Panna Fredda - Uno (crystal colour ltd. edition)

With a great album, highly representative of the Italian prog sound, Panna
Fredda should have deserved some more success, but theirs is the typical
story of a band having a record deal and not being able to produce an album
before their definitive split.
The band was from Rome, formed in the 60's as I Figli del Sole and later I
Vun Vun, from the name of a popular club where they used to play very
often. After the early contacts with Vedette that group's line-up reduced to a
quartet, leaving out a horn section that also included sax player Giulio
Carnevale (brother of drummer Filippo), and adopted the definitive name
Panna Fredda.
Two singles were released in 1970 by Vedette, whose unreleased songs
"Delirio" and "Strisce Rosse" appear here as bonus tracks.
Their first album, "Uno", was finally released in 1971, but as mentioned
above, the group had already ceased to exist by the time of its release, as
the various members had to join the army for their call-up.
All the tracks on the album were composed by singer/guitarist Angelo
Giardinelli, and the LP contains six long cuts, mostly based on a very
effective guitar-keyboards interplay. Some English prog influences can be
heard, like on "Un re senza reame" based on Heaven from Gracious' first
album. Classical influences are evident, especially in the keyboard parts, but
the music is convincing and impressive. The voice is good, the lyrics original
and the album has no weak moments.
***