Artist
LEONERO
Singer and keyboard player Gianni Leone tried a solo
career with the new name of LeoNero after the demise of his band Il
Balletto di Bronzo, and the result was a very good album, Vero,
released by Harvest in 1977 and recorded a year before in New York.
The album is totally played and sung by Leone himself, and despite some commercial
pop songs, it has some good moments reminding of his old band's sound, like in La discesa nel cervello,
Il castello and the intense closing track Una gabbia per me. Obviously the sound is mainly keyboard based, but Leone played
drums, minimoog bass lines and even guitar on some
tracks.
An album track, Sono stanco anch'io appeared on the B-side of a
single from 1978, Fremo.
Second album in 1980, Monitor, was recorded in California and in a more commercial style: the first side, with Leone backed by the American four-piece Optical Band, had a new-wave inspired sound similar to such bands as early XTC or Devo. Second side is Gianni alone, with a rhythm machine and a more synthetic and less rock-infuenced sound.
Gianni Leone left the musical scene in the 80's, coming back with a revised version of Il Balletto di Bronzo and a new CD in late 90's.
| LP | |||
| Vero | Harvest (3C064-18272) | 1977 | single cover with lyric inner |
| AMS/BTF (AMS LP22) | 2010 | reissue of the 1977 LP | |
| Monitor | EMI/CBO (CBL 1004) | 1980 | single cover with lyric inner |
CD |
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| Vero | Mellow/EMI (MMP 212 - 72434 79464 24) | 1994 | reissue of 1977 album |
| Vinyl Magic (VM 077) | 2001 | as above | |
VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATION ALBUMS |
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| Progressivamente
1973-2003 (with Frammenti di Ys and Il castello) |
Progressivamente (GMP 002) | 2004 | CD compilation of unreleased recordings, also includes Osanna, Alberomotore, Metamorfosi, Semiramis and others |
SINGLES (with picture sleeve) |
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| Fremo Sono stanco anch'io |
EMI (3C006-18364) | 1978 | side B taken from Vero |
| Strada Piangi con me |
EMI/CBO (CBN 102) | 1980 | both tracks from Monitor |
| Indossa il mio colore Stanchiamoci insieme |
EMI/CBO (CBN 109) | 1982 | both unreleased tracks |
PROMOTIONAL AND JUKEBOX SINGLES (with blank sleeve) |
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| Strada | EMI (3C040-79141) | 1980 | promo 12" EP with various EMI artists - white label and cover |
A very rare and collectible album, Vero had a limited vinyl reissue in Japan, on Crime/Edison (NAS 1423/ERS28031) and only in 2010 in Italy on AMS.
Monitor is more common.
Both albums originally came with single covers and inners.
No counterfeits exist.
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Vero - LP |
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Monitor - LP |
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Fremo - 7" single |
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Strada - 7" single |
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Indossa il mio colore - 7" single |
Thanks to Maurizio Fulvi for the Fremo single scan.
