Anonima Sound Ltd - 1972 - The Red Tape Machine

Anonima Sound Ltd 
1972
The Red Tape Machine

01. The Red Tape Machine (5:24)
02. The Last Debutante (5:12)
03. Window On The City (4:10)
04. Metro Song (4:57)
05. Dog's Life (4:13)
06. Triangle (7:00)
07. Freedom (3:19)
08. The Roofer (4:34)

Total time 38:53

- Piero Cecchini / bass, vocals
- Lamberto Clementi / guitar
- Peter Dobson / guitar
- Velio Galazzi / drums
- Richard Ingersoll / vocals, flute
- Massimo Meloni / guitar, vocals
- Claudine Reiner / vocals, percussion

Formed in 1964 in the Italian city of Urbino, ANONIMA SOUND were a beat-pop trio that recorded four singles, including the hit single "Fuori piove", released in 1967. In 1970, lead vocalist and guitarist Ivan Graziani left to pursue a career as a solo artist, which would see him become one of the most popular Italian singer-songwriters of the Eighties.
At this point, after having recruited new members, the band changed its name in ANONIMA SOUND LTD. After the release of the single "Io prendo amore" in 1971, they became a seven-piece that included one English and two American musicians, and completely changed their musical orientation. In 1972 they released an album, "Red Tape Machine", entirely sung in English and influenced by British psychedelia and progressive rock. It's an interesting effort, featuring obvious JETHRO TULL influences: the singer tries in places to imitate Ian Anderson, and one of the main instruments used by the band is the flute. However, ANONIMA SOUND LTD. were also one of the most distinctive-sounding bands on the Italian prog scene of the early Seventies.

This album contains 8 songs around and a total time of 40 minutes, there is just one song above 7 minutes, the other ones goes from 4 to 5 minutes average. It starts with the title track Red Tape Machine, since the first vocals you will find that this is not the typical Italian band, despite it features some nice flute making that sligh folkish tone, this is mostly a psych song with nice guitar riffs. The Last Debutante is a catchy song, well actually i may say a poppish song which could have been a single hit in the UK charts of the 70s, i insist, no Italian sound over here. Window on the City for some reason reminds me a bit to Jethro Tull, this is an acoustic guitar driven song with some acid organs and nice bass lines and some flute here and there. Metro`s Song, again an acoustic guitar driven song, this time with a bluesy sound at the beginning. Then it turns faster just in order to return to the same sound as in the beginning a plain song in my opinion. Dog`s Life follows the same bluesy line again reminding me to some Tull passages, nice guitar riffs. Triangle is the longest song of the album and i think its interesting in a way, i mean it caught my attention so there has to be something there, the music actually its pretty similar to the English bands of the late 60s early 70s, so this is nothing original, but interesting anyway. Freedom actually its like the 2nd part of Triangle, the guitar sound is really similar, so are the vocals, but it suddenly becomes into a song with a happier feeling. The Roofer at last the last song of an album which lacks of originality and progressiveness, this song is maybe the heavier of them, psychedelic oriented music.