Le Orme Dei Templari

This band were one of the major groups of the Italian prog rock scene in the seventies and one of the few Italian bands that were successful outside their own country.
"La Via Della Seta", which means the silk road, can be regarded as one long suite. All tracks are linked together and the music flows without any interruption making an imaginary journey along this road, where you encounter the ghosts of merchants, pilgrims, missionaries, soldiers, nomads and cruel barbarians exploring mysterious cities and civilizations. The music that comes along with this concept recalls the best moments of Le Orme. There's even more room for the guitars and the interaction between the piano and the keyboards is excellent while the powerful, brilliant rhythm section adds so much more to the compositions…

This band were one of the major groups of the Italian prog rock scene in the seventies and one of the few Italian bands that were successful outside their own country.
"La Via Della Seta", which means the silk road, can be regarded as one long suite. All tracks are linked together and the music flows without any interruption making an imaginary journey along this road, where you encounter the ghosts of merchants, pilgrims, missionaries, soldiers, nomads and cruel barbarians exploring mysterious cities and civilizations. The music that comes along with this concept recalls the best moments of Le Orme. There's even more room for the guitars and the interaction between the piano and the keyboards is excellent while the powerful, brilliant rhythm section adds so much more to the compositions…

This excellent recording is largely considered to be Le Orme's magnum opus. The trio, comprised of Aldo Tagliapietra (vocals, bass, guitar), Toni Pagliuca (organ/Mellotron, piano), and Michi Dei Rossi (drums), produced some of the best Italian progressive rock ever recorded. Influenced by Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Genesis, the band forged their own unique blend of sophisticated symphonic prog rock. Tagliapietra's vocals give the music an ethereal quality, and he actually sounds quite a bit like Sting (or the other way around). Their high level of musicianship is evident on "Sospesi Nell 'Incredibile," but the focus is more on mood, song structure, and texture. The original recording contains Italian lyrics, while Van Der Graaf Generator vocalist Peter Hammill penned English lyrics for a subsequent release. Stick with the Italian version for the full effect of this prog rock classic.

This excellent recording is largely considered to be Le Orme's magnum opus. The trio, comprised of Aldo Tagliapietra (vocals, bass, guitar), Toni Pagliuca (organ/Mellotron, piano), and Michi Dei Rossi (drums), produced some of the best Italian progressive rock ever recorded. Influenced by Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Genesis, the band forged their own unique blend of sophisticated symphonic prog rock. Tagliapietra's vocals give the music an ethereal quality, and he actually sounds quite a bit like Sting (or the other way around). Their high level of musicianship is evident on "Sospesi Nell 'Incredibile," but the focus is more on mood, song structure, and texture. The original recording contains Italian lyrics, while Van Der Graaf Generator vocalist Peter Hammill penned English lyrics for a subsequent release. Stick with the Italian version for the full effect of this prog rock classic.

Collage (1971) is the real "first" Le Orme LP, after two previous albums of beat music. It is also the first album to feature the trio's progressive rock sound, albeit in an embryonic stage. As such, it is a mixed bag. On the one hand you get pompous, excessive keyboard workouts that owe a lot to the Nice ("Collage," "Sguardo Verso Il Cielo"), down to orchestral arrangements. On the other hand, you also get songs like "Era Inverno" and "Morte di un Fiore," both typical Italian prog songs (with acoustic guitar), both heralding what will become Le Orme's classic sound. "Evasione Totale" takes things deeper into experimental territory (ELP-style), with improvised passages and more arcane developments…

Excellent early-70's Italian progressive trio (still around today) with classical stylings, featuring keyboards to the fore and a unique dreamy/powerful style. Le Orme was one of the three major Italian groups, the other two being PFM and Banco. This band is usually considered as the Italian Emerson, Lake & Palmer and even Banco del Mutuo Soccorso by the Italian singing. Its music is based upon organ developments and soli reminding Seventies groups which works are essentially built upon keyboards parts.
The band's truly classic period begins with their third next releases. "Uomo Di Pezza" (1972) is one of Le Orme's definitive Italian progressive rock albums…

A live double album from the groups tours undertaken between 1975 and 1977 that wasn't released until 1986, this spectacular concert album features this premier Italian prog band performing at their very peak to an enthusiastic audience in, amongst other places, Milan, Parma and Bologna. Those familiar with the group will, at a glance, see a series of classic Le Orme tracks filling the set-list, whilst brief, and welcome interpretations of Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin tracks also feature. The sound is raw but powerful, and despite the occasional sonic glitch this highly-anticipated release - which, originally was only available in either Japan or Italy - still stands up as a fine double-album that should be well-and-truly lapped up by both fans of the group and Italian progressive rock aficianado's…

Italian Prog band Le Orme were one of the most important representatives of the genre in the early 1970s and recorded several classic albums, which are considered some of the best to come out of this country. The band shared the fate of most of the other Prog bands slowly disappearing from the scene by the end of the 1970s, when the popularity of Prog genre suffered a serious decline. They recorded and performed sporadically over the years, and by the mid 1990s, when Prog was back on the scene, the band formally reformed and recorded their comeback album "Il Fume" in 1996. But it took them another five years to come up with an album, which was a true reflection of their abilities and a formidable companion of their 1970s achievements - "Elementi". This beauty as a concept album, full of great melodies and excellent instrumental work, in the best tradition of the Italian Prog…