Libra -

Libra was an Italian symphonic/jazz-rock/funk band that made the 1975 album Musica e Parole on Ricordi. The album appeared abroad as a self-titled release on Motown, which also carried their 1976 followup Winter Day’s Nightmare. Libra also made the soundtrack to the 1977 horror film Schock (Transfert-Suspence-Hypnos).

Members: Federico D’Andrea (vocals, guitar, 1973-76), Franco Ventura (guitar, 1973), Nicola Di Staso (guitar, vocals, 1973-76), Sandro Centofani (keyboards), David Walter (drums, percussion, 1973-75), Claudio Barbera (bass, 1973-?), Dino Cappa (bass, vocals, ?-1977), Walter Martino (drums, percussion, 1975-77), Maurizio Guarini (keyboards, ?-1977), Carlo Pennisi (guitar, ?-1977)

Background

Libra formed in Rome in 1973 from musicians active in the city’s post-Beat and psychedelic circuits. Guitarist–vocalist Federico D’Andrea and guitarist Franco Ventura arrived from Logan Dwight, a short-lived symphonic-rock act with one 1972 album that involved several future Libra members. Keyboardist Sandro Centofani worked with Buon Vecchio Charlie, an instrumental outfit that blended classically framed organ writing with amplified jazz-rock.

Guitarist–vocalist Nicola Di Staso came from Myosotis, a Roman group active on the same club circuit. Drummer David Walter played in assorted jazz-psych club bands. The first Libra incarnation coalesced for Jacopone, a stage musical with a rotating cast of Roman players. Ventura cleared out for bassist Claudio Barbera (also ex-Logan Dwight).

After the tour, Barbera exited and bassist Dino Cappa stabilized the quintet. They cut a demo at Sonic Studios in Rome that documented their revised sound: structured electric pieces anchored by keyboards and melodic dual-guitar writing, with occasional shifts toward extended instrumental sections.

Musica e Parole

Libra released their debut album, Musica e Parole, in January 1975 on Ricordi.

The album combines acoustic instrumentation, layered keyboard textures, and extended song forms shaped around lyrical refrains, electric interludes, and modal transitions. Elements of jazz-rock, soul, and space rock appear across six tracks, including one recorded in English and styled as a live jam.

Singer/guitarist Federico D’Andrea defines each track’s tonal shape and phrasing on electric, acoustic, and 12-string models. Nicola Di Staso shares vocals and plays pedal-driven lead guitar with delay and wah textures. Keyboardist Sandro Centofanti commands an arsenal of Hammond C3, Moog, clavinet, Rhodes, upright piano, and percussion, anchoring most sectional changes and transitions. Bassist Dino Cappa and drummer David Walter anchor the band’s front-loaded attack.

D’Andrea composed each track with select verses by Italian lyricist Daiano. “Beyond the Fence” retains its English lyrics across all editions.

“Nato Oggi” opens in two parts with 12-string acoustic motifs, alternating lead vocals, and electric sections that shift meter and texture. “Beyond the Fence” follows with clavinet, funk phrasing, and overdubbed audience sounds. Side two opens with “Musica e Parole,” a ballad that moves from upright piano to Rhodes vamp. “Pegno d’Amore” develops in linear form with layered keyboards and punctuated guitar. “Inquinamento” closes the album in multi-part sequence with ambient Mellotron, Moog accents, suspended phrasing, and slow ensemble builds.

A1. “Nato Oggi I: Il Tempo è un Buon Amico” [Born Today I: Time Is a Good Friend] (6:16) — twelve-string arpeggios with phased guitar and vocal refrains
A2. “Nato Oggi II: Forse è Furia” [Born Today II: Maybe It’s Fury] (9:54) — electric transitions with alternating grooves and sectional breakdowns
A3. “Beyond the Fence” (6:32) — clavinet-led funk jam with English lyric and audience overdubs

B1. “Musica e Parole” [Music and Words] (4:44) — piano-based ballad with Rhodes-led ending
B2. “Pegno d’Amore” [Pledge of Love] (8:02) — ensemble piece with sustained chord cycles and linear development
B3. “Inquinamento” [Pollution] (13:43) — instrumental suite with ambient textures and slow phase-shifted interplay

Sessions took place at Ricordi Studios in Milan. Claudio Fabi produced the album with Danny B. Besquet for Besquet & Huppert Productions. Gaetano Ria served as engineer. Publishing handled by Edizioni Besquet Songs. Pressing by Dischi Ricordi.

