''Felona e Sorona'' is an album by the Italian

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Le Orme Le Orme (Italian: "The Footprints") is an Italian progressive rock band formed in 1966 in Marghera, a ''frazione'' of Venice. The band was one of the major groups of the Italian progressive rock scene in the 1970s. They are one of few Italian r ...

. It was released in 1973. Named one of the "finest examples of Italian progressive rock", it is a concept album pivoting on the story of two planets which revolve one around the other, without ever coming in contact. While Felona is shiny and flourishing, Sorona is dark and home to plagues and catastrophes; however, in the second part of the suite, the fate of the two planets is inverted. Apart from two acoustic interludes, the music is mainly keyboard- and synth-driven, producing gloomy and spacey effects, especially in the opening "Sospesi nell'incredibile" and in the instrumental ending piece, "Ritorno al nulla" ("Return to Naught"). A version with English lyrics written by

Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...

Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commerc ...

was issued in the U.K. by

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

in 1974. The English title is ''Felona and Sorona''. The album was re-recorded in 2016.

Reception

Paul Stump, in his ''History of Progressive Rock'', said ''Felona e Sorona'' is "a run-of-the-mill

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

melodrama about warring planets, and didn't deserve eterHammill's (dashed-off) input."

Track listing

All tracks performed by

. The titles of the English version are shown between parentheses. ;Side 1 # "Sospesi nell'incredibile" ("In between") – 8:43 # "Felona" – 1:58 # "La solitudine di chi protegge il mondo" ("The loneliness of those who protect the world") – 1:57 # "L'equilibrio" ("The Balance") – 3:47 ;Side 2 #

"Sorona" – 2:28 # "Attesa inerte" – 3:25 # "Ritratto di un mattino" ("Portrait of a morning") – 3:29 # "All'infuori del tempo" – 4:08 # "Ritorno al nulla" ("Return to Naught") – 3:34

Personnel

Tony Pagliuca Le Orme (Italian: "The Footprints") is an Italian progressive rock band formed in 1966 in Marghera, a ''frazione'' of Venice. The band was one of the major groups of the Italian progressive rock scene in the 1970s. They are one of few Italian r ...

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keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Aldo Tagliapietra Aldo Tagliapietra (born February 20, 1945) is an Italian singer, songwriter and musician best known for his work with the progressive rock band Le Orme. Biography Aldo Tagliapietra was born in Murano on February 20, 1945. The son of a master ...

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voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s * Michi Dei Rossi –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

References

{{Authority control 1973 albums Charisma Records albums Le Orme albums