Can't say that I know much about this Italian band called Wicked Minds, other than the fact that their new CD Live at Burg Herzberg Festival 2006 is a pretty smoldering slice of psychedelic & progressive hard rock, sort of like a mish-mash of Uriah Heep, Nektar, Deep Purple, and Atomic Rooster. Lots of Hammond organ and guitar freakouts permeate this sucker, a live album recorded in Germany back in 2006, which features songs from their two studio albums From The Purple Skies and Witchflower, which were released in 2004 and 2006. In a way these guys take a similar road as Black Bonzo, except they leave out much of the symphonic prog influence in favor of a harder edge organ/guitar based heavy rock formula. The lead vocals of J.C. Cinel sound very much like the late Heep singer David Byron, and tunes like "Drifting", "From the Purple Skies", and "The Elephant Stone" have that lovely, swirling Hammond sound that Ken Hensley made so famous, here courtesy of Paolo 'Apollo' Negri. On guitar is Lucio Calegari, whose melodic yet fiery guitar playing adds that extra edge to these songs...when he kicks on the wah-wah pedal, look out!
Most of the tracks here are pretty lengthy, including the bombastic 20 minute juggernaut "Return to Uranus", and give the band more than enough space to boogie out and strut their stuff. Live at Burg Herzberg Festival 2006 comes across as, when all is said and done, an utterly enjoyable retro trip for lovers of 70's progressive hard rock, and especially those who can't get enough Hammond organ in their life. Recommended!
Track Listing
1. From the Purple Skies 6:28
2. Witchflower 4:44
3. The Elephant Stone 11:45
4. Drifting 7:18
5. Before the Morning Light 8:35
6. Through my Love 10:26
7. Return to Uranus 19:53
8. Shadows Train 6:09
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
