Vinyl Magic
Campo Di Marte : live 1972 & 2003 (I,'72,'03)**'
I have to say first that the only official release from this group in 1973 is regarded, by me, as one of the absolute best of Italian prog rock, and of the classicaly inspired progressive rock music in general, varying from acoustic, very classicaly inspired music to heavy progressive rock. Thematically it was a musical concept in 7 parts, a reaction against the foolishness of war. Band leader Enrico Rosa moved in 1974, to Canada, where he continued to develop his guitar techniques, including a flamenco guitar style, but he kept in contact with some of his Italian musician friends. Due to growing interest in progressive rock, there obviously was also a renewed interest in Campo Di Marte. Enrico told me that in the concerts of those days the repertoire varied, compared to the actual album, and he dreamed of adding some similar material in a form of CDM part 2. In 2003 he had managed to get some musicians together for such a follow-up album. This is released now, together with the distribution of a test pressing LP, taken from the only recorded concert from Campo Di Marte back in 1972 (live in Firenze).
The recording quality of this album was not incredible, and there has not been very much care taken in making the sound much better on the CD, and I can understand why, because not much of it is very different from the final 1973 LP. It was recorded directly from the source, without No-Noise systems or any other filters. So it gives only an idea of what such a recording might have been like. We can hear a great energy in the playing, and more than just performing the music, like on the first track "prologo part 2", we still hear some subtle improvisational skills, which are different from the 1973 LP, and although it is a shame about the distortion, as a big fan I still enjoyed hearing at least those subtle differences. The official LP remains the actual article ; releasing this version did not add much to it.
The live version of 2003 repeats parts of the original score as well, played a bit slower, less as 'an invention of the moment', but the potential in it has the tension of becoming more than it is now. I personally don't believe yet that all participating musicians could come to create such a moment once more. More than being a cover band, it shows itself mostly as a solicitiation for a potentional live band to perform the original Campo Di Marte concert in these days as well, with a few additional themes and variations at it. While the band itself still remains a bit studio-bound and an occasional accompanying band, it's mostly Enrico Rosa's contribution which shows the same colorfulness as before, and adds the new ideas. Eva Rosa still feels best with the classical music reference, and is the subtle part of the band. In general the live recording suffers a bit from a very amplified mix and -effect, more than a creative balance with sounds derived from a more acoustic and classical dimension, -something which could have been achieved in a studio recording-, but as a one track live recording, it proves a good enough performance to convince inviting this band for more. Not only Enrico's guitar appealed to me but also the voice variation compared to the first versions of the tracks. The rest of the band sound to me professional enough for a performance, but still too young and not creative enough to have a really renewed the CDM band. The new composition parts do contribute well to Campo Di Marte's repertoire. This includes a bluesrock composition showing mostly the skills of Enrico. We also have "Italian Irish", another wonderful composition, on electric guitar, which might possibly have sounded more natural on acoustic guitar, but within an evolution in this live concert, it is acceptible like it is. "Rock Barock" then, is a very good outro continuation on the 4th CDM theme. A nice contributive part. The last additional track, recorded on a video recorder during a live concert, shows another outro from the band, in a improvisational way, introducing the members with the first musical melodic background theme.
As a live band this recording shows a more than acceptible performance. But still I wished Enrico would work on a second part as a studio album, with enough time to be able to get develop such a recording together. Personally I would only accept musicians as equally talented as Enrico for it, not just musicians who nicely accompany, but are able to add something special. It will not be easy to stand next to the incredible 1973 recording, so only the best conditions make this possible. And I hope such possibilities will be granted one day.
With all my heart I wished this to become true. I am afraid rather than idealistically supporting such big projects in reality most companies will prefer to have a fragmented interest in many bands, who only create some elements or ideas but who don't ask for much support for promoting the releases. Sadly, mostly it's private work and idealistic contribution from musicians themselves nowadays, through much sacrifice get such projects together, without more support.
