(Progressive & Art-Rock) La Statale 17 & Emphasis - Rock Scene - 1978 (1994), MP3, 320 kbps

LA STATALE 17 and EMPHASIS are two bands from near Bozen, Italy, who shared a split album release in 1978 by a small local label, Contrapunkt. Each band shares a side of the album, which was reissued by Mellow Records in CD format in 1994.
LA STATALE 17 plays instrumental music that recalls Camel as well as jazz rock (see particularly "La Sfinge"), rather than partaking from the RPI spirit that unfortunately in 1978 was waning. There is even a Genesis influence (see the opening piano in "La Piramide del Potere"), although not nearly as obvious as their flip side, EMPHASIS. The keyboards are typical of late 1970s, atmospheric and somewhat thin, with some great guitar work. The rhythm section is pretty good too, though not very adventurous.
EMPHASIS is more in the vein of symphonic rock, heavily influenced by Genesis (song title: "Flower"), even down to their particular usage of the flute. The vocals and song titles are in English. The music is not as complex as LA STATALE 17, but is quite melodic and very good. Bands such as KYRIE ELEISON are brought to mind for this listener.

LA STATALE 17
- Paolo Beltrami / keyboards
- Carlo Girardello / guitar
- Paolo Depaoli / bass
- Mario Vitale / drums
EMPHASIS
- Mauro Bazzanella / vocals, flute
- Peter Bozzetta / guitar
- Leo Tutzer / keyboards
- Georg Pedrotti / bass
- Hans Tutzer / drums