Pangea - Invasori (1976/2007 Remastered Mini LP Edition)
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Album: Pangea - Invasori (Remastered Mini LP Edition)
Released: 1976 (2007)
Genre: Progressive Rock
Gnosis Rating: 10.03
BTF/AMS - AMS 112 CD
Most prog collectors never even heard of this monster rarity before it was featured in one of Hans Pokora's Record Collector Dreams books. This was out on Philips in 1976 but only in promotional form and without a cover, and arrived by the time the interest of big labels in progressive music was going down, so it never reached stores -- becoming real nightmare for die-hard collectors. This is a conceptual album with 10 tracks put together into two long suites, with some long instrumental and much elaborated parts, and with Italian lyrics. It's spacey progressive music with some pop hints, too. All tracks were written by Mauro Paoluzzi, well-known session man and producer who also wrote some songs for Madrugada; in fact, also two members of this group helped in the recording of the Pangea album as well. Well, so here it is -- for the first time ever, the real Pangea Invasori LP out for sale. Comes in a gatefold cover, obviously new artwork as it was blank originally, great sound and limited to 500 copies - Forced Exposure
A true legend among collectors, few of which had ever heard it before the recent CD release, this album only came out in promotional form without a cover.
The label only mentions as composer of lyrics and music the name of Mauro Paoluzzi, sessionman and producer of many italian pop artists who was also the composer of some tracks on the first Madrugada album. And two members of that group, Gianfranco Pinto and Billy Zanelli, collaborated with Paoluzzi in the making of this album.
Musically speaking this is a concept album (over 48 minutes long) containing ten tracks connected to form two long suites, with elaborate instrumental parts and italian lyrics. The style is halfway between a spacey progressive and pop with some very interesting moments.
Unfortunately the album was recorded in a time when Phonogram was losing its interest in progressive-styled productions, and was just released in a limited promotional pressing.
The album has been reissued in 2007 by the AMS label with a new cover, both on CD and LP. - ItalianProg.com
Mythical album that frankly until recently I was unaware of - once I heard about it I didn't believe in its existence. A quick Google led me to an Ebay sale where an original copy of this album sold for $888!!. That's a lot of pasta. Pangea was originally released without a cover, as a white label promo on the Polydor label back in 1976. It is the creation of producer Mauro Paoluzzi and members of Madrugada. It consists of two side long suites. The music has a nice dreamy keyboard driven quality but never ventures off into hyper-complexity. The music wanders between soundtrack-y interludes and jazz laden stretches. Kind of Floyd-like the more I think about it. A real surprise. Recommended - Ken Golden
Finally available from the hyperactive AMS indie label is the reissue one of the most legendary italian prog albums ever! "Invasori"was originally released only in a few promo copies for the Philips label back in 1976 (and that LP is now a very expensive collectors' item), so that many italian prog fans didn't even know that this title was ever existing. The mastermind behind Pangea was italian star producer Mauro Paoluzzi (he worked with Roberto Vecchioni and Gianna Nannini); he was completely into prog music in the late Seventies (he also produced the two Madrugada albums now available on AMS CD too).
"Invasori" is a beautiful and haunting progressive concept album divided in two suites in the classic italian style, with italian vocals, various moods and an overall spacey atmosphere with hints of Pink Floyd. This is an excellent and rare find! - Andrea Salvador
Mauro Paoluzzi and Madrugada forge a strong bond personally and professionally during the period in which he produced both of their albums. They began to exchange musical ideas in both the recording studio and in live concerts. For example, Madrugada performed on Nuovi Angeli's "Stasera Clown" album, and in the line-up is none other than Mauro Paoluzzi. So given this background, Madrugada's keyboardist Gianfranco Pinto and bassist Billi Zanelli, are present on Mauro Paoluzzi's 1976 solo album titled "Invasori". They christened this album with the band name Pangea and it dates to the same time Madrugada released their second and last album "Incastro". "Invasori" is a truly charming album combined with tribal rhythms full of atmosphere. Paoluzzi performs the majority of the vocals while his wife Luciana sings softly on two of the tracks. Overall, Pangea performs a cultivated album with a progressive musical form. Madrugada's role provides both the progressive charts as well as some pop flavored ones (similar to their own albums). With the addition of some sax and flute, there is a little bit of a jazz sound that characterizes their sound. Not to mention a little funk, and even Baroque, thrown in for good measure. The mix of styles gives the album an avant-garde feel, an experimental bent to a standard formula. There is a true sense of harmony that is established between the members of Madrugada and Mauro Paoluzzi. For Pangea, Paoluzzi plays the piano, synthesizer, keyboards, electric guitar and drums. Gianfranco Pinto contributes by doubling up on the keyboards (including a Steinway piano) and chorus lines. Billi Zanelli puts in a fine performance on the bass guitar and also is part of the chorus. A nice one-off Italian progressive rock record that has been considered a mythical album for collectors. - Franco Sciscio
1 Invasori (04:10)
2 MonJ (04:37)
3 Mira99i (01:30)
4 Corallo (04:26)
5 Naufra9io (02:57)
6 Arcipela 9o (06:04)
7 Bazaar (04:36)
8 Xanadu (11:12)
9 Piccolo re (07:01)
10 NJamba (01:31)
Mauro Paoluzzi (guitar, drums, vocals)
Luciana Paoluzzi (vocals)
Gianfranco Pinto (keyboards, vocals)
Alessandro "Billy" Zanelli (bass, vocals)
Claudio Pascoli (sax, flute)
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