ROCK PROGRESSIVO ITALIANO

The title track, "L'anno del contatto" (The year we make contact), opens the album. It's a piece that recalls Le Orme and was inspired by "2010: The Year We Make Contact", a 1984 American science fiction film written, produced, shot and directed by Peter Hyams as a sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey". The music and lyrics evoke a message of peace and hope from a mysterious alien power. There are far signals coming from another time and hidden words carried by the wind falling like confetti, when the humankind will heed the message everybody will look up and all the differences and distances between people will dissolve...

"Sorona dove sei" (Sorona, where are you?) is a beautiful, heartfelt tribute to le Orme's masterpiece "Felona e Sorona". The music and lyrics depict a man in the night who looks up to the sky. He's a prog fan, no doubt! Suddenly an explosion of light makes reality vanish and he can see for a moment Felona and Sorona, the two imaginary planets lost in the universe spinning in balance and harmony like twin roses...

"Un attimo di infinito" (A moment of infinity) is a short, dreamy acoustic piece evoking a sudden warm light that can drive you across a boundless space where rivers of stars will cradle your dreams. Eventually, wrapped in peace, you'll wake up in the hidden infinite that lies within you...

"La fabbrica del silenzio" (The silence factory) depicts in music and words a gloomy dystopic future where there's no music and fragments of sound blot out the sun and fall down like ashes. The men no longer sing and a continuous background noise covers those who still try to see, think or speak up. But inside the sound screen a clandestine factory works in the dark and cleanses minds by producing and spreading silence...

"Per favore musica (P.F.M.)" (Music, please) is a funny, sarcastic criticism against trashy music broadcast on radio and TV. The protagonist can't find a single channel he can listen to with pleasure, he's fed up and begins to think that all the music is over. So he asks to listen to his favourite music again, certain that it will be a real celebration for those who will be there to listen to it?

"L'altra" (The other) is a short, dreamy acoustic track where vocals are used just as an instrument... It leads to the following "Piccoli galli" (Little roosters) where a strange thought begins to fly like in a psychedelic vision and the beat of the heart never stops...

"L'anello del bufalo" (The buffalo's ring) is an excellent, evocative piece that conjures up in music and words the image of an old sea dog, an experienced mariner with a strong will and a stubbornness that allows him to overcome the adversities of wind, sea and life. He has the looks and strength of a pirate and in his nose there's a ring, the ring of a Namibian buffalo. I'm sure you will be fascinated by the stories he tells...

The last track, "Rifletto" (I reflect), is a caustic piece that portrays an unscrupulous social climber, a man who talks about things he doesn't know, a false moralist disguised as a nonconformist, politically ambiguous and always on the winning side. If you look at him in a mirror, you'll see that he is never the man reflected...

On the whole, a good and passionate album quoting with respect and personality the RPI's masters!

The CD on which I'm making this review is the 2001 BMG Ricordi edition, which doesn't have any bonus tracks. And my translation of the titles of the songs are made with Google translator. First I'll present an overall view of my analysis, then some observations will be pointed on each track.

When it comes to show how italian prog rock scenario is one of the bests in the world, this work can be indicated as an illustrious example. Four or maybe the totallity of the five musicians masters their instruments, and all of them make vocal participations, even though there is a lead vocalist. There are magnificent tunes based on avant-garde rock, classical music, mediterranean songs and some jazz feelings, almost all the time structured as symphonic prog.. If you don't know this work, my description can induce you to think that it can be confusing, too noisy and/or excessive. Not at all, at least for me. And it's easy to discover that many other listeners and I agree on this point. But if you're a fan that doesn't like complex prog, when too much instruments play at the same time, and/or when there are too many notes together at once. In this case, I'd suggest you start with side B of this release. And if you enjoy complexity, I think you'll know what to do. For me, even the most complex snippets are accesible, including when almost all of them are kind of soloing at the same time. This is the characteristic most intriguing to my rational mind, how they managed to reach such perfect balance between harmony and disharmony, with such richness, and therefore keeping it fresh through so many years of hearing. About the instruments, the sleeve informations states that three of the line-up handles many instruments. Even though the drummer doesn't appear playing many instruments, he performs a wide variety of rhythms and harmonies. And has a rare abbility, to modulate the force of the hits.