Motown issued an English-language version later that year under the title Libra.

The Libra sleeve design features a cosmic tableau illustrated by Peter Lloyd. Two humanoid figures—one metallic black, the other translucent white—stand in mirror-image posture beneath a glowing sphere from which a bright cascade flows downward between them. Behind them, a dark celestial orb is suspended in a planetary ring system, with radiant starlight and deep orange gradients filling the background. The symmetrical composition and chromatic glow reflect the album’s hybrid themes of polarity, duality, and transformation.

Lloyd’s sci-fi chrome imagery also graces 1975–77 covers for Kansas (Song for America), Ronnie Laws, Rod Stewart, and Starcastle (Fountains of Light).

Winter Day’s Nightmare

Libra released their second album, Winter Day’s Nightmare, in 1976 on Motown. It contains eight tracks recorded in the United States in late 1975 during the band’s short-lived American phase. No Italian version was issued.

Compared with the group’s Italian debut, Winter Day’s Nightmare features cleaner production, tighter compositions, and refined interplay built on rhythmic syncopation.

Federico D’Andrea and Nicola Di Staso maintain their guitar/vocal frontline, accentuated by bassist Dino Cappa and keyboardist Sandro Centofanti, who engulfs the sound with Hammond, clavinet, Moog, and electric piano. New drummer Walter Martino paces each track with clean, syncopated restraint.

The album opens with a two-part suite built on lyrical cycles and staggered repetition. “This Chain” appears twice, first as a song with alternating phrasing and again in brief reprise. “Full Winter Day’s Nightmare” shifts between slow electric passages and layered crescendos. “Lucy Squirrel” recounts a narrative over seven minutes of steady instrumental backing and chordal overlay. Side two opens with “Hey Carlito,” built on steady pulse and downbeat delivery. “It’s Not Tasteful to Fly” introduces lateral keyboard phrasing under sustained guitar lines. “My First Rainbow” follows a slow-build form with multiple section cues before resolving in a layered ensemble close.

A1. “Nothing Comes, Nothing Goes (Pt. I & II)” (3:39) — repeated lyrical theme over compact rhythmic structure
A2. “This Chain” (3:09) — alternating vocal lines with electric key phrasing
A3. “Full Winter Day’s Nightmare” (5:27) — phased development with contrast between ambient and driven sections
A4. “Lucy Squirrel” (7:09) — narrative lyric over sustained ensemble

B1. “Hey Carlito” (5:08) — groove-based electric arrangement with chordal overlays
B2. “It’s Not Tasteful to Fly” (4:39) — sequenced keys with open guitar lines
B3. “My First Rainbow” (6:02) — slow-build arc with sectional layering
B4. “This Chain (Reprise)” (0:27) — condensed instrumental echo

Sessions occurred in Los Angeles, where Danny B. Besquet produced the album for Motown with soundmen Bob Hughes and Geoff Gillette.

Peter Lloyd illustrated the cover, which shows a stylized heron standing in a futuristic landscape of rainfall and geometric shadows. Blue silhouettes resembling birds or origami shapes fly above in formation, while glowing rain streaks fall against a black-red gradient horizon. The heron appears translucent, with starlight patterns glinting from its wings and neck. The surreal, vector-like aesthetic matches the album’s cold, synthetic atmosphere. Art direction is credited to Frank Mulvey.

Schock (Transfert-Suspence-Hypnos)

In August 1977, Libra released Schock (Transfert-Suspence-Hypnos), the Cinevox soundtrack to the supernatural horror film Shock by director Mario Bava.

The score consists of fifteen short pieces sequenced to mirror the film’s psychological shifts and recurring visual motifs. Musically, Transfert-Suspence-Hypnos fuses eerie atmospheres with Mellotron-driven textures, electronic pulses, and intermittent bursts of rhythmic interplay.

