House A Thousand Dolls (1967)

Tages were more well equipped than most other bands from Scandinavia to move with the times after the beat era waned, considering that unlike most such bands, they sometimes sounded pretty close to an actual mid-'60s British group. Considering how adeptly they'd absorbed British Invasion styles, it's unsurprising that the 1967 album Studio finds them getting into much more florid pop-psychedelia, with various ornate production dabs, bouncy whimsy in much of the songwriting, and touches of soul and orchestration in the arrangements. Perhaps it's a testament to 1967 British psychedelia being harder to assimilate and copy than Merseybeat or mod, but though this is a carefully produced and ambitious set of songs, the material itself just isn't up to the level of the probable inspiration…

Tages were more well equipped than most other bands from Scandinavia to move with the times after the beat era waned, considering that unlike most such bands, they sometimes sounded pretty close to an actual mid-'60s British group. Considering how adeptly they'd absorbed British Invasion styles, it's unsurprising that the 1967 album Studio finds them getting into much more florid pop-psychedelia, with various ornate production dabs, bouncy whimsy in much of the songwriting, and touches of soul and orchestration in the arrangements. Perhaps it's a testament to 1967 British psychedelia being harder to assimilate and copy than Merseybeat or mod, but though this is a carefully produced and ambitious set of songs, the material itself just isn't up to the level of the probable inspiration…

Gran Torino is a young italian band, originating from the Verona area. The foursome came to life just before the New Millenium, aiming at covering the classics from Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple. After a decade practising, Gran Torino felt it was time for composing its own music. "GranTorinoProg" (2011) features complex instrumental music, still melodic though. It was followed by "Fate Of A Thousand Worlds" (Musea, 2013). This second effort proves to be really exciting, displaying over-the-top Progressive rock, with influences ranging from Jethro Tull (Without flute) or Kansas (Without violin), to Liquid Tension Experiment.