After their debut album in 1970, there were several line-up changes in the Italian band Il Balletto Di Bronzo, which was founded in Naples in the late 1960s. Guitarist Lino Ajello and drummer Gianchi Stringa were joined by new members Gianni Leone (keyb, voc, org, p, mell, moog, spin, cel) and bassist Vito Manzari. The young virtuoso organist Leone in particular was responsible for a completely new musical direction: instead of the psychedelic pop rock of the previous album, they now played symphonic, keyboard-dominated progressive rock. In 1972, they recorded their second album, Ys, which was released in Italy and Germany that same year on the major label Polydor. In contrast to the classic Italian prog that was prevalent at the time, the quartet created a dark concept album full of complex time changes with driving drums, glowing keyboard layers and screeching, aggressive guitars. The sinister musical atmosphere is underscored by disturbing, surreal lyrics about the mythical city of Ys, which sank into the sea off the coast of Brittany, wonderfully illustrated in the original LP format of the Polydor LP as a fold-out booklet with printed lyrics.

The band was probably musically too far ahead of its time, because the LP, now considered an absolute classic of Italian prog, was met with complete indifference at the time. For connoisseurs and lovers of classic progressive rock, this masterpiece is one of the best albums of all time.