2023-10-20 08:30:33
GOAD – Titania
Origin: Italy
Release: 20.10.2023
Label: My Kingdom Music
Duration: 01:20:06
Genre: Progressive Rock
And another Italo Prog legend wants to show that they are far from being a thing of the past. GOAD are more or less a project by the Italian Maurilio Rossi. While the first two decades were relatively manageable, since the 1990s albums that refer to British progressive rock and English literature have been released with regularity.
The new Titania The work referred to does not only refer to Shakespeare in the album title A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The CD version comes with a bonus disc that includes a concert in Genoa in 2006. On vinyl, the listener is treated to two bonus tracks. And of course with the fantastic artwork by Dis-Art Designwhich really makes you want a polished symphonic prog rock record.
Ugh on the outside, yuck on the inside
However, what is offered is a very roughly produced disc that leaves a lot of room for improvement in the sound. Titania This gives it a good dose of earthiness. And also the voice Rossis is not a singing voice, it rather impresses with a charismatic timbre in the spectrum between Andy Tillison, Jon Anderson and Roine Stolt. So it’s more of a narrator’s voice that gives the songs a narrative component.
Titania So it’s really not a glossy production. The quality of the individual titles is usually good as a demo. The sound is too musty, the drums rumble too much. However, it is important to note that the album is in no way lacking in substance. The semi-balladic Let Fly To The Sun provides insightful evidence like you HERE can experience. The song is bursting with intelligent yet gripping melodies. That connects GOAD with the very actors in whose tradition Rossi provides.
Old man’s prog in its purest form
Some songs have structures like you would expect from King Crimson was used to in the 1970s, for example in To, I Can’t Speak Or Think. The central piece is certainly the 29 minute long piece Beauty Is Pain, which has been divided into easier-to-consume individual tracks, with each sub-song standing on its own and thematically linked to each other. Here, too, the atmosphere suffers greatly from the production, which is in need of improvement, for example Walking Dream, which therefore appears much less majestic. A lot of potential was wasted here. Progressive rock fans with a penchant for the old warriors like Genesis, Yes, Van der Graaf Generator or Italian colleagues like PFM but you are welcome to indulge in nostalgia.
Conclusion
The song material Titania is attractively composed and impresses with its variety. However, the production suffers from a few things, which is something that someone like GOAD, who has been releasing music for fifty years, is a shame. Nevertheless, I can find a lot of good things regarding the album. 7,5 / 10
Line Up
Maurilio Rossi – composition, production
Tracklist
01. Upon A Little Hill
02. Let Fly To The Sun
03. You Say You Love Me
04. To One Who Has
05. Who Sent Me Some Roses
06. One Night Like another
07. Sea Bird
08. To, I Can’t Speak Or Think
09. Beauty Is Pain – Fair Attitude
10. Beauty Is Pain – Away Away
11. Beauty Is Pain – Generation Waste
12. Beauty Is Pain – Walking Dream
13. Beauty Is Pain – Taking Breath
14. Beauty Is Pain – Fill For Me
Links
Facebook GOAD
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