Morreale - An Italian-rock revival

Massimiliano Morreale is a multi-instrumentalist from Bari (vocals, guitar, bass, organ, piano) active since the 1990s in his city's underground scene. A devotee of Pink Floyd and of that sound halfway between psychedelia, prog and hard rock, he has made reviving the 60s and 70s his artistic hallmark, managing never to seem too derivative, nor to be easily pinned to any one particular band. This makes his albums engaging and distinctive, with unconventional blends that betray a considerable musical culture.

He debuted in 2020 with Appunti di viaggio, for which he enlisted a small host of musicians from the national prog scene, including singer Claudio Milano (NichelOdeon/InSonar), Alessandro Calzavara (Humpty Dumpty), saxophonist Gianni Ladisa and bassist Ago Tambone. We mentioned Pink Floyd, but in truth the influence of Roger Waters's band is almost nowhere to be found here, except in the opening intro of "Sehnsucht," a brief acoustic nod to early Floydian sounds without Syd Barrett. For the rest, the main points of reference lean toward an energetic, modern hard rock, as for instance in "Cronache per la fine di un'infanzia," with Milano's voice constantly pushed to its limits, in a context so different from his usual theatre-music settings, yet still able to assert itself through lyrics that are typically personal and likely autobiographical.

Special mention certainly goes to the most ambitious track, one Morreale actually began writing back in 1993: the twenty-two minutes of "Super Wonderboy Returns (A New Fantastic Adventure)" form a long instrumental suite split into various alternating sections, moving between psychedelia, progressive rock, cosmic passages, guitar arpeggios, right up to a great electric guitar solo (by Ago Tambone), certainly vintage in feel but full of pathos, closing on a solemn, epic finale. A track that shows real maturity and could be a career-defining achievement on its own. Calzavara sings on the hypnotic dark-tinged ballad "Dung," while Morreale takes the lead on "Il mare," this time following more closely in the groove of Italian rock.

The multi-instrumentalist from Puglia scatters in bits and pieces of his various passions and influences, in a melting pot that includes the slow new-age atmospheres of "Gestalt," the blues of "King Miner Blues," the folk singer-songwriter style of "La metà di me," the irony balanced between nonsense and neoclassicism in "Fa un po' Frescobaldi," and the return to rock of "L'assenza," the most poetic track, which gains a real extra gear thanks to Gianni Ladisa's excellent sax performance.

Placed at the close, almost as if detached from the rest of the album, is "Ninna nanna per Ludovica," dedicated to Morreale's daughter, a childlike litany that reveals a sensitivity capable of enriching the whole record.

After a period of silence, Morreale returns with Art Brut, released digitally in 2023 and then pressed on CD in 2025, a new LP built on typically progressive sounds with the psychedelic influences that have marked his entire career. Once again he's joined by a tight-knit crew, partly the same as on his debut: Alessandro Calzavara (Humpty Dumpty, vocals on "Il treno"), Michele De Luisi (violin on "Welcome To My Mind"), Elena Lippe (vocals on "Ópion") and Ago Tambone (bass and guitar). Morreale's most commendable choice here is to once again attempt the ambitious path of the long-form suite, a hallmark of classic progressive rock not always within reach of prog bands in recent years.

Just as the twenty-two minutes of "Super Wonderboy Returns (A New Fantastic Adventure)" had shown remarkable courage and daring on the debut, here, in the almost equally long title track (21 minutes), Morreale puts all his craft on display in a huge melting pot of countless influences and references. From an opening that's a classic synthesis of progressive synths à la Goblin and psychedelic solos, to classical guitars that suddenly give way to aggressive riffs with keyboards that might even recall John Rudess. Suddenly a lull arrives, with a dialogue between piano and guitar, Spanish atmospheres into which a new riff suddenly creeps in with metal solos that fade into a very intense, bucolic finale, bringing back to the surface the most ecstatic kraut spirit of Neu!. It's Morreale's artistic peak, a vessel containing all the music the Apulian multi-instrumentalist has loved and poured into his work.

Among the other, shorter tracks, "Opion" stands out, a brief nine-minute progressive suite in its own right, while the unexpected instrumental "Welcome To My Mind" arrives too, eight minutes of piano, guitar and violin caught between progressive rock and new-age influences. Morreale's voice finally resurfaces on "Vita," a track that, together with "Il treno" (performed by Gianluca Ficca), attempts a singer-songwriter interlude while keeping its prog sensibility intact.

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