Review Summary: A nice second effort from the band. But it needs a more careful approach.
“Caution Radiation Area” is the second studio album of Area that was released in 1974. The line up on the album is Demetrio Stratos, Giampaolo Tofani, Patrizio Fariselli, Areas Tavolazzi and Giulio Capiozzo.
Area began their musical adventure at the end of 1972 bringing together musicians from many different backgrounds like pop, free jazz, electronic and contemporary experimentation, with the common desire to overcome the individual artistic experiences to reach the concept of the “total music”. One of the band’s goals was to tie a purely experimental sound to the Italian and Mediterranean sounds. Area is also characterized by the radical nature of the content and the musical language adopted. Picking arrays of different music, from jazz to prog through to the avant-garde, Area has proven to be the most courageous and original band in the Italian prog rock scene. But, to leave its mark was also and above all the incredible voice of their singer Stratos, a man with a unique vocal style, often with a slight yodeling effect.
This is the first album that contains the more stable and better known line up of the group. On their debut and previous studio album “Arbeit Macht Frei”, the bassist of the band was Patrick Djivas, who left the band after the release of the album to be a member of Premiata Forneria Marconi. On the other hand, that musical work was the only album with the participation of the saxophonist Eddie Busnello, which wouldn’t be replaced by any other musician on their new works.
“Caution Radiation Area” is a worthy successor of their previous album. Still, the total playing time of around 32 minutes seems alarmingly short, even in the age of vinyl. But, if you don’t let the sparse season deter you and don’t shy away from avant-garde sounds, you can expect an impressive mix of powerful jazz rock with beautiful brass sections, free electronic sound collages and the inimitable vocal acrobatics of Stratos. However, I think that “Caution Radiation Area” offers a less powerful musical statement than “Arbeit Macht Frei”. Like its predecessor, “Caution Radiation Area” is very strongly influenced by the electric instruments. Nevertheless, it seems far less jazz rock than “Arbeit Macht Frei”. Instead, there is more time for the sound experiments. The vocal gimmicks, which were to become so important for Stratos’ further artistic career, are particularly important, among other things, in combination with string sounds.
“Caution Radiation Area” has five tracks. “Cometa Rossa” is a typical track of Area built around ethnic and traditional music. Here we are presented to the influences of Arabic music. It’s close to some songs presented on their debut, especially its first song “Luglio, Agosto, Settembre (Nero)”. It’s a perfect introduction that shows their type of music and the unique vocal style of Stratos. “ZYG (Crescita Zero)” begins with experimental music, a characteristic of the rest of the album. It begins with some distorted industrial noises and electronic experimentation. It shows a more rocking and psychedelic side of Area. This is basically a free jazz/fusion track with great moments and individual performances that gives the album a wonderful moment. “Brujo” is a wild track opened in a chaotic way and performed with improvisation. It’s another free jazz/fusion track with great electric piano, bass, percussions and guitar works. It ends with Stratos’ vocal experimentations accompanied by keyboard noises. It has great improvisations by all the band’s members. “MIRage? Mirage!” is a surprising track. It has a mix of contemporary classical music and free and avant-garde jazz/fusion music. This is a track with a very dark and dissonant atmosphere with some interesting and improvised moments. This is only recommended to hard fans of the band. It represents one of the scariest moments ever created by them. “Lobotomia” is its most experimental track. It’s an amalgam of distorted electronic sounds and noises. This is a piece that intends to provoke the usual listener, something like lobotomizing the listener itself. It really reminds me of the new contemporary classical music. It closes this strange, savage and almost experimental album.
Conclusion: “Caution Radiation Area” is a different work from “Arbeit Macht Frei”. “Arbeit Macht Frei” represents the highlighted Area’s earlier sound, less experimental featuring folk melodies, Canterbury Scene sound, acid psychedelic style and avant-garde experimental jazz music, all together filtered and mixed through a special and particular Italian sensibility and taste. “Caution Radiation Area” is much more experimental with plenty of electronic effects. It’s darker and intended to provoke and disturb the ears of the listener. We get more disturbed when we remember some nuclear accidents that have occurred since 1974, the year that we were all provoked by the terrible warning on the front cover of this album. This is great work. It’s recommended for people who like free avant-garde jazz fusion music. If you aren’t acquainted with the band’s music, it’s better to start with “Arbeit Macht Frei” or “Crac!” which are more accessible. “Caution Radiation Area” is more “radioactive” and needs an extreme caution approach, especially by the newbies.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
