Ezra Winston - Ancient Afternoons (Reissue, Remastered) (1990)

"Ancient Afternoons" (1990) is the second studio album by the Italian band Ezra Winston, a shining hidden gem of the Italian progressive rock (RPI) revival of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The album was released in 1990 on the Italian label Angel Records and later (in 2000) reissued in Brazil on the cult progressive label Rock Symphony with a bonus track.

Despite their Italian origins, Ezra Winston sang in English, and their music was deeply inspired by the pastoral, autumnal sound of early British classics—especially Genesis during the Trespass era (1970).

"Ancient Afternoons" is a complex, fairytale-mythological conceptual work. The songs are divided into multiple internal sections, telling dark fantasy stories. The lyrics and story explanations were presented in a detailed booklet included with the vinyl.

The album's main musical feature is its stunning interweaving of standard rock instruments with an abundance of guest musicians. The band enlisted a full brass section (horns, trumpet, trombone, tuba, and oboï) and made extensive use of flutes and xylophone. This gave the music a strong academic, baroque, and occasionally intimate feel. The legendary Aldo Tagliapietra (leader and vocalist of the great band Le Orme) made a special guest appearance on one track (Night-Storm), playing five-string bass.

The centerpiece of the record is its second side, dedicated entirely to the colossal 26-minute magnum opus “Ancient Afternoon Of An Unknown Town,” which consists of 9 parts and takes the listener on a long cinematic journey with knightly marches, baroque preludes and explosive synthesizer solos.