Week of June 3, 2007

Crystals

Personnel:
Carlo Degani - vocals
Marcello Todaro - guitars
Giorgio Piazza - bass
Giorgio Santandrea - drums

CD: Crystals, Mellow MMP 120, 1992

A short-lived supergroup, formed in 1973 to play powerful hard-rock. This isn't indicative of the previous groups several of these guys had played in, as Todaro came from Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, Piazza from PFM and Santandrea from Alphataurus. With Paolo Tofani (Area and Electric Frankenstein) producing and composing all tracks, their album was supposed to be released on the Cramps label in 1974. Somehow this never happened, which might have been the result of their slightly anonymous sound. The power riffs and high-pitched vocals (in English) were mostly picked up from Led Zeppelin's hard rock style, evident on some tracks from the latter's fourth and fifth albums. Some of Tofani's compositions are quite catchy though, the best of them reappearing in new versions on his Electric Frankenstein album.

Taken from Scented Gardens of the Mind - A guide to the Golden Era of Progressive Rock (1968-1980) in more than 20 European Countries, by Dag Erik Asbjørnsen, Borderline Productions, ISBN 1-899855-12-2


Back to Alex's Home Page