Acqua Fragile

Often compared to <a href="spotify:artist:3CkvROUTQ6nRi9yQOcsB50">Genesis</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1hrQ50kU6hMQBVLatqUqnO">Gentle Giant</a>, the Italian progressive band Acqua Fragile featured lush harmonies similar to those of <a href="spotify:artist:2pdvghEHZJtgSXZ7cvNLou">Crosby, Stills & Nash</a> while lead singer <a href="spotify:artist:7mW5Pq1PzAjtY0wdvnjSQU">Bernardo Lanzetti</a> was often called the Italian <a href="spotify:artist:7C4sUpWGlTy7IANjruj02I">Peter Gabriel</a>. Formed in 1971, Acqua Fragile spent two years gigging before Italian progressive giants PFM discovered them and they were signed to a record contract. Their first album, the eponymous Acqua Fragile (1973), co-produced by PFM, showed the band's debt to Trespass-era <a href="spotify:artist:3CkvROUTQ6nRi9yQOcsB50">Genesis</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1hrQ50kU6hMQBVLatqUqnO">Gentle Giant</a> with alternately folksy and hard rocking material. Prominently featuring <a href="spotify:artist:2bWsdXapebtHbglvfHHEYo">Lanzetti</a>'s piercing vocals, the group's music focused more on shorter material than many progressive artists of the time. Mass Media Stars (1974), once again co-produced by PFM, saw the band abandoning their folksier elements for a more keyboard-oriented sound. Acqua Fragile disbanded in 1975 and <a href="spotify:artist:2bWsdXapebtHbglvfHHEYo">Lanzetti</a> would later join PFM. ~ Geoff Orens, Rovi