Mediterraneo (Pooh, 1975)

This instrumental track comes from "Un po' del nostro tempo migliore", luckily the best and proggest album by Italian pop band Pooh, one of the most popular Italian acts ever. Dodi Battaglia's guitars are (as usual with Pooh) the main feature of "Mediterraneo" and they actually draw a Mediterranean sketch, full of sweetness and strong colours. The other instruments come in discreetely and a background choir finishes the picture.

A Victorian drawing room for Pooh.

You couldn't imagine anything more Italian, nonetheless the tubular bells plus the mandolin provide a clear reference to Mike Oldfield's debuit work and the original LP package has a Victorian taste. It's a distressing and delicate pattern, a highly evocative and descriptive track I still like after so many listening sessions...

Parsifal (Pooh, 1973)

This is a two part synphonic epic from the best known melodic rock Italian band, strongly influenced by progressive rock in their early years. The song features a heavy orchestral arrangement in the wake of many other '70s Italian productions. The first part is sung, it features lyrics about Perceval's myth and beautiful, delicate tunes.

Fit for the Dark Ages, they were...

This same theme is exploited during the second section, a fully instrumental one. Here you'll find the main feature of the song: the dialogue between the orcherstra and the outstanding Dodi Battaglia's electric guitar. It's a pure treat, combining the slow and bombastic strings with the very fast guitar performance, something like winds and lightnings put together. I really like this track, one of the most successful orchestra and group tracks in the '70s Italian scene.

Il tempo, una donna, la città (Pooh, 1975)

There's a never endig debate about Pooh in Italy: are they or have they ever been a prog band or are they just an easy listening group (maybe the most successful one in their country)? Well, as usual I'm not specially into musical controversies and I better like to listen to music instead of quarrelling about it. So, please, listen to this and give me your advice. Anyway, if this wonderful group and orchestra rhapsody isn't prog or prog related, I don't know how else I could label it. When it comes to the form, this 10 minute track, taken from an album called "Un po' del nostro tempo migliore" ("A Bit of Our Best Time"), is composed of a succession of six short ballads plus an orchestral finale. You'll also find some instrumental guitar driven bridges.

            

            

           

                    Some of the old fashioned pictures illustrating the album booklet.

 

As usual with this band, the strongest points are the sung melodies and Dodi Battaglia's electric and acoustic guitar performances. But in this case, there's something more: the surprising and pleasant transitions from each ballad to the following one and a mysterious aura supported by the somehow arcane lyrics about a woman (or the ghost of a woman) hiding herself from life after the tragic loss of her lover and finally delivering his body (or its supernatural shape) to the narrator. The title "Il tempo, una donna, la città" ("Time, A Woman, The Town") includes the three main elements of the story. Well now, my friends, it's up to you: what do you think of this song?