Pleiadians - I.F.O. (Identified Flying Object)

While this album has a couple really amazing tracks, it also has a couple bad tracks. It's known mainly for it's complexity. This is some of the most layered goa trance music you'll find, especially from 1997. Does that necessarily make it good? No, but it is a desirable quality in my estimation and Pleiadians pull it off reasonably well here.

Alycone is the best track. Not only on this album -- it's also the best track ever made by Pleiadians and I personally don't think any of their Etnica tracks beat it either. It builds up over 5 minutes and then the last 3 minutes are pure bliss. :)

Maia is the next best track following closely after Alycone. It has a different style though and a different sound too. You're in for a treat as this track is really long and interesting the whole way through.

Electra and Celaeno are the two other good tracks on this album. Electra is the most complex track on the album but it lacks something that Alycone and Maia had: interesting structure. It essentially just adds melodies over and over until the track is a big mess, then ends. Forgive the harsh words, it's still one of my favorite tracks!

Celaeno is a downtempo/ambient closing track as is typical. It's quite a decent track though nothing too special. It's sound fits well with this album and it's a nice power down track.

Unfortunately none of the other tracks -- Taygeta, Merope and Asterope -- manage to pull all their layers together to make interesting music. I usually skip over them. Asterope is especially bad.

In conclusion this is definitely a defining album in goa trance and a "must have", but it could have been better. I give it a 4/5.

Although it is not mentioned anywhere on the artwork, most (if not all) of these tracks were actually made exactly one year earlier, around the summer of 1996. I remember listening to the bulk of this album for the first time in September 1996, at a party where Max Lafranconi had the main set. The setting was in some Greek mountain, the weather was quite chilly for September, and noone of us was expecting such a blast!
For some reason, all Max's sets in the early years (James Monro's as well, albeit for different reasons) served as an indication to me as to where this style of music was heading. And the “I. F. O. sound” definitely marks a turn towards a heavier, “bigger than life” trance, which was to become the dominant style in the years that followed. The melodies are still here, thank God!, but the density of the sound leaves no room to wander around anymore, you either get yourself hooked, or sooner or later you're out for a much-needed break. For trance purists this may not be a problem; but for music fans like me who'd like to think they are aware of the evolution of both “heavy” and “psychedelic” music through the decades (from the 1960's onwards) regardless of genres and styles, it's just history repeating itself. The way I see it, this “the heavier the merrier” and “bigger than life” approach, apart from always pushing the boundaries forward, also defines the turnpoint for going back.

If an album's true status is recognized by how much it stirs up the scene years after its original release, and by how much rotation it gets in one's CD player, then Identified Flying Object is, hands down, the heavyweight champion! The album that single handedly blew all other competition out of the frame. Etnica's more dance floor orientated side project, Pleiadians, successfully beat hollow all their previous work and combined the vigorous psychedelia with the immaculately executed melodies that Rizzo, Lanfranconi, Paterno and Begotti were already then known for. By far the finest and most played piece of plastic I own, it remains matchless in my ears even today! The climaxes on Maia, Electra and Asterope still sound alien enough to make any present producer make a dash for his money, while Celaeno is a colossal chill track, maybe equaled only by Seven Sisters. Identifed Flying Object displays an outright and unique sound; all of their previous EPs and their sophmore release, Family Of Light, pursue a completely different path! One may argue that a real refulgent and stand out tune such as Time Dilation or Modulation is nowhere to be found on the album, but this is really a stand out album per se- everything here is a masterpiece, from the cover art to every milisecond of the music! There is nothing in my ears that comes across as massive and staggering as this. They manifested more styles through these seven tracks than Naomi Campbell did throughout her whole modelling career. So it's no surprise that this is unilaterally considered as the most sublime example of pure goa trance ever crafted- its value will only accrue with years to come! It is alreday considered a collector's item, as virtually anybody who has a copy is not very keen on giving it away, but if you were ever given a chance to become a content owner of one, do not hesitate. I can guarantee you'll be in for a ride of unprecedented measures. Eventhough certain individuals have argued during the years that I.F.O.'s rank is overrated due to not-so-great production, I can only say that if music's true power is to be found in technical perfection and impeccable mastering, rather than in its sonorous grandeur and the memories and emotions it evokes, than we should all just examine our perception of musical art, and try to take a different view of it!
Yeah, this is the magnum opus of the whole genre, surpassed only by a fog of mystery wreathed around these four italian geniuses! An entire music genre in its entity has peaked with this release, and it hammered into my head so far deep I will never again be apt enough to extract it. Not that I would want to ;-0
It's good enough to be intercalated in a brand new class of its own!

Without doubt the most trippy album I have ever heard! Being a collector of Goa/psytrance since the early 90's, this album is one of those classics that really stands out in my collection. It was made back then when Pleiadians was a full group. When comparing their music back then with what Pleiadians has pushed out after two of the members (Carlo Paternò and Andrea Rizzo) left the band, there is no doubt about who was the creative heads in this band. The melodies in this album still blows me away, each track giving us something unique, extremly hypnotic and intense. One of those albums I never get tired of listening to. It still sounds like gold in my ears, ten years after...! The first track (Maia) is the perfect opening track, starting slow and building up to a monster. The melodies in Alcyone and Electra almost gives me tears of joy when listening to it. Celaeno is the perfect ending of the album, giving us a beautiful chilled downbeat track. One of those albums you can not be without if you liked the melodic Goa trance back in the mid 90's. This album gives me tons of nostalgic memories from crazy parties back then... Recommended!

This album has attained almost mythical proportions. A timeless classic that is also a great album, the best Etnica/Pleiadians/Crop Circles album, the most psychedelic full-on album from the golden Goa era etc. So, is the album really this good?

Yes. In fact this is probably the best example of a hyped album that lives up to the hype. While always debatable how much an album is worth, when the album arrives in your mailbox, chances are you won't be disappointed. Besides being the happy owner of a timeless piece of plastic.

Closing in on its' ten years anniversary it still stands unrivalled. Filteria has given it a challenge in terms of layers, the amount of melodies and climaxes in a track (!!), and, obviously, the production. Still, it's in a class of its own. One may argue Koxbox' Forever After (from the year before) or Dragon Tales (same year) are equally amazing, but where I find I enjoy these most when I am in the mood for them, I.F.O. never fails. I must have listened to the spot in Alcyone 3:55 a thousand times and I'm still not tired of it ...

Nuff said. Italy, take a bow!

I love this excellent alien goa so much! All tracks are corrosive shooting stars. Most sounds high resonance, acid basses, acid melody synths, acid bleeps, acid bubbles, aliens transmitting audio data into your brain. Every track is in motion from the beginning to the end. Essential mental extraterrestrial rush!
Highlights: Electra, Maia, Taygeta

Widely acknowledged as the best goa/psy trance album ever. A very unique, alien sound. Pity the production is poor.