I have to second this. One of THE best Goblin albums next to Profondo Rosso and Roller. The remastered Cinevox CD sounds good and is pretty easy to come by, but the original King Records CD from the late nineties has the better mastering. Now to track down the LP
Has anyone here heard of Umberto? Supposedly their music is heavily influenced by Goblin and 70s horror soundtracks, as well. I almost want to buy the LP of their latest release based on the album cover alone!
Suspiria comes in a close second to Roller for my favourite Goblin album. That said, I still only have or have heard, four titles so far but I think they have been a very good starter four. Along with the two Attic's (Roller and Suspiria) the others are an original Cinevox pressing of Contamination and the Dagored reissue of Profondo Rosso. Intrigued with this album Il Fantastico Viaggio del Bagarozzo Mark seems like a good fifth vinyl choice. NM original Cinevox are quite pricey but looks like it was reissued on AMS Records AMSLP12.
If they were influenced by Goblin, I wonder if they named themselves after Umberto Lenzi, the Italian film director?
Likely, or at least he just wanted to use an Italian name. Umberto is not a group but a single artist. I've heard some sound clips and wanted to grab the LP, but I haven't pulled the trigger because what I've heard seems to miss the mark a little. The bar has really been set high by The Giallo's Flame, also a one-man project. If you're looking for music that pays tribute successfully to the '70s horror/funk sounds of Goblin, Morricone, etc., definitely check out The Giallo's Flame. House at the Edge of the Dark is my personal favorite also the disc simply called Giallo's Flame available at Amazon is certainly sufficient.
I'd like to start back here if I could. First, I wanted to correct the line-up info for this LP. The drummer was actually Walter Martino, except for the track "Death Dies" which was played by Agostino Marangolo. Maurizio Guarini joined the group for the tour that came after this LP and does NOT perform here. Claudio Simonetti performed all keys, and the strings were provided by musicians unknown to me. This album sold an immense amount of copies in Italy. I keep hearing that the single and/or album stayed on the charts for about a year, although I have yet to confirm that this is really accurate (a Ciao 2001 music mag I have from May 1976 shows that neither the single or album were anywhere on the charts at that point). Like many of the band's soundtrack albums, this one suffers a little from containing tracks that were not necessarily the best recorded but for whatever reason were selected for the LP. The one that really brings things down here is the closer, "Gianna", composed by Giorgio Gaslini but was not used in the film. For best sound quality on CD, I highly recommend the Ciak CD-CIA 5004 CD which contains the Ciak '80s reissue cover art. This was first pressed in Italy in 1991 but it pops up on Ebay from time to time (and sadly not too cheap). I have not done a proper shootout with the vinyl on this title, but that's in part because I own no less than 12 different pressings of their best selling album! Based on other shootouts though, I would bet the CIA 5004 Ciak '80s LP reissue which matches the CD I referred to above is among the best of the lot. The reissues in that series were top notch and done prior to the digital age. The original press on Cinevox *might* be good if you get an early copy. The one I played sounds muddy and sibilant, but it is possible that I just got one from an overused stamper. (I suspect that the Italians were not creating new stampers as often as they should.) I know I should review the recent AMS release here, but those are surely from a digital source. While I've heard one AMS LP that wasn't bad at all, these really aren't even cheap enough to recommend over earlier Italian issues. I actually own a Stereo 8 aka 8-track of this title and it is terrible to hear how there was no thought put into releasing LPs on this format (at least not this one). Easily a minute or more of music is completely missing as tracks fade early and abruptly before the end of the track is reached. A reprise of the opening theme is heard at the end to make up for extra time, but again, it ends abruptly. Really quite a terrible way to listen to the album.
Roller was one album that took me years to love but now I listen to it more often than their soundtrack albums. It is understandable why some prog fans start and end here with the band's output. Some of the soundtracks can be a bit too inconsistent, but with the possible exception of "Snip Snap", this is a great instrumental prog album from start to finish. The track "Goblin" is easily one of my favorites by the group. You really can't go wrong on an LP or CD for this one. But that's mostly because the recording is the worst of any of their LPs! The drums have absolutely no punch and being lucky enough to have heard some of the multitracks, there was so much bleed between instruments that it was likely impossible to get a much better mix. My impressions of the vinyl though were that the Japanese Seven Seas GXF 2056 pressing won out but only because of the top quality, quiet vinyl. Acoustic guitars sounded most natural here, but again, it's really a nitpick to choose one version over the other. The Attic pressings were cut too hot for my system causing distortion, but they may track better on other systems. I don't have notes on the original Italian vinyl, but I recall my copy being a tad noisy and no better than the Japanese version. Most of the CDs are identical or darn close, although I can't comment on the absolute latest SHM CD from Japan since I haven't checked it. A really fine album with a really rotten recording for reasons I can't understand.
Thank you for the review on the Roller and Profondo Rosso albums. Are the Ciak cds better than the King Japan CDs or are they from the same master?
