Le Orme - Amico Di Ieri
	Released: 1997 Label: Tring Cat. No.: TAP 014 Total Time: 47:37
	Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, February 2000 It's easy to see why Le Orme are such a well-respected and liked band. The music on Amico Di Ieri, a compilation disc, is fantastic. The tracks were digitally re-recorded for this release from 1997, which gives them excellent, crisp production. This is the latest release and promises much for the future. All of the tracks date from the early- to mid-70's, nothing more recently composed than "Veritá Nascoste" (from Veritá Nascoste) and the single "Canzone D'Amore," both of which date from 1976. Because I don't have their entire back catalogue yet, I can't compare these with the originals, nor tell you if they've been rearranged. The album's title derives from a track on the 1975 release Smogmagica and presented here. Le Orme take elements or ideas from a variety of sources and then uses them as starting point to great effect. Percussion-like keyboards a la Emerson (most apparant on "La Porta Chiusa" from Uomo Di Pezza (1972)), and yet there's one moment when I thought of Genesis. And, another moment when I thought of Yes. Make no mistake though, the word "sounds like" doesn't come to mind, as this is more along structural or technical lines. Stand-out tracks...well, there are 11 of them, but one of which is "India", which, not unexpectedly, has a very Indian feel to it, mainly due to Aldo Tagliapietra's sitar. What I thought of as I was listening to it was Midge Ure's "Dear God" single of a decade ago, though this track predates it by nearly a decade more still! It has that same sparse arrangement for the verses, becoming fuller for the choruses - again, you can't say, "it sounds like," but there are similar sounding elements. (It's a fine distinction, I know). What is as apparent as the excellent musicianship of this band, which has been in evidence for more than twenty years now, is that the band had a great time putting this album together. The energy in the playing, the tightness they're playing with, the care that has been taken with the whole production all indicates a band preparing for the next 20 years. The beauty of this disc is just blowing me away, as each track is a stunner! If you buy no other Italian prog release, make sure this is the one you do. More about Amico Di Ieri: Track Listing: Squardo Verso Il Cielo (3:56) / Veritá Nascote (3:47) / Gioco Di Bimba (3:00) / Cemento Armato (4:28) / India (4:51) / Canzone D'Amore (3:34) / Una Dolcezza Nuova (5:28) / Collage (3:47) / Amico Di Ieri (4:07) / Immensa Distesa (4:37) / La Porta Chiusa (8:02) Musicians: Aldo Tagliapietra - vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, sitar Michi Dei Rossi - drums, percussion and glockenspiel Michele Bon - organ, keyboards and synthesizers Francesco Sartori - piano and keyboards Contact: www.le-orme.com Note: will open new browser window Email: leorme@le-orme.com Discography Ad Gloriam (1969) L'Aurora Delle Orme (1970) Collage (1971) Uomo De Pezza (1972) Felona E Sorona (1973) Le Orme In Concerto (1974) Contrappunti (1974) Smogmagica (1975) Beyond Leng (1975)    English version compilation Verita' Nascoste (1976) Canzone D'Amore (1976) Storia O Leggenda (1977) Le Orme Antologia 67-69 (1978) Le Orme (1978) Florian (1979) Piccola Rapsodia Dell'ape (1980) Venerdi' (1982) Orme (1990) Antologia 1970-80 (1993) Il Fiume (1996) Amico Di Ieri (1997) Buy this title at:
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