First track, Appena um Po (Just a Bit), starts with the synth and a tune that looks like it's coming from an harp, but I suppose it's taken from the mandolim. Very angelical. The acoustic guitar, with a mediterranean touch, makes the transition to the flute and harpsichord. This last one is played with an absolutely surprising and stunning harmony, which I've never heard on such instrument, while the others make an apotheotic crescendo. Vocal harmonies with one, two or three singers are subtle, elegant and lyric. Acoustic guitar and flute, by the end of this song, makes some unusual tunes.

Guitar, piano, drums and violin print a vigorous introduction to Generale (it's more probable that the translation is General, however it can also be Generic). Then they go to a march on drums,/piano, flute and the synth. A transition is made with a church organ, and it finishes with that vigorous mood once again.

Track three starts angelical. Per um Amico (For a Friend) is the track where the chords and the bass make awesome contributions, especially the violin solo and the fiercing lyricism of the acoustic guitar. The last one leads a fantastic and rapid harmony. And it is also the acoustic guitar that slows down the path to brilliantly end the track.

A vibrant tune on the acoustic guitar is accompanied by some effusive singing on fourth track Il Banchetto (The Banquet). The piano keeps up the pace. This spirit lasts through practically the whole song, with the exception to an avant-gardé synth work on its middle. This is the only short part of this track that IMO isn't perfect. But it's short, and they slowly regain most part of their genius.

Flute, acoustic guitar and vocals gently and moderatly begin Gerànio (Genarium). They delicatly and gradually explore the composition. Indeed, this happens many other times on this album, there is no hurry to execute. Part of the middle of this song is the only part that is not so brilliant, but is a very good part. Well, the second half of the track is a fabulous symphonic prog effort that slowly grows in complexity and energy.

Side A is all 5-stars. Side B is between 4.7 and 4.9.

They are indicated as being RPI on PA, and as I have not heard their earlier albums I cannot comment if that is correct for those but certainly is not right for what they are currently performing which is far more eclectic in so many ways. They bring in elements of Indian styles in keeping with the lyrical ideas where we hear of Georgio Perlasca, a hero against Nazism, but there are also times when we feel as if we are being thrown whole heartedly into the Hammond worlds of Vincent Crane and Jon Lord, with Keith Emerson just getting a look in. The bass is often very smooth and quite at odds with the maelstrom taking place above. There are plenty of guests, including the Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra, and this all allows the band to really spread their musical wings. All lyrics are in English so can easily be understood by the non-Italian, and it crosses not only musical boundaries but time as it spends a great deal in the early Seventies while also dropping into the Eighties.

This is progressive music in its truest sense where the band is attempting push and create new styles instead of sitting inside a recognised genre or sub-genre, and the album is all the better for it as one never knows where it is going to lead. Fully worthy of further consideration.

The album opens with the 20-minute epic suite, "Papillion," which has eight total movements. The first 3 three movements (Ouverture, Primo La Fuga, and Secondo Quadro Il Mercato) are among some of the best progressive rock ever made, all based on the same theme. The keyboard work from Oliviero Lacagnina is magnificent. In the 4th movement, (Terzo Quadro L'Incontro) we hear another softer theme based on keys and vocals, that reoccurs in the song. It is one of the highlights of the album. For some reason, I can't find credit to anyone who plays horns on this record, yet the song has great horn overtures as well as choir work. Movement 5, (Quarto Quadro L'Arresto) adopts a weird combined sound of PFM/Gentle Giant, which sounds great. After the soft and short beauty of movement 6 (Quinto Quadro Il Verdetto), movement 7 (Sesto Quadro La Trasformazione) opens up with a beautiful piano bit that progresses the main theme of the song and transforms back into the cross of PFM/Gentle Giant. After the somber movement 7, movement 8 (Settimo Quadro Corri Nel Mondo) ends the suite with a happy ELP-sounding adaptation of the main riff of the suite.

