Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Ezra Winston- The Myth Of The Chrysavides,LP,1988,Italy


Ezra Winston was one of the first Italian progressive rock groups of the modern era, and still can be considered one of the most professional and superb. Although the band is still considered active today, they have only released two full albums in their lifetime, and only one has found its way to CD format. The band is led by keyboards/bassist/vocalist Mauro Di Donato and their line up has changed over the years since they formed in 1979. The Myth Of The Chrysavides, released originally in the late 80's and quite rare, is an excellent debut of neo-symphonic rock, with two long tracks flanked by a couple shorter ones. Their languid and rich symphonic style is heavily atmospheric with great dynamics and a large sense of space. The musicians are all assured (the keys, soaring guitar, and dextrous drums are all well-played), although the accented English vocals leave much to be desired. Ezra Winston seem to have a lot of influences - 70's Italian prog like PFM, BMS, RDM; early British stylings like early Genesis, Cressida or Spring; and a faint nod to the Genesis/VDGG/Marillion axis. Overall, this is actually one of the best debuts of modern Italian progressive rock.
Reviewed by Mike McLatchey 19-March-2001 (as part of The New Italian Progressive Rock Scene (part 1), Exposι #3, p. 7, Edited for Gnosis 3/18/01)
get it here

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

it may help to know that the band's name is a reference from "Mort Cinder", a classic Argentinian comic by Breccia & Oesterheld. Ezra Winston is an antique dealer who befriends a mysterious character.

David Binder said...

Hi,

Unfortunately the available files to download through this page are in mono, not in stereo, as many on the other sources of the net. Also the stereo files available from the bootleg CDR made by Tachika Records are too compressed and everything sounds unnatural.

So for the fan base would be a great idea try to do a new vinyl rip in stereo, without cleaning and distribute it trough eMule in ape or flac. Then a friend of mine, one of the best rippers in the world, could do the cleaning job.

Best regards