Artist
CITTA' FRONTALE
Lino Vairetti (vocals, guitar, mellotron, mouth harp)
Gianni Guarracino (guitar, synth, vocals)
Enzo Avitabile (sax, flute, vocals)
Paolo Raffone (keyboards)
Rino Zurzolo (bass)
Massimo Guarino (drums, percussion, vibes, vocals)
Still another band from Naples, and also connected to Osanna, formed by Lino Vairetti and Massimo Guarino when that band split in 1974. But Cittą Frontale were in fact two different bands, the first one being active in 1970 before Osanna were formed with four of that later band members and Gianni Leone, that left to join Balletto di Bronzo.
The new Cittą Frontale retained some of the main elements that strongly characterized Osanna's sound, like the strong use of sax and flute and the mix of prog and mediterranean folk sounds, but with a more melodic and somehow commercial approach. Compared to Osanna's albums, El Tor sounds much more lightweight.
Having a nice cover design by drummer Massimo Guarino (he also produced the nice cover painting on Osanna fourth album) the LP starts with the long Alba di una cittą /Solo uniti, that could easily find its place in Osanna's Landscape of life, but the rest is not particularly original, with even some Zappa or jazz-rock influences. All in all a positive album, but Osanna were a different thing.
| LP | |||
| El Tor | Fonit (LPX 45) | 1975 | single textured cover - lyric inner |
| Fonit (LPP 435) | 1991 | as above with single standard cover and no inner | |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic (VMLP 135) | 2008 | reissue with single cover and inner - later (2021) reissued on red vinyl | |
CD |
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| El Tor | Fonit Cetra (CDM 2028) | 1989 | reissue of 1975 album |
| Warner/Fonit (27120-2) | 1999 | as above | |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic (VM135CD) | 2010 | new reissue with mini-LP gatefold cover | |
Original issue on Fonit had
a delicate black/gold cover that was textured and for this reason is difficult
to find in perfect condition. An inner cover with full lyrics and pictures was
included.
Most copies around have the newly introduced (around 1975)
orange label, but sometimes black/silver label issues appear, these seem to be
the original ones.
Early 90's Fonit/Vinyl Magic light blue label reissue has a smooth cover and no inner. The BTF/Vinyl Magic vinyl reissue that first came out in 2008 faithfully reproduced the original with its inner bag.
A Japanese vinyl issue (King K25P472) was also released with
the same textured single cover as the original. No
counterfeit ever made.
A Japanese CD also exists, on Strange Days (1002), with mini-LP cover.
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El Tor - LP |
El Tor - back cover |
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El Tor - Detail of the textured cover |
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| LP label - black and orange variations | |
Many thanks to Manuel da Achada for scan and information of the black label issue.
