If you are interested in some of the best composers and movie scores, Italy might be the place to look at. There are countless great composers from Italy with an immense, legendary output. Ennio Morricone, Piero Umiliani, Piero Piccioni, Bruno Nicolai, just to name a few. But they also were great innovators: Giorgio Moroder for example, who produced the soundtrack for the 80s classic Scarface, is known as one of the originators of electronic dance music via his early work with synthesizers. You can find a great example of that in the song I Feel Love (1977) that he produced for Donna Summer, which featured an entirely electronic instrumental.

But that’s not all. Italy is also one of the best countries for rare progressive rock gems. In the early 1970s, when countries around Europe were experimenting with the new progressive rock sound, Italy’s progressive rock scene was perhaps the most engaged. Italy probably had more output of high quality progressive rock than anywhere else in the world at the time, creating a wide catalogue of Italian gems. Even mainstream Italian artists created progressive rock influenced albums that deviated from their other work. Outside of Italy, mich of the great Italian progressive rock output is often overlooked, that’s why you can learn more about them in the newsletter.