Prowlers are a band from Italy founded in1985. Initially they were mainly influenced by blues-rock, hard rock and the Syd Barrett era of Pink Floyd. Their first progressive effort was a demo called Morgana (1994) followed by the full-length CDs Mother & Fairy (1995), Sweet Metamorfosi (1997) and Sogni In Una Goccia Di Cristallo (2011). The band went through several line-up changes which eventually resulted in the actual line-up of Laura Mombrini (lead vocals), Roberto Aiolfi (bass), Alfio Costa (keyboards, vocals), Stefano Piazzi (guitar, vocals) and Giovanni Vezzoli (drums, percussion, vocals). With this line-up Prowlers recorded their first live album simply called ProwlersLive. On ProwlersLive you won't hear that typical Italian retro sound that most of their compatriots have on their albums. Although Costa uses instruments like a Hammond organ, a MiniMoog and a Mellotron, Prowlers don't have a bombastic sound. You'll hear no echoes of Italian seventies prog rock bands like The Trip, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, Osanna, Goblin, Le Orme, Balletto Di Bronzo or Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM). They have a rather contemporary sound. They say: the world has changed since the seventies and so have we. The vocals of Laura Mombrini are the most important element in the band's music, but from time to time you can hear a fine guitar or a MiniMoog solo. Those instruments, and occasionally the sound of a Mellotron, give the compositions a progressive rock sound. The influences of early blues-rock, hard rock and early Pink Floyd can be heard as well on some songs. Moreover, it's clear that a hard rock band like Deep Purple have influenced them, because the album cover has some similarity with Made In Europe (1976), the first official live album Deep Purple recorded in their mark III line-up. It has the same kind of letters on the cover and a live picture that shows the band in action. However, don't expect the same kind of organ and guitar duets that Ritchie Blackmore (guitars) and Jon Lord (keyboards) performed on Deep Purple's live albums. Most of the songs on ProwlersLive are taken from their latest album Sogni In Una Goccia Di Cristallo which means that the main language is Italian. I would like to advise people, who love their progressive rock music not that complex, to check out this fine live album. Also those who like Italian prog music without any connection to the famous Italian bands of the seventies should try this one. You'll probably enjoy it as much as I did! *** Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
