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Welcome to the alt-rock of Italian maestros!

Between the late ’60s and early ’80s, a variety of Italian composers, multi-instrumentalists and session musicians experimented with freakbeat, psychedelia, prog and other rock sub-genres, whether in recordings released under pseudonyms or in film music. They assimilated the influence of popular foreign acts of the time (especially from California and the UK) and reshaped it through their own lens, creating an eclectic and original sound that, unlike much of the political rock of the 1970s, still feels fresh today. 

Late-60s surf/beat meets distorted guitars in Mario Molino’s “Operazione Beat”, while Billy & Friends’ “Hua’ Hua’ Rock” (written by composer and guitarist Bruno Battisti D’Amario) is an Italian take on freakbreat.

Psych/prog and kraut can be found in “Amuck!” and “No Answer” by The Pawnshop (Alessandro Alessandroni and Giuliano Sorgini), “Flying” by Braen’s Machine (Alessandroni again, this time with Rino De Filippi), “Underground” by The Green Birds, as well as in Piero Umiliani’s Pink Floyd-inspired “Non Mollare”, whereas whereas Blue Phantom’s “Diodo” focuses on hard rock à la Deep Purple.

Finally, rock combines with funk and jazz elements in Silvano D’Auria’s “Strong Beat” and Roberto Pregadio’s “La Fuga”, with classical echoes in Bruno Nicolai’s “Giano”, and with folksy arpeggios in Guido & Maurizio De Angelis’ “The Life of a Policeman”, all of which were written for crime films.