangements and inspiring melodies.''La stagione per morire'' heads mainly towards listeners of calm,relaxing yet atmospheric acoustic prog,though fans of Italian prog in general will propably like it as well.Recommended.

Tracks :

Side A
1.Paura
2.Cosa Aspetti Ad Andar Via
3.Vent'anni Di Galera
4.Vendero
5.La Stagione Per Morire

Side B
1.E Dire Cha A Maggio
2.Che Poi Non E Vero
3.Caro Amico
4.Suicidio

SMAK - BLACK LADY 1977

This album is the German release of the successful "Crna dama" project. It contains English lyrics and English song titles, which targeted the Western market at the time. Unlike the similar work done with the later "Dab In The Middle" release, "Black Lady" is much better LP. Musicianship is perfect, almost the same as on the original domestic "Crna dama" record. Arandjelovic's vocal, one of the most troubling element of the SMAK sound that was quite awful on "Dab In The Middle", actually sounds better here. Although I don't think the native English speakers would understand much of this singing, it can be useful to those who have real problems in listening to a totally strange language. This is a very rare issue on German Bellaphon label, but if you find it on the second hand market I would advise you to buy it.

Tracks :

Side 1
1. Black Lady
2. Matter of Love
3. Domestic Lesson

Side 2
1. Hello
2. Suffer
3. Tambourine
4. Here Alone (Sad Once More)

Artwork Included

MICHAEL FENNELY - STRANGER'S BED 1975

Michael Fennelly was born in 1949, in New Jersey, but moved to L.A. where he became involved in California's pop/protest movement. By 1967, Fennelly had secured a publishing deal with songwriter/producer Curt Boettcher's Mee Moo Music and became a member of Boettcher's studio-based collective of musicians, including the two main groups, Sagittarius, and the Millennium. Fennelly -- one of five singer/guitarist/songwriters in the latter group, who were actually intended to be a proper live act -- provided fabulous falsetto vocals in addition to co-writing much of the group's material, often with guitarist/vocalist Joey Stec, another member of the Sagittarius/Millennium collective. In 1969, Fennelly was looking to form a group of his own to showcase his lead vocal talents and songwriting when met the members of a band called Stonehenge, a blues-oriented group who were being scouted by Elektra's David Anderle, a friend of their manager's. The band -- with Fennelly now taking over lead vocals and songwriting duties -- changed their name to Crabby Appleton and signed to Elektra Records. Their first album, Crabby Appleton, was produced by Don Gallucci (from Don & the Good Times) and released in 1970. It enjoyed reasonable success with a catchy Top 40 hit, "Go Back," which peaked at number 36 in July 1970 after five weeks on the charts. Crabby Appleton's second album, Rotten to the Core, was released in October 1971. Despite complimentary reviews, the group's two albums proved ultimately unsuccessful and the band broke up. Fennelly later traveled to England, where he began focusing on a solo career, recording two solo albums. The first, Lane Changer, was recorded in London with the support of ex-Zombies bassist/producer Chris White and Rod Argent on synthesizer. A second solo album, Stranger's Bed, was recorded in L.A., produced by Denny Bruce and engineered by Keith Olsen (incidentally, Fennelly's album was Olsen's last as a engineer -- he was, at the same time, producing Fleetwood Mac's first album with two new members, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks). Released by Mercury in 1975, Stranger's Bed failed to chart. Fennelly is still involved in the music business.. ~ Bryan Thomas, Rovi

Tracks : 

Pretty Face / Hard Bargin Driver
Tomorrow's Star
Only A Child
Stranger's Bed
Dreamer
Turn To Me
Sweet Pain
Sad Dream Of Louise
The Day Of The Fire

RICHARD AND LINDA THOMPSON - I WANT TO SEE THE BRIGHT LIGHTS TONIGHT 1974

In 1974, Richard Thompson and the former Linda Peters released their first album together, and I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight was nothing short of a masterpiece, the starkly beautiful refinement of the promise of Thompson's solo debut, Henry the Human Fly. In Linda Thompson, Richard found a superb collaborator and a world-class vocalist; Linda possessed a voice as clear and rich as Sandy Denny's, but with a strength that could easily support Richard's often weighty material, and she proved capable of tackling anything presented to her, from the delicately mournful "Has He Got a Friend for Me" to the gleeful cynicism of "The Little Beggar Girl." And while Richard had already made clear that he was a songwriter to be reckoned with, on I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight he went from strength to strength. While the album's mood is decidedly darker than anything he'd recorded before, the sorrow of "Withered and Died," "The End of the Rainbow," and "The Great Valerio" spoke not of self-pity but of the contemplation of life's cruelties by a man who, at 25, had already been witness to more than his share. And though Thompson didn't give himself a guitar showcase quite like "Roll Over Vaughn Williams" on Henry the Human Fly, the brilliant solos that punctuated many of the songs were manna from heaven for any guitar enthusiast. While I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight may be the darkest music of Richard & Linda Thompson's career, in this chronicle of pain and longing they were able to forge music of striking and unmistakable beauty; if the lyrics often ponder the high stakes of our fate in this life, the music offered a glimpse of the joys that make the struggle worthwhile. 

Tracks : 

1. "When I Get To The Border"
2. "The Calvary Cross"
3. "Withered and Died"
4. "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight"
5. "Down Where the Drunkards Roll"
6. "We Sing Hallelujah"
7. "Has He Got A Friend For Me"
8. "The Little Beggar Girl"
9. "The End of the Rainbow"
10. "The Great Valerio"