Mass Media Stars

Last updated
Mass Media Stars
Mass Media Stars 1974 album cover.jpg
Studio album by
Released1974
VenueMilan
Genre Progressive rock
Length37:43
LanguageEnglish
Label Dischi
Producer Claudio Fabi and PFM
Acqua Fragile chronology
Acqua Fragile
(1973)
Mass Media Stars
(1974)
A New Chant
(2017)

Mass Media Stars is the second album by the Italian progressive rock band Acqua Fragile. The album was released by Dischi in 1974. [1] The album is sung entirely in English, as was the band's first album Acqua Fragile , but it also received a release in the United States which was unusual for an album by an Italian progressive group. [2]

Contents

Reception

Dag Erik Asbjørnsen in Scented gardens of the mind compared Acqua Fragile's sound to Genesis, Yes and Crosby, Stills & Nash, combining Lanzetti's nasal voice with "majestic guitar licks" and three-part vocal harmonies. [1]

Augusto Croce in Italian prog commented that the album was similar to their first, but with slightly better production. [2] Jerry Lucky in The progressive rock files said: "Sounds like early Genesis. Two LPs [Acqua Fragile and Mass Media Stars] produced by PFM and it shows in their sound." [3]

Personnel

Musicians

Others

Track listing

All tracks are written by B. Lanzetti (lyrics) and P. Canavera (music)

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Cosmic Mind Affair"7:19
2."Bar Gazing"5:06
3."Mass-Media Stars"6:53
Side two
No.TitleLength
4."Opening Act"5:40
5."Professor"6:49
6."Coffee Song"5:56

Release history

Discogs [4] lists 23 versions of Mass Media Stars including two unofficial (bootleg) versions. Versions have been released on LP, CD, cassette and 8-track cartridge from 1974 to 2021, starting with the original LP (SMRL 6150) and cassette (RIK 76150) versions released by Dischi in 1974.

Plagiarism

In 2018 Bernardo Lanzetti and Acqua Fragile accused the rapper Busta Rhymes of plagiarism because in "Genesis", the song that gives the title to his 2001 album, he used a sampling of "Cosmic Mind Affair", taken from Mass Media Stars, without declaring it and indeed attributing it to himself. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 Asbjørnsen, Dag Erik (2000). Scented gardens of the mind: a guide to the golden era of progressive rock (1968-1980) in more than 20 European countries. Borderline Productions. p. 9. ISBN   978-1-89985-512-4.
  2. 1 2 Augusto, Croce (2008). Italian prog: the comprehensive guide to Italian progressive music 1967/1979. AMS/BTF. pp. 18–19.
  3. Lucky, Jerry (2000). The progressive rock files. Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 167. ISBN   978-1-89652-270-8.
  4. "Acqua Fragile – Mass-Media Stars". Zink Media LLC . Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  5. Moretti, Carlo (9 November 2018). "Busta Rhymes, "Genesis" e l'accusa di plagio dagli italiani Acqua Fragile" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 10 April 2024.