[Review] Stefano “Lupo” Galifi – Dei Ricordi, Un Museo

Stefano Galifi known as “Lupo” is one of the main exponents of Italian Prog, singer of the legendary band Museo Rosenbach, who in 1973 released the absolute masterpiece “Zarathustra.” The solo debut titled “Dei Ricordi, Un Museo” was released on October 8, 2021 via AMS Records and contains 7 tracks ranging from 4 to 10 minutes in length. High-level Italian Prog artists collaborated on this record, giving life to an album full of emotions and with the magical voice of Stefano who always manages to convey passion to us. The album opens with “Cuore (Dei ricordi, un museo – part 1)” with a fine piano intro that soon evolves into an elaborate interweaving of Progressive keyboards with a symphonic touch. Excellent phrasing between guitar and keyboards, with a rhythmic session enriched by tempo changes. Right from the start, we understand that we are facing a masterpiece, and when Stefano’s voice comes into play, shivers rise to the skin. The vocal timbre has remained intact over time and the lyrics are as thick as it has accustomed us over the years. The music is of a high standard and the vocals are an added value, a track that immediately plunges us into the delightful disco atmosphere, with intense and refined passages. The journey continues with “La morale cede” which is the shortest track of the album, characterized by a synth intro, and then developed on melancholic melodies. The singing alternates solo stanzas and choral refrains, full of pathos and with the unmistakable Lupo brand that brings to mind the 70s. The lyrics are highly sought after and the music offers a massive prog with excellent mixes of electric guitar and keyboards. “La stanza e l’angolo” is again characterized by an intro on the piano by Scherani and the atmospheres are melancholic, with Stefano’s voice interpreting a sophisticated text with dark features. A very intense passage, a track difficult to insert in a specific genre if not in the category of the masterpiece, making the most of the vocal part. Songs like this are the good of music, it’s not often that you hear similar compositions. We have come to the title track “Dei ricordi, un museo (part 2)” which is a long track of over 10 minutes, characterized by a powerful Heavy Prog intro that recalls the accelerations of the Rosenbach Museum. Those who love Prog sounds will find here everything they are looking for in a piece of this genre. Top-notch tempo changes, elaborate passages and a very warm and expressive vocal, for a song that sums up the whole essence of the album. Excellent choice as a title track, with perfect synth inserts, refined organ and guitar textures, with harder openings and other more symphonic ones that enhance the technique of the artists involved. “Le due linee gemelle” is characterized by more modern and electronic sounds that give a more Ambient imprint to the piece, with a vocal full of pathos. The guitar guides us through these 5 minutes with refined textures that create an excellent intertwining with the vocal, while a percussive drumming marks the time. The intensity increases with the passage of the song that ends with an excellent guitar solo, protagonist together with the voice of this section of the disc. An acoustic guitar arpeggio opens “Sterile” which develops between accelerations and more reflective and delicate moments, with very intense guitar and keyboard interweaving. Elaborated and constantly evolving, after the first part with Stefano’s masterful cantato, in the central part an instrumental section with solo keyboards take the sound to another level. Instrumental section that continues until the end of the second part, where with the last verses and the return of a softer sound the track closes gently. The album closes with “L’amante (Dei ricordi, un museo – parte 3)” with an intro with the keyboards and orchestrations of the mellotron on which a melancholy vocal of Lupo is inserted. The intensity increases with the flow of the piece that develops with very intense choral parts, Progressive interlacing and songwriting parts of laternao thickness, perfectly concluding this work. This album contains the experience of Stefano and the artists involved in the project, skilled in creating a high-level, very intense and passionate Prog disco. The voice is an added value for a solid sound full of interesting ideas, between tempo changes and plots in pure Prog style. A listening recommended to all lovers of Progressive sounds, a real masterpiece that once again shows all the passion of Stefano’s voice, bringing to mind the golden years of the genre in a modern context , in my opinion a masterpiece.

Tracklist

1. Cuore (Dei ricordi, un museo – part 1) (8:51)
2. La morale cede (4:15)
3. La stanza e l’angolo (4:32)
4. Dei ricordi, un museo (part 2) (10:20)
5. Le due linee gemelle (5:07)
6. Sterile (7:44)
7. L’amante (Dei ricordi, un museo – parte 3) (7:46)

Lineup

Stefano “Lupo” Galifi / Lead and Backing Vocals
Luca Scherani / Piano, Keyboards and Flute
Marcella Arganese / Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Gabriele Guidi Colombi / Electric Bass
Folco Fedele / Drum

Stefano “Lupo” Galifi |Bandcamp|Facebook Page|

AMS Records |Official Website|Bandcamp|Facebook Page|Instagram|YouTube Channel|

Author: Jacopo Vigezzi

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