Artist
IBIS
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1973
Nico Di Palo (guitar, vocals)
Maurizio Salvi (keyboards)
Frank Laugelli (bass, vocals)
Gianni Belleno (drums, vocals)
1974
Belleno replaced by
Ric Parnell (drums)
1975
Parnell and Salvi replaced by
Renzo Tortora (guitar, vocals)
Pasquale Venditto (drums, vocals)
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New Trolls' leaders Nico Di Palo and Vittorio De Scalzi came to a legal struggle on the use of the band's name in 1973, with Di Palo taking with him the line up that had released Ut a year before. The four piece recorded an LP due for release with Fonit, but they couldn't yet call themselves New Trolls, so the album was issued with a giant question mark on the cover and no band name, and the group is usually referred to with the name of its members, Nico, Gianni, Frank, Maurizio. A very good album, Canti d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza is the ideal follow-up to Ut, with a convincing mix of classical and hard rock influences. L'amico della porta accanto can be included in an ideal compilation of all the New Trolls related releases.
Soon after the album release, drummer Belleno left the band to venture into a pop career with his side band Tritons, and the remaining trio, with the new name of Ibis (decided after a readers' poll organised by the Ciao 2001 magazine!) found an important replacement in English drummer Ric Parnell, from Atomic Rooster. With the new line-up and a new recording deal with Polydor, they recorded Sun supreme, released in 1974 and completely sung in English. A transition album, its hard rock style and English lyrics make it too similar to many foreign bands and little convincing.
Another change in the line-up came later that year,
with Salvi and Parnell leaving Ibis for musical divergences, replaced by Renzo
Tortora and Pasquale Venditto, both coming from Forum Livii.
Despite the new line-up the band released in 1975 what's usually defined their
best and more mature work with Ibis. Just two tracks were now in English,
the rest being sung in Italian and with a much more personal style than in their
previous album. The soft Passa il tempo was also released as a single.
In 1975 the long awaited New Trolls' reunion finally took place and Ibis disbanded. Nico Di Palo, again with drummer Gianni Belleno returned back to his old band to record Concerto grosso n.2.
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| LP | |||
| Canti d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza | Fonit (LPX 22) | 1973 | gatefold textured cover with 4-page photo insert pasted in |
| Fonit/Pellicano (PL 412) | 1980 | different single cover | |
| Fonit/Vinyl Magic (LPP 423) | 1991 | available as gatefold standard cover, same as original but with no insert, or single cover | |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic (VM 094 LP) | 2009 | gatefold cover with photo insert | |
| Sun supreme | Polydor (2448 022 L) | 1974 | single textured cover with inner |
| Ibis | Polydor (2448 036 L) | 1975 | single laminated cover with inner |
CD |
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| Canti d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza | Fonit Cetra (CDLP 423) | 1991 | reissue of 1973 album |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic (VMCD 094) | 2004 | as above with mini gatefold cover | |
| Ibis | Polydor/Mellow (847 073-2) | 1992 | reissue of 1975 album - now deleted |
| Polydor (523 695-2) | 90's | as above | |
| Universal (0602527122045) | 2009 | new reissue with mini-LP single cover and 1 bonus track - part of the box set Progressive Italia - Gli anni '70 vol.2 | |
| Sun supreme | BTF/Vinyl Magic (VMCD 081) | 2003 | reissue of 1974 album with mini gatefold cover |
| Universal (0602527319353) | 2010 | new reissue with mini-LP single cover - part of the box set Progressive Italia - Gli anni '70 vol.4 | |
SINGLES (with picture cover) |
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| Passa il tempo Noi |
Polydor (2060 083) | 1974 | Side A from Ibis |
| Dedicated to Janis Joplin Movin' on |
Polydor (2060 104) | 1975 | both tracks from Ibis |
PROMOTIONAL AND JUKEBOX SINGLES (with blank cover) |
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| Song of the valley deep Divinity part 3 |
Polydor (AS 272) | 1974 | white label promo single - both tracks from Sun supreme |
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The three albums by Ibis are all rather easy to find at
reasonable prices in their original issues.
The rarest of the three is Canti d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza, that had a textured cover with a glued in
4-page insert with pictures of the band members.
It was reissued with a
different single cover in a Fonit mid-price series and later in 1991 again with
its original cover by Fonit and Vinyl Magic. The last
issue was available in both single and gatefold versions (like the reissue of Garybaldi's
Astrolabio in the same series).
The latest reissue from BTF, released in 2009, contains a reproduction of the original photographic insert.
Both Sun supreme and Ibis, released by Polydor,
have never been
reissued on vinyl in Italy.
A Korean issue exists of Ibis (Si-Wan SRML 0004).
Japanese issues exist for Sun supreme (Polydor/King 23MM0144) and Ibis (Polydor/King
23MM0145), while Sun supreme is also on CD (Universal Japan UICY 9121).
While the first and third album have been long
available on CD, the second one, Sun supreme had never had the CD
repressing treatment. For this reason the recent 2003 reissue by VM2000/Vinyl
Magic in their deluxe "Italian Progressive Rock" series is a welcome addition to this label's high number of important
re-releases. It has been followed by a 2004 reissue of
Canti d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza, both
with gatefold mini-LP cover and illustrated
information booklets.
The third album, Ibis, has been newly reissued by Universal in 2009 as part of the 6CD box set Progressive Italia - Gli anni '70 vol.2 (no. 0602527122021) and contains 1 bonus track, Noi, from the 1974 single.
The CD versions of Sun supreme and Canti
d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza released by BTF/Vinyl Magic as part of the series
"Italian Progressive Rock" have gatefold mini-LP covers and illustrated
information booklets.
Sun supreme and Ibis (the latter with an extra track, Noi) have been reissued on CD by Universal in 2009-2010 in the series of box sets entitled Progressive Italia - Gli anni '70.
No counterfeits exist.
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Canti d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza - original LP |
Canti d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza - Pellicano reissue cover |
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Canti d'innocenza, canti d'esperienza - inner gatefold with glued photo insert |
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Sun supreme - LP |
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Ibis - LP |
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Passa il tempo - 7" single cover |
Dedicated to Janis Joplin - 7" single cover |
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Thanks to Laura Albergante for information on the promo single