Pholas Dactylus - Concerto Delle Menti (1973)

The one and only album from this Italian band.

Some of the albums from these one album bands takes on a mythological status. This is one of those albums.
It has a big reputation and I purchased it in the hope that it would live up to it's hype.

This album is split into two songs.... or compositions to be more truthful. Part 1 and Part 2. And we are talking avant-garde here. Mostly that. Take Area and add a lot of avant-garde and krautrock. Inbetween nibbling at guitars and bass strings, we get some piano and drums too. And there is even some vocals here too. A lot of it is spoken as in a narration. The language is Italian and I am none the wiser.

There are some melodies here too. Some of them very cheesy. In particular Part 2 has got a lot of cheesy melodies. Part 1 has got some more sobering stylish melody attempts.

The result is a decent album and nothing more than that. The sound is poor and I am not particular happy about this album and the hole in my bank account. This is not one of those much fabled albums I would recommend. If avant-garde is your thing and you can live with the sound, go ahead and purchase this album.

2 points