Gran Torino is an Italian band that played hard rock in the vein of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, before they decided to switch to technical progressive rock, influenced by the great prog bands of the seventies. Gran Torino's favourite bands are Genesis, Kansas, King Crimson and Spock's Beard, although the latter started in the early nineties. If you listen carefully you can hear the influences of all these bands. GrantorinoProg is their debut album, but you won't find the disc that often in my CD-player because it contains rather tiresome and old-fashioned prog rock. They play music I've heard a thousand times before and a lot better! Since this is an instrumental album it makes it even more difficult to listen to it in one session from the opening track Sinapsi until the final track Zorro. Most of the songs are up-tempo and sometimes they tend a bit to the prog metal genre. However, also jazz and fusion influences are noticeable on this record, but the overall sound tends to prog rock and is built on solid prog rock foundations. I've got one listening tip and that's Radio Vox, but I'm afraid that this album will soon sink into oblivion. ** Martien Koolen (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
