Biglietto per l'Inferno

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A late picture of Biglietto per l'inferno. Courtesy of www.bigliettoperlinferno.com

Biglietto per l'Inferno is an Italian progressive rock band whose album Biglietto per l'inferno, in spite of the limited success it scored in the 1970s, is today considered a cornerstone of the genre.

1 History
2 Trivia
3 Lineup
4 Discography
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

Biglietto per l'inferno's members were from Lecco, in Lombardy, coming from the bands Mako Sharks and Gee. In 1972 they began playing live concerts. In 1974 the band released their eponymous LP, a mixture of hard rock and progressive sounds. The music mainly consists of Marco Mainetti's guitar and Giuseppe Cossa's keyboards. Claudio Canali was the lead singer, but also played flute. Lyrics by Canali were about a murder: despite the band's name, meaning "Ticket to Hell", the lyrics have no references to hell or demonic themes - (except the quote "What do you say, brother - you have murdered? (...) I cannot save you from eternal fire, you only have a ticket to hell"). They deal instead with social and psychological themes.

The second album Il tempo della semina ("The Seed-time") was recorded in 1974-1975 (production by Eugenio Finardi), but was not issued until 1992. Biglietto per l'Inferno split up in 1975. Some of its members continued careers in music: Giuseppe Banfi recorded four electronic music albums in 1977-1988 under the name Baffo Banfi, while Fausto Bianchini issued several pop music singles. Mauro Gnecchi joined a jazz band and worked for Racconti della tenda rossa by Franco Mussida. Mainetti earned a Ph.D. in physics and Canali retired to live as a monk in a monastery located in the mountains near Lucca, Tuscany.

A 30th anniversary box set was released in 2004 containing remastered versions of both official albums, a third CD with a live recording from 1974 in Lugano, and a DVD including various material.

[edit] Trivia

Ticket for a recent celebrative concert

After Trident, Biglietto per l'inferno's label, went bankrupt, the original tapes of Il tempo della semina went lost. The current edition of the album is based on a found music tape.
The vocalist Claudio Canali is today a monk.