Il Fantastico Viaggio Del "Bagarozzo" Mark (Cinevox 1978) 1. Mark il Bagarozzo 2. Le Cascate di Viridiana 3. Terra Di Goblin 4. Un Ragazzo D'Argento 5. La Danza 6. Opera Magnifica 7. Notte 8. .....E Suono Rock - Agostino Marangolo / percusion, durms - Fabio Pignatelli / bass - Massimo Morante / guitar, vocals - Claudio Simonetti / keyboards Guest: - Antonio Marangolo / sax
Thanks for the infos and corrections Iz , got that line up from ProgArchives , will check with the cd inserts going fwd
The Ciak CDs were only for the soundtracks, so there was no Italian issue of that for Roller. For Profondo Rosso, the Japanese Nexus/King CDs were still very good, but they were definitely different from the Ciak. My notes on this say that the Japanese discs for Profondo Rosso don't have the warmth and fullness of the Ciak CD and sound as if they're a generation further down. On a non-audiophile note, I was utterly amazed to see these just released: http://www.btf.it/default.asp?ij=3&qa=p&qb=sc&xy=cl007&jk=17091&zp=104D&ln=E&opt=dettaglio http://www.btf.it/default.asp?ij=3&qa=p&qb=sc&xy=cl007&jk=17092&zp=104D&ln=E&opt=dettaglio They certainly wouldn't be contenders for the best sounding copies of these albums, but who would have ever imagined someone would press Goblin picture discs?!?!
This is perhaps the Goblin album I revisit the most nowadays. The poppier songs ("Un Ragazzo D'Argento" and "Opera Magnifica") which made up the supporting 7" single do take it down a notch. Still it is a near-perfect album, provided you can get past Morante's strained vocals. Briefly summarized from my posts on the "Best Sounding Goblin on CD" thread: Almost all of the CDs are the same or so close that it doesn't depend too much on which one you get, although I haven't checked the most recent SHM-CD and would bet that's probably worse than all the others. As for this title on LP, the first Italian pressing has the date 1/3/78 listed in the deadwax, whereas the second pressing lists the date 5/4/78. The first pressing was cut quite poorly, being very sibilant and having such massive dynamics to support two very loud bits that the remainder of the album is entirely too quiet. Considering Cinevox didn't seem to care too much about putting out poor sounding records at times, the fact that they even recut this one says a lot. The 5/4/78 pressing obviously had some significant compression applied to it, but it is cut hotter and sounds great. While there was some distortion on my system, it is entirely possible that a better configuration would track this LP properly. That said, both copies I have are fairly noisy, but I can't say if that's due to poor vinyl or lack of care from former owners. I do have a sealed copy but that will remain sealed. I do not have notes on what I thought of the Japanese Nexus LP, but my recollection is that it was muddy in comparison to the 5/4/78 Cinevox LP and the various CDs. I was surprisingly disappointed by the sound quality of that cut. I have not listened to the new AMS LP, so I'm sorry I can't comment on that yet. Oh, as for the LP itself - if there's anyone here who hasn't heard it or maybe even doesn't know who Goblin is, take a listen to "....E Suono Rock" if you have the opportunity. It will open your eyes.
It has not been released on CD and I'd be completely shocked if it ever is. I personally like the album, although it is certainly cheesy in parts. His next album Corpo a Corpo is not bad either, but it's more acoustic-based and not as rocky, likely due to the production by Renato Zero. His EP Esclusivo! which came after is not something I would think many Goblin fans would enjoy.
I think it's going to be difficult to get a lot of responses to this thread only because Goblin seems to appeal to such a small group of people. Most prog fans seem to only like Roller as a lot of their soundtrack material is too repetitive, too inconsistent, etc. And I'm sure the vocals on Il Fantastico Viaggio turn a lot of folks off. That said, the group has always had a unique style that appeals to me.
The Fantastic Journey In - The Best of Goblin vol. 1 (disc 2) Live Aquaman Snip Snap Profondo Rosso Mark Il Bagarozzo Notte Opera Magnifica Le Cascate Di Viridiana Un Ragazzo D'Argento
Though the CD says this was recorded in 1979, it was actually recorded a year earlier seemingly intended for a TV broadcast. There is also a video circulating of this show, interestingly enough with the audio coming from a different source. After the 1975/76 tour, Goblin performed live only rarely, and to my knowledge any 1977/78 performances were done specifically for TV broadcasts. It is obvious that the band lacked proper rehearsal time for this show as the performances here are tentative at best. A couple songs offer some interesting arrangements (with "Snip Snap" being superior to its studio version), but the flubs and technical problems make it difficult to enjoy listening to this rare recording. I am a huge fan and I rarely watch or listen to this show, so I can only imagine how casual fans would react. The only other live Goblin show circulating amongst fans is one recorded in 1975 and can only be heard via a rough audience recording. That one really shows what Goblin could do live, and even with its poor sound quality it might have been better for the band's legacy to release that instead or at least in addition. Somewhat recently Claudio Simonetti suggested he would soon prepare a live DVD/CD release from one of the recent Goblin shows, but Pignatelli and Marangolo are no longer with that group and have gone out as Goblin on their own due to disagreements among the members. The real missed opportunity was not preparing one of the 2009 shows for release. Even without Simonetti, the other four members did a fantastic job on that brief tour.
Zombi/Dawn Of The Dead (Cinevox/Varese Sarabande 1978) 1. L'Alba Dei Morti Viventi ~ Dawn Of The Dead 2. Zombi 3. Safari 4. Torte in faccia ~ Pie In Face 5. Al morgini della follia ~ Edge Of Madness 6. Zaratozom ~ Shriek 7. La caccia ~ The Hunt 8. Tirassegno ~ Target Shooting 9. Oblio ~ Oblivion 10. Risveglio ~ The Awakening - Agostino Marangolo / drums, piano, percussion - Massimo Morante / acoustic & electric guitars, bass, mandoline - Fabio Pignatelli / bass, acoustic guitar - Claudio Simonetti / Fender Rhodes, electric piano, Hammond organ, Moog synthesizers, violin, Mellotron
