St. Tropez - Icarus (Reissue) (1977-78/1992)

St Tropez was another project of Ciro Perrino, who was one of the key members of Celeste and Il Sistema. Among others, he also played on the first Picchio dal Pozzo album. On this album by St Tropez, we are miles away from the folky, mellotron soaked beauty of Celeste, and we are off into space rock territory. The most obvious influence is Gong. The guitar playing very much reminds me of Gong's Steve Hillage. Additionally there are space voices handled by Lady Mantide. I find these space vocals the weakest point of the album - Lady Mantide has a somewhat screeching voice which I don't like very much (although it doesn't ruin my enjoyment of the album). Marimba and glockenspiel are featured several times to widen the instrumental palette. The spacey music is generally joyful and upbeat, which besides the Gong influence, also shows some similarities with the solo album, Calypso, by ex-Saint Just bass player Antoni Verde, or the second Il Volo album, Essere o Non Essere ... . In addition to Gong-like space rock, jazz rock/fusion elements ("Verdure Saltate" and "Luna in Virgine") and more symphonic parts (on "Icarus") can be heard as well. An enjoyable album and a worthwhile addition to your collection if you like space rock from the Gong school.