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| After the disappointing Smogmagica, Le Orme returned to Italy, replaced their guitarist, and, in October 1976, recorded Verità Nascoste. Whatever the band felt about their previous album, they obviously did not feel the need to move away from their more guitar-driven, rock-oriented sound. That the band were more succesful at recording good music on this album is at least partly due to the new guitarist, Germano Serafin. He is not necessarily a better guitarist than Tolo Marton — his soloing is, if anything, actually a step down — but he seems to fit in with the sound of the band more comfortably. It is also he, I would guess, who's responsible for a number of memorable riffs sprinkled throughout the album. Musically, this album is no more progressive than a slightly adventurous rock act. While there are a few nice plays with timing and the band don't always stick to strict rock structures, Verità Nascoste is mostly centred around hooks and riffs. Aside from the mellow title track, there's at least one memorable musical riff on each track, be it the organ swirl followed by the chunky strumming on "Vedi Amsterdam..." or the boppy synth lick on "I Salmoni". This is not really a progressive rock album, and what musical quirks do exist are hardly groundbreaking. It's also arguable that, as a rock act, there are other groups that do the hooks and riffs thing better. However, Verità Nascoste is still a reasonably strong album in its own right, and those like me who are fans of Aldo Tagliapetra's voice will want to pick this up eventually, albeit after their digesting Le Orme's more progressive canon. This album is also the first of four strong, though not quite brilliant albums, with which the band closed out the decade. Try the four 70s progressive albums first, then their three "comeback" albums starting with Il Fiume. After that, either start here for rock or with Florian for acoustic. review by Conrad Leviston — 6-6-07 —
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