La Sorgente ‎– Trasparente (1979, LP, Italy)

Tracklist:
A1 Prologo 3:29
A2 Tutta La Mia Vita 4:15
A3 Liberaci Dalla Notte 2:45
A4 Trasparente 5:55
A5 La Vecchia Terra 5:27
B1 Quella Sera D'Inverno 3:58
B2 Jesus, Oh Jesus 4:05
B3 Salmo 131 3:53
B4 Salmo 150 3:56
B5 Salmo 142 5:53

Musicians:
Bass – Walter Destri
Flute, Piccolo Flute [Ottavino], Backing Vocals – Stefano Martinelli
Percussion – Franco Rossetti
Violin, Viola, Backing Vocals – Daniele Giuliani
Vocals, Piano, Keyboards – Pino Carella
Vocals, Twelve-String Guitar, Classical Guitar – Bruno Raia

One of the effects of reform within the Catholic Church in Italy during the 1960s was the emergence of the ''Messa beat'' (literally translated as ''Mass beat''), a branch of Christian music with particular appeal to young people due to its combination of rock and religion. Its spread during the 1970s resulted in a flood of albums inspired by Gospel texts with accompaniment of traditional and electric instruments. The discs were produced by religious labels and sold through specialist religious bookshops but were issued in such limited numbers that they went virtually unnoticed and consequently are nowadays extremely rare. In the vanguard of Christian progressive bands were MESSAGGIO 73, GENFUOCO, and QUEL GIORNO DI UVE ROSSE. However with ''Trasparente'', LA SORGENTE produced what is arguably the finest of all the religious albums, progressive or otherwise. There is some dubiety regarding the album's year of release but most sources have it as 1981.

In spite of the harsh economic recession and the socio-political turmoil of The Years of Lead, Italian progressive releases of the late 1970s and early 1980s tended to be of the melodic sort and ''Trasparente'' epitomises this with its delicate acoustic-based fusion of chamber-pop, Mediterranean folk and soft RPI. The cover artwork of the dove of peace set against a sky-blue background gives a clue to the type of music therein, and every song speaks of pious sentiment with lyrics such as: ''I am here, my voice will reach Your ear, and You will hear my love for You now.'' LA SORGENTE fully explore the creative possibilities opened by the meeting of rock music with the realm of faith; the outcome is an intimate work full of restrained yet richly sensuous melodies that reflect the pastoral setting of the lyrics. These are complemented by refined instrumental passages where RPI features are obvious, with the most common artifice being the classic combination of flute, violin and piano. Synthesizer and organ occasionally mingle with 12-string guitar, which is the album's other main unifying characteristic.

''Trasparente'' is considered extremely rare and Paolo Barotto, in his reference book of Italian prog and psych ''Il Ritorno del Pop Italiano'', gives it a rarity rating of ''almost impossible to find.'' At the moment the chance of a re-release seems remote despite Barotto also proclaiming ''Trasparente'' as ''the best of the religious albums'' and stating that ''once discovered it will become one of the most sought after collectables.'' As such, LA SORGENTE are probably destined for legendary cult status although they wouldn't be out of place alongside CELESTE in the forefront of soft RPI bands. (seventhsojourn)