Artist

CERVELLO

Gianluigi Di Franco (vocals, flute, percussion)
Corrado Rustici (guitar, flute, vibes, voice)
Giulio D'Ambrosio (sax, flute, vocals)
Antonio Spagnolo (bass, acoustic guitar, flute, vocals)
Remigio Esposito (drums, vibes)

One of many bands from Naples, and strictly connected to Osanna, with Corrado Rustici being the younger brother of that group's guitarist Danilo. 
Not unlike Osanna they had a highly interesting fusion of progressive sounds with typical southern Italy and mediterranean rhythms. 
A very good voice/instruments interplay is present throughout their majestic one and only album, Melos, released on Ricordi in 1973 with seven long tracks. Their sound is characterised by acoustic instruments such as flutes and horns (with four of the five players dealing with flutes) and acoustic guitars, but the album is by no means an acoustic one, with complex rhythm changes that sometimes resemble the Lizard-era King Crimson.

The band had a successful appearance at "III Festival d'avanguardia e nuove tendenze" held in Naples in June 1973, and split in 1974.
Some of the members kept playing, like Corrado Rustici that joined Osanna for their fourth album Landscape of life and later with Nova and a solo career. 
Singer Gianluigi Di Franco collaborated with percussionist Toni Esposito during the 80's, he never left music and his main activity was in the Music Therapy field until his death in 2005.

A nice band that deserved more success.

Not very easy to find despite being released on a major label like Ricordi, Melos has been reissued by Contempo in early 90's with an identical design as the original, having an open-up tomato can on the cover. Under the cover a black & white picture of the band wrapped in plastic foil. A lyric inner is included.
No counterfeits ever made. 

The album has been reissued on CD in March 2003 by BMG with a mini-LP gimmix cover reproducing the original and obi, as part of their "Dei di un perduto rock" series, and later repressed in October of the same year when a second batch of those CD's came out.
The CD was announced by BMG as being also available with standard jewel case (cat.no. 74321-98443-2) but was probably never issued in this form.

The LP was released in Japan (Seven Seas/King K22P325) with the same gimmix cover as the original, and in Korea (Seven Seas 61) and Venezuela (Orbe ORLP 4401) with a standard single cover. 
CD issues exist, again with miniaturized gimmix cover, made by Si-Wan in Korea, released in 1999 with catalogue number SRMC 1049 and by BMG in Japan, released in 2004, with catalogue number BVCM-37426.

An instrumental unreleased track by Cervello, recorded live and entitled Templi acherontei was only made available for download through Corrado Rustici's site.

Melos - LP

Melos - detail of the gimmix cover

Similar to Osanna's Palepoli in instrumentation and ideas. But Cervello is far more polished, including more complex rhythm changes, arrangements and lacking the psychedelic edge of Osanna. Melos also involves a Greek concept in the album both lyrically and specially musically that becomes evident after the first careful listen.
The album has all kinds of moods from the dark intro of Canto del Capro to the beautiful flute interludes of Euterpe. The electric sax gives a great sound in the harder parts and the vocals are very melodious and unique. There is great deal of excellent acoustic guitar work and mellotron-like sounds created by the saxophones. Of particular mention are the songs Trittico and Scinsione which contain some of the most melodic and complex arrangements of the album. These two songs are the best examples of what Cervello can do. The vocals coupled with the acoustic guitar and flutes hypnotize the listener into a technical yet fluid atmosphere so the music then breaks into a frenzy full of sax and adventurous guitar playing. The tempo and mood change from calm and melodic to violent and bizarre (interweaving between scales).
The rhythms can be rather odd at times and it can take some listeners more than a couple listens to enjoy this album to the max, but there is no doubt this is a majestic effort. No keyboards present, but they are not needed due to the "cerebral" arrangements these musicians have created for us on this album.
  Juan Carlos Lopez

For more information you can visit guitarist Corrado Rustici's website www.corradorustici.com