Osanna

One of the greatest bands in the Italian prog field, Osanna came from Naples, formed in 1971 by the members of I Volti di Pietra and Città Frontale. During their four years lifespan they left us three very good LP's, among which Palepoli deserves a particular mention. The basis of their sound is original heavy guitar rock often in combination with amazing flute solos. Osanna were among the first bands to present themselves theatrically in their shows, featuring costumes and painted faces. Read more here.

Goblin

Goblin is an Italian progressive rock band known for their soundtracks for Dario Argento films, including Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) in 1975 and Suspiria in 1977. They put out an instrumental progressive rock album Roller, before working with Argento again for Suspiria. Other film soundtracks and a concept album, Il Fantastico Viaggio Del Bagarozzo Mark, followed and then the score for the European version of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978). Read more here.

Il Balletto di Bronzo's masterpiece: Ys

Ys front cover

Ys is the second studio album by the 70's Italian progressive rock band Il Balletto di Bronzo. It was released in 1972 on Polydor. It's a concept album, the protagonist is a man, the only one left on earth, whο  makes an incredible journey, before tragically disappear in the dark, as it was for the mythical island of Ys, that according to the French folklore legend, was swallowed up by the waters. Read more here.

Cherry Five

The band was formed by keyboard wizard Claudio Simonetti and guitarist Massimo Morante in 1972, aided by bass player Fabio Pignatelli and drummer Walter Martino (who had previously played with Simonetti in the band Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray and the short-lived Seconda Generazione). Between 1972 and 1973 they recorded some demo tapes of their compositions incially under the name Oliver. Read more here.

L'Uovo di Colombo

Based in Rome, L'Uovo di Colombo was another of those Italian prog rock bands that just made a great    album without their record company support, so the band disappeared soon after the album release. Read more here. 

Ibis

Ibis were another member of the Italian prog rock scene of the mid 70's, more inclined toward the heavy side of that genre, with songs structured around organ and guitar. The original line-up of this band consisted of New Trolls' ex-members. Read more here. 

Italian Progressive Rock

The Italian progressive rock scene was born in the early 70s, mostly inspired by the progressive movement in Britain, but with certain features of its own. In the early-to-mid-70s, Italy was one of the European countries most interested in this genre; many English bands such as Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator and Gentle Giant were discovered by the Italian public before they had consolidated a fan base in their home country. Consequently, progressive Italian groups were prolific and Rock Progressivo Italiano (RPI) constitutes a prog sub-genre. Read more here. 

Il Sistema

Il Sistema was a very early and important band in the history and development of Rock Progressivo Italiano and it's often described as a quintessential band of the late 60`s-early 70`s Italian rock scene. They gave birth to great and very importand bands such as Celeste and Museo Rosenbach. Read more here.

Celeste

Along with Museo Rosenbach, Celeste were born from the ashes of the legendary Il Sistema, a band from Sanremo. This four piece went in a totally different direction from their beginnings, playing a mostly acoustic, dreamy and delicate prog rock. Read more here. 

Museo Rosenbach

Museo Rosenbach is a one-shot Italian prog band. In 1973 they released their album Zarathustra which is considered as one of the best examples of the prog genre to come from outside England and one of the masterpieces in the world of prog rock. Read more here. 

Buon Vecchio Charlie

Buon Vecchio Charlie was a 70's Italian prog six-piece band. They recorded the tracks for their only self-titled album in 1971, but the album saw its first release in 1990. It's a very good original work and one of the best and earliest Italian prog albums.   Read more here. 

I Teoremi

I Teoremi was an Italian prog rock group that released only one album in the beginning of the 70's. It was a quartet from Rome, though their singer Vincenzo "Lord Enzo" Massetti came from Naples. Their self-titled album is one of the rarest Italian prog-era albums. Read more here. 

Semiramis

Semiramis was one of the many one-album Italian 70's prog rock bands. It was a teenagers five-piece from Rome mainly based on the guitar of Michele Zarrillo, who was considered a gifted guitarist, and the twin keyboards of Giampiero Artegiani and Michele's brother Maurizio Zarrillo. The band had an intense live activity in most of the major open-air festivals of the time. Read more here. 

Il Rovescio della Medaglia

Il Rovescio della Medaglia (RDM) was a 70's Italian progressive rock band playing dynamic prog with many rhythm changes.  Enzo Vita, Stefano Urso e Gino Campoli founded the group, that had as lead singer first Gianni Mereu, then Sandro Falbo and soon later Pino Ballarini. In 1973 a fifth member was added, keyboard player Franco Di Sabbatino. They were renowned for their powerful live performances.  Read more here. 

Gli Alluminogeni

Gli Alluminogeni was a 70's italian prog rock band consisted of Patrizio Alluminio (keyboards, vocals), Daniele Ostorero (drums) and Enrico Cagliero (guitar, bass). In 1972 they released the apocalyptic concept album Scolopendra, a visionary tale with cosmic ecology as its central theme.  Read more here. 

Acqua Fragile

Acqua Fragile was a five-piece from Parma, formed in 1971 from the ashes of Gli Immortali, a group that included singer Bernardo Lanzetti (who would become later the singer of PFM), guitarist Gino Campanini and drummer Piero Canavera, joined by keyboardist Maurizio Mori and bass player Franz Dondi. It took them two years to release their debut album, due to difficulty in finding a record company in Italy that would allow them to release it with English sung lyrics. Read more here. 

Premiata Forneria Marconi

The pioneer of Italian progressive rock bands, Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) is one of the leaders of the 70's prog movement. PFM developed a style which is uniquely Italian while maintaining links with the rest of the prog world. The instrumentation is superb with fluid guitar, highly original synthesizer sounds, beautiful violin and flute and ethereal vocals. They were the first Italian group to have success abroad and one of the most important bands in the international progressive rock genre. Read more here. 

Biglietto per l'Inferno

Biglietto per l'Inferno are still regarded as one of the most influential Italian prog rock bands, despite a single LP release, their magnificent self-titled album from 1974. The band had an intense live activity and attended several Italian music festivals with fair results, thanks mainly to singer Claudio Canali who moved through the stage, with great scenic approach. Read more here. 

Apoteosi

Apoteosi were one of those minor Italian prog rock bands that only released an album before disappearing. The group was built on the nucleus of the three brothers Silvana, Massimo and Federico Idà, and their music was strongly based on the keyboards of Massimo. Apoteosi formed while the members were all very young; Massimo was only fourteen at the time. Read more here. 

De De Lind

De De Lind was named after a popular Playboy model of the early 60's. They recorded one album in 1973,  which is considered as one of the finest examples of Italian prog rock and for sure it has one of the longest LP titles ever conceived and accepted by a major label (Mercury). Read more here.