MO.DO - La Scimmia Sulla Schiena Del Re vinyl lp (due to size and weight, this price for the USA only. Outside of the USA, the price will be adjusted as needed)
SKU
27-AMS LP 116
"This curiously named group made one of the few really worthwhile albums during the darkest period of Italian progressive rock around 1979-80. They played disciplined symphonic rock almost like a direct cross between Gentle Giant and PFM. The atmosphere is relaxing with typical late 70's lush string synthesizers, acoustic & electric guitars and occasional flute. [Despite the relaxed feel], their instrumental arrangements were quite complex."-Scented Gardens Of The Mind.
"At a time when the book was about to close (temporarily) on Italian progressive rock, Mo.Do. put out their sole album which observed the contracting sonic and thematic scope of the day, but also made a noble and rather successful effort to carry on the legacy of 1970's progressive sound in that context. About half of the songs on La Scimmia sulla Schiena del Re are melodic symphonic numbers, with flutes, soft acoustic and softer electric guitars, an occasional discreet vocal and ample Solina-generated string backdrops, pretty much like a toned-down version of the "lyricism" characteristic of bands like PFM. The others, however, take after the more complex style of Free Hand-era Gentle Giant, with clanging guitar and organ licks in contrapuntal or interlocking clusters, wonky synth squirts and solid rock beats made fiendish by off-beat accents. The corralling of different styles diminishes the music's impact, but the mix of styles is pretty novel and while the writing may lack originality, it is engaging enough, and the band have both the skill and taste to navigate the extended instrumental work through the straits of tedium and contrivance without major scrapes. What you get is not a classic but a decent album, which I would recommend to Italian prog addicts that have already gone through the 1970s classics."- Kai Karmanheimo/Gibraltar