For this project, Libra retained keyboardist Sandro Centofanti and the Dino Cappa/Walter Martino rhythm section. They’re joined by Goblin keyboardist Maurizio Guarini and Etna guitarist Carlo Pennisi. Both keyboardists frame the ambience with multiple sounds (Moog, Mellotron, organ, processed effects) that usher cues with harmonic drift, staggered motion, and isolated motifs.

The score opens with the main title theme “Schock,” where Moog and Hammond passages build over phased rhythm and Mellotron accents. “L’altalena Rossa” introduces a cyclical acoustic guitar figure later mirrored in the film’s visual swing motif. The “Transfert” cues mark the film’s supernatural episodes through ambient sequences, mechanical patterns, and percussion clusters. “La Baia” and “La Cantina” move from sparse piano to textured ensemble overlays.

“Tema di Marco” appears in three variations centered on the child protagonist, blending vibraphone lines and atmospheric swells. “L’incubo” stages layered pulses and scraping sounds that collapse into sustained Mellotron. “Il Fantasma Suona Piano” unfolds as an atonal piano étude that leads into the final “Transfert IV°,” where detuned effects and musique concrète overlap with horror-film coda tropes.

A1. “Schock” (4:05) — Moog and Hammond-led overture with Mellotron accents and shifting dynamics
A2. “L’altalena Rossa” [The Red Swing] (1:26) — acoustic guitar motif tied to visual cue
A3. “Transfert I°” (1:31) — percussion sequence opening the recurring supernatural motif
A4. “Hypnos” (1:57) — ambient transition with pulsing textures
A5. “Transfert II°” (1:20) — layered keyboard effects over restrained rhythm
A6. “La Baia” [The Bay] (2:18) — piano-led interlude with modal phrasing
A7. “La Cantina” [The Cellar] (1:55) — vibraphone over bass swells and Mellotron textures
A8. “Schock (Ripresa)” [Schock (Reprise)] (1:07) — variation on the title theme in shortened form

B1. “Tema di Marco I°” [Marco’s Theme I] (1:05) — sparse vibraphone with ambient delay
B2. “Tema di Marco II°” (2:31) — full arrangement with guitar and keyboard dialog
B3. “L’incubo” [The Nightmare] (3:30) — layered pulses and electronic clusters
B4. “Transfert III°” (1:35) — interlocking percussion with ambient effects
B5. “Il Fantasma Suona Piano” [The Ghost Plays Piano] (1:53) — piano étude in atonal fragments
B6. “Transfert IV°” (3:10) — electroacoustic coda with bass pulses and musique concrète
B7. “Tema di Marco II°” (0:50) — closing reprise of child motif in reduced form

Schock (1977) is a supernatural horror film directed by Mario Bava and starring Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, and David Colin Jr. It follows Dora Baldini, who returns with her new husband Bruno and young son Marco to the home she once shared with her late first husband Carlo, a violent drug addict. As Dora tries to resume normal life, she experiences disturbing supernatural phenomena that appear linked to Carlo’s mysterious death. Her son begins behaving erratically and seems possessed by Carlo’s spirit. The narrative unfolds through psychological unravelling, spectral visitations, and resurfacing trauma. Dora ultimately recalls that she murdered Carlo in self-defense, prompting Bruno to reveal he hid the body in the basement. The story concludes with Dora’s breakdown and suicide under supernatural duress, while Marco is last seen playing with his father’s ghost.

Schock was Bava’s final theatrical film before his death in 1980 and was released in the U.S. as Beyond the Door II.

Postlude

In 1979, four members of the final Libra lineup—Sandro Centofanti, Carlo Pennisi, Maurizio Guarini, and Walter Martino—joined forces with Antonio Marangolo (Flea), Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli, and Agostino Marangolo (Goblin) on Starter, a disco-funk album released under the name Pole Position on the Zip Records. The project affirmed the continuing musical ties between Libra, Goblin, and Flea in the post-soundtrack era.

Federico D’Andrea died in 1978 after being struck by a car. Sandro Centofanti passed away in 2014.

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