Museo Rosenbach formed in 1971 in Bordighera, on the Ligurian Riviera, out of two local bands, La Quinta Strada and Il Sistema, that until then had mostly played covers of Hendrix, the Kinks, Steppenwolf and Otis Redding. Pink Floyd and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso pushed them towards a concept album of their own, and Zarathustra came out on Ricordi in 1973 (SMRL 6113), recorded in Milan with producer Angelo Vaggi. It was their debut and their only album of the decade.

The whole first side is taken by the suite 'Zarathustra' in five movements ('L'Ultimo Uomo', 'Il Re Di Ieri', 'Al Di Là Del Bene E Del Male', 'Superuomo', 'Il Tempio Delle Clessidre'), written by bassist Alberto Moreno around Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, with lyrics credited to Mauro La Luce; side two holds 'Degli Uomini', 'Della Natura' and 'Dell'Eterno Ritorno'. It is symphonic rock with a hard edge: Pit Corradi's Mellotron, Hammond and vibraphone, Enzo Merogno's guitar, Moreno's bass and piano, Giancarlo Golzi's drums and timpani, and the powerful voice of Stefano 'Lupo' Galifi. Moreno names Gentle Giant, The Nice and If among the influences, and listeners who love Van der Graaf Generator or Magma tend to find their way here too.

The record was sunk by its own sleeve. The front cover, a collage of a human face reworked by Ricordi's graphic studio from an idea of Moreno, with photographs by Cesare Monti, includes prison bars, poor children and a bust of Mussolini; together with the Nietzsche references, it got the band accused of fascism, the album was largely ignored by radio and the movement of the time, and Ricordi dropped them the following year. Golzi later went on to Matia Bazar. Over the decades Zarathustra became a cult record, reissued many times; original Ricordi pressings are so sought after that a counterfeit has circulated since 2015.

This reissue by Music On Vinyl is pressed on 180 gram transparent vinyl in a gatefold sleeve, as a limited edition.