MURPLE - IO SONO MURPLE - 1974

Nice, one-shot Italian prog album. It's a bit strange that this only album from MURPLE would only receive a German release on the BASF label, but of course since been reissued on CD (first by Mellow Records, then by Akarma, with LP-type replication). The band seemed to have an unhealthy obsession about penguins, so much so, they believed they made friends with an imaginary penguin, and the whole concept behind "Io Sono Murple" is about the adventures of a penguin. Their stage set included inflatable penguins, not unlike PINK FLOYD giving us inflatable pigs during the "Animals" tour in 1977.

The band consisted of guitarist/vocalist Pino Santamaria, bassist Mario Garbarino, drummer Duilio Sorrenti, and keyboardist/vocalist Pier Carlo Zanco, who handled organ, piano, Eminent, and ARP Odyssey. This might not be the most mindblowing or original prog out there, but for those who enjoy such keyboard-driven prog acts as ELP or Le ORME would find much to enjoy here. The album is rather short, running at just under 35 minutes. It consists of a bunch of short songs that segue in to each other to make a continuous long play, but still remaning completely progressive. The music ranges from intense to more laid- back classically influenced, to jazzy and everything in between. Might not be up there with the best albums from PFM, BANCO, Le ORME, MUSEO ROSENBACH, OSANNA, etc., but this is still an album worth having.
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