c o n r a d

L'Uovo di Colombo's name means "The egg of Columbus." It is a common phrase in Europe, referring to the story that Christopher Columbus discovered the fact that if an egg sinks in water it is still fresh. This is useful knowledge on a ship, and was one of the things that enabled him to make a succesful Atlantic crossing. So when Europeans say "That's the egg of Columbus," they mean "That's the key piece of knowledge that will make this project possible." The only reason I mention this is to avoid the rather stale opening "L'Uovo di Columbo are yet another one-shot band that produced one good album, then sank without a trace." The sound of L'Uovo di Colombo is very much centred around the Hammond organ. Unlike groups such as Metamorfosi, the sound is not an ominous one, but full of joy and high spirits. Keyboardist Enzo Volpini uses a number of different keyboards and plays them all well, but it is on the Hammond he really lets rip as a kind of Italian Billy Preston. The other standout musician on this album is brother Elio Volpini. Elio's electric guitar playing is pretty solid, but his bass is one of the best around. He is not a flashy bass player, but his patterns always add to the music without distracting the listener. Musically, the album starts off with its best piece, the upbeat "L'Indecisione". It starts off as an incredibly danceable song (if I were forced to make comparisons it would be with "Run" by Bill Oddie of The Goodies), before taking a sharp left into a Bach-inspired organ solo. The rest of the album never quite gets as good, but is sufficiently entertaining that the flaws can be overlooked. The penultimate track "Visione delle Morte," at over six and a half minutes, appears to be the band's attempt at something a little more epic, drum solo and all. Unfortunately, it never quite fits together the way it should, despite a number of very good ideas. This is another high-quality Italian album. Not among the very finest, but definitely worth listening to. Not quite in the traditional Italian style, but more a Hammond based rock-pop with a few twists for the progressive rock lover and with maybe a touch of Le Orme. This CD spent a fair bit of time out of print, and so is worth picking up straight away if you see it. review by Conrad Leviston — 4-12-05 —