Some of the best albums ever made never get heard. With Dust Bin Discoveries, we highlight some of the lost treasures – from obscure prog-rock masterpieces to hidden folk relics – withering away in record store bargain sections and antique store attics.
Nova – Wings of Love
Year: 1977
Label: Arista
Producer: Narada Michael Walden
RIYL: Weather Report, Brand X, Return to Forever, Santana
Price: $3.00
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I rolled the dice on this forgotten prog-fusion gem at my favorite Knoxville, TN vinyl spot – the same modestly sized booth (located in a sweltering collectibles mall) where I’ve scored many an obscure favorite over the past few years. I’d never heard of Nova, the Italian-fronted quintet, but I was intrigued by Wings of Love‘s corny cosmos cover, its sprawling instrumentation credits (a massive keyboard arsenal always wins me over), and the rear jacket’s awkwardly mismatched profile photos (the token funk dude, the mustachioed rocker, the jump-suit-wearing frontman), which suggest some bizarre pressing plant mistake.
Turns out Wings of Love was worth the gamble. The 1977 LP, Nova’s third, is both high and low-brow, equal parts meat and cheese – crammed with elegant woodwind filigrees, Phil Collins-styled percussive bombast, classical and Latin flavors, dorky easy-listening vocal hooks, and enough period-piece slap-bass to make Rick James blush.
Opener “You Are Light” suggests a breezier Weather Report or Mahavishnu, anchored by Renato Rosset’s smooth Hammond organ and Elio D’Anna’s spacey sax and flute. That’s the LP’s fall-back groove, but Wings of Love is surprisingly diverse: from the classical guitar-piano showcase “Beauty Dream-Beauty Flame” (with haunting vocals from the Nectar Smile Choir) to the ethereal space-jazz explosions of “Blue Lake” (featuring the phonetically-sung chirp of guitarist Corrado Rustici). The only snooze is instrumental closer “Last Silence,” a textural doodle that never fully blooms.
For prog-rock obsessives, Nova’s line-up might ring a few bells. D’Anna was previously a member of the revered Osanna, and Rustici served a stint in Cervello. Drummer Ric Parnell was best known for his work in Atomic Rooster (and for playing Mick Shrimpton, the drummer from Spinal Tap who spontaneously combusts).
Nova released four LPs in total, all across a three-year span – and every one of them is worth exploring. But they soared highest on Wings of Love.
