| The
Review |
Odessa is a band that pursues a
traditional heavy, organ and guitar led Italian progressive
rock sound that follows in the path of Museo Rosenbach, RDM,
and Alphataurus, among others. In their Italian homeland,
many clubs still book only cover bands so rather than do only
the occasional gigs that a progressive band can get, they
also play a "Rock Legends" show that allows the band to play
all over the country on a regular basis. It is this frequent
gigging that makes Odessa such a tight and impressive band.
And in Italy a set of covers at a club can include tunes by
Area and Demetrios Stratos, PFM, RDM, The Trip, Jethro Tull
and King Crimson. Also included in that show are tunes from
some of their fans other favorite bands; Deep Purple, Led
Zeppelin, Hendrix, even Dream Theater.***
In the midst of all this Odessa
found time in 1999 to release a disc of their original material
on Mellow Records. Since then they have had some personnel
changes and the band now features two new members, Giulio
Vampa on guitar and drummer Marco Fabbri. The original line
up that produced Stazione Getsemani was a fine outfit but
the addition of Vampa and Fabbri have clearly advanced Odessa
to the next level. Why tell you all this? Because this disc,
recorded at the French festival in May 2003, is more than
half covers. They even do a few covers of non-progressive
material like Deep Purples "Perfect Strangers" with Eclat
guitarist Alain Chiarazzo sitting in.***
The covers, while some of them
are great (and we'll get to those), are not the reason to
get this disc. A better reason is to hear the new high energy
versions of material from Stazione Getsemani. The four tunes
included from the band's debut disc are performed with Odessa's
typical boundless energy and ever increasing musical prowess.
"Esilio" comes across like a progressive Allman Brothers with
its jamming feel and blues derived solos from keyboardist/vocalist
Lorenzo Giovagnoli and guitarist Vampa. If you haven't heard
Odessa before then the first thing you're going to focus on
will likely be Lorenzo's amazing voice, but just wait, it's
going to get even better than this. In "Lotta Per Il Dominio"
Odessa comes up with another impressive heavy prog tune, one
that actually has hooks. Its long instrumental intro allows
Guilio Vampa to burn through some fiery tapping and the songs
main riff sounds like a mix of Uriah Heep and Lucifer's Friend
(which is appropriate because Lorenzo's voice strikes me as
very similar to former Lucifer's Friend/Uriah Heep singer
John Lawton) with moments of funk thrown in via bassist Vallo
DeAngelis's rhythmic popping.***
"Di Buio E Luce" is another riff
based tune with a light, jazzy piano section and it saves
its best for last as its finale features a plethora of stunning
vocal lines and a bit of Stratos-like warbling for good measure.
Lorenzo frequently uses his voice as another instrument in
the band's arrangements and the end of "Di Buio E Luce" is
a good example of this. The only other self-penned composition
on this disc is Odessa's finest work "L'Incontro" which is
broken into two sections, "Stratosfera" and "L'Angelo". "L'Incontro"
begins with orchestral undertones and more of Lorenzo's Stratos-like
vocal gymnastics. Both Giovagnoli and Vampa let rip with impressive
solos, Giovagnoli with a skillful jazz piano solo and Vampa
with more of his molten tapping licks.***
As I said before, there are a number
of covers performed on this disc They throw in a Deep Purple
tune and a couple from Led Zeppelin and while I'm not going
to spend any time on these, let me say that no one would be
disappointed with these versions of the tunes and that Ian
Gillian and Robert Plant have nothing on Lorenzo as far as
vocals go. The other tunes covered include "Caronte", a raging
instrumental originally by The Trip, "Alzo Un Muro Elettrico",
another great song written by RDM, "Cometa Rossa", a real
classic by Area, which gives Lorenzo yet another opportunity
to shine vocally and finally, a fast paced take of King Crimson's
"21st Century Schizoid Man".***
This disc will have to hold over
the fans of the band until their second disc comes out, slated
for later this year, and if you aren't already familiar with
Odessa, this disc will do a pretty good job of introducing
a new band that has nowhere to go but up.***
I'll tell you one thing though,
this set was recorded three years ago and based on Odessa's
most recent live performances I'd say this band hasn't stood
still for a moment.
RATING: 4/5
©Thomas Karr March 28, 2006
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