Post Description

Studio Album, released in 1976, Italy.

Rock Progressivo Italiano.

Pangea was really just a name given to the solo project of Mauro Paoluzzi, a producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He produced, among others, the two albums by the jazz-rock outfit Madrugada. Their bassist Billi Zanelli and keyboardist Gianfranco Pinto returned the favor here by joining this "band" called Pangea. They are joined by Paoluzzi's wife Luciana on vocals and Claudio Pascoli on saxophone. Released (or nearly so, as noted) in 1976 "Invasori" is one strange fish. The album is a sound painting, an avant-garde work covering a variety of styles. There is no other output from the group.

This was one of those legends of Italian prog so rare that some didn't believe it really existed. Apparently after the album was cut the label changed their mind and decided to stop some of their "progressive" projects in their tracks. So the original vinyl run was limited to a few boxes of promos with plain white covers and the legend grew. Now that BTF/AMS have reissued this on CD many Italian prog fans are getting their first chance to hear this eclectic title. Pangea was really just a name given to the solo project of Mauro Paoluzzi, a producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He produced, among others, the two albums by the jazz-rock outfit Madrugada. Their bassist Billi Zanelli and keyboardist Gianfranco Pinto returned the favor here by joining this "band" called Pangea. They are joined by Paoluzzi's wife Luciana on vocals and Claudio Pascoli on saxophone. Released (or nearly so, as noted) in 1976 "Invasori" is one strange fish. The album is a sound painting, an avant-garde work covering a variety of styles. It veers from just a bit of symphonic to pop to jazz-rock to ambient to space, with a curiosity and desire to try a bit of everything. It is precisely the goal of wide-open experimentation that makes "Invasori" so difficult to categorize and yet so thrilling to discover. 



Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Invasori
2. Monj
3. Miraggi
4. Corallo
5. Naufragio
6. Arcipelago
7. Bazaar
8. Xanadu
9. Piccolo re
10. Njama

Running time 48 mins

Line-up / Musicians

Mauro Paoluzzi (composition, guitar, drums, vocals)
Luciana Paoluzzi (vocals)
Gianfranco Pinto (keyboards, vocals)
Alessandro "Billy" Zanelli (bass, vocals)
Claudio Pascoli (sax, flute)