Acqua Fragile

Often compared to Genesis and Gentle Giant, the Italian progressive band Acqua Fragile featured lush harmonies similar to those of Crosby, Stills & Nash while lead singer Bernardo Lanzetti was often called the Italian Peter Gabriel. 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 Genesis and Gentle Giant with alternately folksy and hard rocking material. Prominently featuring Lanzetti'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 Lanzetti would later join PFM. ~ Geoff Orens, Rovi