Demetrio Stratos

After releasing a couple of albums since their 2011 reunion, Confusional Quartet is back again with an extraordinary new project; a brand new release featuring the voice of the great late Demetrio Stratos, the legendary lead singer of Area - International Popular Group. At the tail end of the seventies, the Bologna based Confusional Quartet represented one of the finest examples of the Italian new wave scene. A complex and energetic mixture between experimental rock, jazz and fresh sounds resulting from the use of new technologies.

Originally released on LP by Cramps Records in 1979. Recorded live on June 14 1979 at Arena Civica, Milan (Italy). The show, conceived to raise funds to cure Demetrio Stratos' disease, became a tribute in his honor after the news of the death of the artist occurred the day before the date scheduled for the concert.

Area - The Essential Box Set Collection (2010) {6CD Box Set, Cramps CRSBOX0210 rec 1973-1976}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.42 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 545 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 170 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1973-76, 2010 Cramps Music | CRSBOX0210
Rock / Progressive Rock / Experimental Rock / Jazz Rock

Area's uncompromising blend of jazz-rock, ethnic folk, experimentation, and political philosophies made them a unique presence in Italy during the 1970s. Fronting the band's musical fusion was singer Demetrio Stratos, who embellished his own operatic technique with yodels and growls. Stratos died in 1979, and the remaining members disbanded after releasing one instrumental album.

Area is one of the main names in the Italian prog scene, they wer a unique band with a particular sound that no other band could copy, one of the most disctinctives voices in the same Italian prog scene, was the one of Demetrio Stratos whose vocals games caused a great impact in the 70s (and nowadays with the new Area listeners). So if you know the band, you may think this live album has something to do with the music created in Arbeit Macht Frei or Maledetti for instance, but not at all, if something alike existed it would be the Caution Radiation Area, but not even that album could be alike to this…

Area is one of the main names in the Italian prog scene, they wer a unique band with a particular sound that no other band could copy, one of the most disctinctives voices in the same Italian prog scene, was the one of Demetrio Stratos whose vocals games caused a great impact in the 70s (and nowadays with the new Area listeners). So if you know the band, you may think this live album has something to do with the music created in Arbeit Macht Frei or Maledetti for instance, but not at all, if something alike existed it would be the Caution Radiation Area, but not even that album could be alike to this…

Appearing as it did in 1973, Area's debut album must have sounded to the average Italian pop critics like the end of the world. Issued on the Cramps label, the album highlighted Area's early sound, which featured overt folk melodies, Canterbury Scene prog rock, acid psychedelia, and vanguard jazz all filtered through a particularly Italian sensibility.
Those who came to love PFM later will not be able to handle the beautiful - yet very disciplined - weirdness of Area, at least on this disc. The Soft Machine comparisons are inevitable, especially in the free jazz sax blowing of Victor Eduardo Busnello…