Italian Composer Maurizio Fabrizio in 4 (Azzurri, Movimenti, Primo, Personaggi)

It's worth looking at the second album cover with its gorgeous surreal painting of the dove being pulled by levers.

From discogs (this is with reference to his masterpiece, the second album Movimenti del Cielo)

Very few people know Maurizio Fabrizio, a character who has almost always acted in the shadows, in the service of the likes of Angelo Branduardi, Renato Zero, Patty Pravo and many more famous Italian music figures. A multifaceted composer and arranger, also an author of musicals and soundtracks, who took his first steps with project Le Particelle and the duo Maurizio & Fabrizio, before devoting himself to the aforementioned musicians during almost the entire '70s decade.

In 1978 he released his second solo album, "Movimenti nel cielo", an entirely instrumental LP where symphonic scores blend with rock music, especially with the longer tracks, which are separated by shorter intervals fulfilled with strings and keyboards. There are also acoustic sections ("Episodio Lunare"), funk-ish moments ("Sputnik Suite") and atmospheres recalling the early Alan Parsons Project in the two pieces of the same name ("Danza delle stelle") located in the opening and closing parts of the album.

This is an LP released out of time compared to the golden years of progressive rock, but it nevertheless manages to retrieve its aura, and is therefore worthy of attention by all fans of the genre.

Listening to the other 3 albums he was intimately involved in it seems he eschewed the progressive spirit for the most part, saving it all for this one magically wonderful progressive album that as mentioned above combines everything we love in one miraculous whole.  Most similar maybe to Claudio Dentes' Panterei album, assuming you know that one.

On the track called Sputnik Suite I think just everything I love turn up including the electric guitar riffing funk and orchestral elements:

Il Sole is equally a perfect composition:

The Neglected Hudson Brothers

 

If you know these guys at all it would be thanks to their 'megahit' So you are a Star, seemingly self-referencing in a totally non-ironic way, typically enough for the seventies, in fact you could even say it's a little charmingly boastful. Discography here, and that song came out in 1974.  There are those who find that song annoyingly too Beatles-like, which is for sure a strike against them, but then again who wasn't in that period in time. Hopefully this youtube link works for that song.  Reading into their story which you can do on wikipedia in an exhaustive article, it's clear they were 'teenybopper' type artists, but I figured I should at least do the honour of listening to all their songs to see if there were more gems like their big hit in there, and sure enough, in their first album there were quite a few. Thereafter though it really tails off quickly as they seem to go through one phase after another like a pinball machine, from Beatles-influence, well earlier it seems they were influenced by America (the band), then soul and then disco of course. Each style they're able to imitate perfectly which adds to the cloyingness of course. I hate to get negative because you never know when an artist might read a review like this but for example in the second album they imitate John Lennon in solo career (e.g. Plastic Ono Band) and elsewhere Beatles circa 1965 like Drive my Car style and that really is annoying, since this is almost a decade later.

Back to that first album though, regarding which wiki has little to say:

On Decca Records they changed their name to Everyday Hudson in early 1970, releasing "Love Is the Word" (#32634). For the release in spring 1971 of "Love Nobody" on Lionel Records (L-3211), their name was shortened to Hudson. This name was also used in 1972 after switching to the newly re-activated Playboy Records, with the release of "Leavin' It's Over" (originally "Leave and It's Over", the song was mislabeled by Playboy, and it has never been corrected) (P-50001), Billboard Bubbling Under Chart #110. The group's self-titled debut album was released in 1972.[5]

Someday

Little Old Man

The other thing I found highly amusing about these guys is the way their album covers are like a photo-summary of the chapters of the seventies from start to finish as you can tell from their hairstyles, a phenomenon we've seen so many times before here on these pages with the long hippie hair giving way to short cuts, even mustaches, passing through that three-piece suit Bonnie and Clyde / Great Gatsby trend:

Check out those hippies...

Is that a kkk guy in there??? wow

They seem to have predicted the Saturday Night Fever craze.

Anybody remember 'The Sting' movie?

Oh, Mr. Kotter! Mr. Kotter!

 Welcome back, Horschach, right?

Wow it seemed like the good times would never end... but they did, right in 1980.

wait, who is the 4th guy?

Coyote 1972, lossless

Similar to Truck posted earlier, or the great Dr. Music in its earlier vocal period, wonderful songwriting plus some progressive touches, or the other great point of reference for me is the US Sand band, which I love so so much. Info here, samples:

Fly:

Musicians:

Neuschwanstein's recent Fine Art album

I'm sorry, but I hate to say it's just a dreadful cover...

I've never liked this band famous for the 1978 Battlement LP but to my complete shock they came up with a third album in recent years that surpasses the previous material, a rarity indeed, perhaps the first time I've experienced something like this.

Admittedly, it's a little uneven, but there are parts that are really impressive, for example, Per Omen Vitam:

As a classical composition alone I think that piece is just brilliant... should be played in symphony halls all over the world... I love how it changes halfway through and proceeds to become very symphonically dramatic or OST by the end.  How can humans write music so brilliant??

There's a mix of real progressive rock (think ELP, etc.), the symphonic style they did earlier, as well as the above sampled chamber music, it's a mixed bag, but for sure 100 percent bona fide progressive... long live prog!

Germany's Rock Sensation Vol. 1, Various Artists

 

Three wonderful tracks make this otherwise relatively pedestrian compilation of local artists worth hearing.  They are all by a band called Fate led by composer Matthias Kaul, consider the classic RIO sound of Track b1, called Justice/Musik zur Arbeit:

It reminds me so much of those other RIOs I've posted before, like Random's Nuthin Tricky or Care of the Cow.  Never mind those endless ReR collections.  I wish there was more music like this out there!