Artist
MUSEO ROSENBACH
Stefano "Lupo" Galifi (vocals)
Enzo Merogno (guitar, vocals)
Pit Corradi (keyboards)
Alberto Moreno (bass, piano)
Giancarlo Golzi (drums, percussion, vocals)
Name Museo Rosenbach and you'll see a sparkle in the eyes of every european prog fan, their Zarathustra being usually considered as one of the best examples of the genre to come from outside England. Yet the band was not so successful at the time, even having problems for their supposed right-wing inclinations coming from the all-black cover, the Mussolini image in LP collage, the Nietzsche-inspired lyrics.
Museo Rosenbach derived from the fusion of two late 60's bands from Sanremo, La Quinta Strada and Il Sistema, around 1971, and their first line-up included future Celeste member Leonardo Lagorio on sax and flute. The only recordings Il Sistema ever made were released on LP and CD by Mellow in 1991-92, while La Quinta Strada was just a cover band.
The tracks for Zarathustra were ready at the end of 1972, when the band were suddenly contacted for a recording deal by Ricordi, who were interested in promoting new progressive groups such as Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Reale Accademia di Musica and the album was released in april 1973.
The long Zarathustra suite on side one is probably their best effort, with slight classical influences and keyboards in evidence as in the best italian prog tradition, but side two with three shorter tracks has some great moments. Vocalist "Lupo" Galifi has a very distinctive voice and keyboard player Pit Corradi adds a touch of originality to the band sound.
Museo Rosenbach had a short life, splitting soon after
the album and some good concerts in the summer of 1973, and the two posthumous
CD's released by Mellow let us understand what a great band they were.
Drummer Giancarlo Golzi experienced a great commercial success with his later
band Matia Bazar, still lasting today.
A new 10-track album, Exit, has been released in
2000 by original bassist Alberto Moreno and drummer Giancarlo Golzi along with
new members, in a more commercial direction than their brilliant debut album.
The most recent product by the new line-up is an appearance on the Kalevala
3-CD box set by the french label Musea, dedicated to the finnish traditional
epic, with a song called Fiore di vendetta.
Former Museo Rosenbach singer, "Lupo" Galifi, plays now with Il Tempio delle Clessidre, a group that, in february 2007, in a concert in Genova with Delirium, played the entire Zarathustra.
| LP | |||
| Zarathustra | Ricordi (SMRL 6113) | 1973 | gatefold textured cover |
| Contempo (CONTE 004) | 1990 | gatefold glossy cover | |
| Rarities | Mellow (MMLP 102) | 1992 | single cover - demos and unreleased tracks |
CD |
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| Zarathustra | Contempo (CONTECD 004) | 1990 | reissue of 1973 album - now deleted |
| BMG/Ricordi (74321-53184-2) | 1997 | as above - now deleted | |
| BMG (74321-98452-2) | 2003 | as above with mini gatefold cover - now deleted | |
| Live '72 | Mellow (MMP 102) | 1992 | live recording from 1972 |
| Rare and unreleased | Mellow (MMP 103) | 1992 | 1972 demos with expanded line-up and unreleased tracks |
| Exit | Carisch (CL77) | 2000 | new album by revised line-up |
| VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATIONS |
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| Kalevala (with Fiore di vendetta) |
Musea (FGBG 4463.AR) - France | 2003 | 3-CD box based on finnish national epic of the same name |
One of the masterpieces of the italian prog, Zarathustra
is obviously rare and expensive. The album has been reissued on vinyl by Contempo, and both the issues have a
gatefold cover, that's textured in the original.
It was reissued on CD in March 2003 by BMG with mini-LP gatefold cover
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.
74321-98450-2) but was probably never issued in this form.
A japanese vinyl issue exists (King K22P280), and this was released with both
single and gatefold cover. A CD reissue was made by BMG Japan (BVCM-37425) in
2004 with a textured gatefold mini-LP cover identical to the original.
An old korean bootleg LP reissue also exists, with single cover and cat.no 86
(unknown label reproduced Ricordi design).
No counterfeits nor other foreign issues exist.
The Rarities LP and Rare and unreleased CD contain different tracks, all from their 1972 demos with some live recordings made before Zarathustra.
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Zarathustra - LP |
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Zarathustra - inner gatefold |
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Rarities - LP |
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Live '72 CD |
Rare and unreleased CD |
Zarathustra is an exceptional album, very complex and
well done. This is one of those albums you must listen to first; a heavy,
melodic, intelligent and atmospheric masterpiece.
The A side involves only one song with different sub themes. Sub theme L'ultimo
uomo which begins with a very distinct theme song and with vocals rising in
volume. The other that stands out of this 19 min. opus is Superuomo an
energetic theme with a great Hammond sound.
Side B has three heavier songs that display Museo Rosenbach's ability to fuse
heaviness with melodic incursions. Dell'eterno ritorno is probably the
best highlight from this side. Starting with moog sounds, acoustic guitars and
flutes and then exploding into a heavy fast paced number. The drumming on this
part is excellent coupled with a great fuzzed guitar and terrific vocals. It
then calms downs with a beautiful hammond riff that is followed by excellent
vocals only to explode again into a grand finale.
Juan Carlos Lopez
The band has an official website with discography and information at http://www.museo.it
Il Tempio delle Clessidre, the group featuring singer Stefano "Lupo" Galifi, has a webpage on MySpace, and a video from their Zarathustra concert on YouTube.
