Band: Alberto Rigoni

CD Title: “Something Different”

Label: Lion Music - Independent Release

Release Date: 2008

There was a time when the release of a solo disc was usually done after a group had decided to split up, but these days it’s not unusual for members of a band to release solo recordings to allow for some personal creative venting. What’s always fascinating is hearing how far a solo disc strays from the member’s band music. I was alerted to the imminent release of Something Different by bass player Alberto Rigoni. Readers of this site will recognize Rigoni’s name from his previous bass work with Italian prog metal band Twinspirits. It’s not by chance that he’s titled his disc Something Different, because this is quite some distance from the heavy sound cultivated by Twinspirits and exposes a much more varied musical pallet.

First off it needs to be said this is very much a bass players disc. Each of the 10 compositions features Rigoni’s bass playing up-front. Not surprising since he’s written and arranged all the tracks here, although he was assisted on three of them by keyboardist Lorenzo Nizzolini. In addition he’s helped out musically by Enrico Buttol (drums), Marco Torchia (e-drums), Tommy Ermolli (guitars), Daniele Gottardo (guitars), Irene Ermolli (vocals #5) and Daniele Conte (vocals #7). Only guitarist Ermolli is from Rigoni’s band Twinspirits which will give some indication of just how different these compositions are. The songs are not overly long, many of them around three-minutes and the longest just under six-minutes. There are some delicate sound effect bridges joining pieces together, but this is really a collection of musical pieces built around using the bass guitar as the prime instrument. As such there are moments where the bass guitar slides like silk, other times where it burbles and yet other times where it rocks. Only one of the tracks “Roller Coaster” (4:28) approaches a prog metal style. The others tend to be moody, atmospheric and maybe a little romantic. Sometimes the music gets a little aggressive and sometimes it’s very playful as in “Desert Break” (2:34). The compositions display any number proggy motifs, building in complexity, shifting in structure and benefiting from some intricate arrangements. Alberto Rigoni has set about creating a series of moving-vibes here and in that regard his solo work is completely successful.

Something Different is just what it sets out to be; something that is totally different from his work in the band. The music here displays many more influences such as jazz and fusion in addition to the rock and pop you might expect to hear. I’m guessing fans of Twinspirits will want to have this disc in the collection as they follow that band, even though some of them might be surprised by its contents. But that’s a good thing and perhaps will expose those fans to a wider range of music. Off the top of my hear I’d say if you enjoy the work of artists such as Tony Levin, you’ll find much to enjoy here with Alberto Rignoi’s first solo release.