After the short 2-minute jazzy, mellotron-driven, "Divertimento," the 17-minute suite that is "Patetica" begins. The suite only contains 3 movements, albeit much longer ones. The suite is very classical, with movement 1 (Parte Prima) opening up with Bach-esque piano before a drumroll introduces the organ into the mix. This is another keyboard-driven track with excellent work from Oliviero Lacagnina and jazzy drum work from Alfio Vitanza. Movement 2, (Parte Seconda) begins with an interpretation of a Vivaldi song on the violin. The Hohner Clavinet work goes wonderfully with the jazzy drum work and mellotron in this section. This is one of the keyboard highlights of the album featuring every sound imaginable (Mellotron, Clav, Organ, Piano, Moog, etc). The third movement (Parte Terza) starts very softly with an acoustic guitar intro. The section is very mellow, with somber vocals, but picks up a bit at the end with a grand horn ending. The closing track "Stutture," (lit. Structures), is ironically enough quite structureless. By far the weakest song on the album, it is a 4-minute rambling jazz interpretation of one of the riffs from "Patetica." On the 2003 double CD, there is a bonus track called "Rimani Nelle Mia Vita," which is a radio broadcast of the 3rd movement from "Papillon." The recording is super fuzzy with 2 Italian guys talking over it for the first minute or so, but has such a beautiful old feel to it. Absolutely heartbreaking song.

This is a super strong album and highly recommended to lovers of classic RPI bands such as PFM and Maxophone. Latte E Miele seems to be able to put together an awesome album that contains Symphonic Prog, Jazz, and Classical. It is a little messy with all the movements, but after a few listens the flow becomes evident.

Unlike the band's previous, more folk and classical sounding works of prog rock fare, L'isola Di Niente takes a different approach and instead implements more rock, jazz, and even slight bits of Gentle Giantesque experimental rock flairs, specifically with the last track of Via Lumiere. I think this new interpretation of PFM's sound definitely has its benefits, as it shows the band can dabble to more prog rock ideals than what they were comfortable doing within their last three records. Additionally, the focus on making their music more proggy in a sense is a great change of pace for me, as previous records had a lot more short handed songs, as opposed to here with the title track being this long and spiraling 10 minute piece. This album really does give itself a new PFM flair for appreciation.

I think that, while this change of direction is good for the band to take, I also feel like they are pulling their inspirations a bit too heavily here, and I think it became a bit of a habit later on with their next 2 records. While these songs are admittedly great, a lot of them feel very much like songs you'd hear from other bands, specifically Yes and Genesis. The guitar playing provided by Franco Mussida has the same flairs and catches as Steve Howe, and a lot of the keyboard playing elements from Flavio Premoli has a considerable Tony Banks aspects to them. They are sort of losing themselves within the threshold of their inspirations, and it is showing a bit more than usual. This, to me, is where I think PFM was losing their original magic, as, while this may sound like an original sound to PFM, they really aren't making it their own on here. It isn't bad to pull from your contemporaries or your inspirations, in fact that is how retro prog bands like The Flower Kings and Wobbler got their footing later on, but here, it, to me, PFM is starting to ditto out and become a bit of copycats, kinda like what bands like Gryphon would do with records like Treason later on after the prog rock hype died down in the late 70s.

This is far from a bad record, not by a long shot, but I cannot help but see it as far from an original and magical album. All of these songs are good and played to the best of the band's abilities, but I cannot help but find the abilities here to be in a rather muddy place. While I cannot say it is all downhill from here in terms of good music from the band, it is the beginning of a new, less PFM sounding PFM.

The short, spacey instrumental "Intro" sets the atmosphere and leads to "Non pensare vai" (Do not think, go) that describes in music and words the expectations and the doubts of the protagonist who is embarking on a spacecraft directed to Mars where she'll start a new life. What she's left behind is a broken relationship and some regrets, what lies ahead is the dream of better days to be reached on the wings of a heavy falcon...

"Come mi vuoi" (As you want me) deals with the nostalgia of real relationships and the choice of a virtual lover to replace them. The music and lyrics depict the protagonist trying to teach her new mechanical companion how to laugh with her and how to love. While she's programming its artificial intelligence she goes through many errors but at last she seems to reach her goal...

Then it's the turn of the bitter-sweet "Complice innocente" (Innocent accomplice) that describes the strange relationship between the protagonist and her new companion, a toy man docile and tireless... On "E' stato un errore" (It was a mistake) the protagonist experiences doubts and regrets looking at the infinite space that surrounds her. She begins to realize that an aseptic, odourless virtual companion can't really erase the deep sense of loneliness she feels in her silent Martian new home...

"Ingannando i miei sensi" (Deceiving my senses) describes in music and words the confusion of the protagonist whose memories come back and hit her senses almost leading her on the brink of madness... Imagination and reality almost melt together on "Quando cerchi di respirare" (When you try to breath). The protagonist, looking at the creature she shaped, keeps on thinking of her broken relationship and she almost fears her new virtual lover might let her down like her ex boy friend on Earth. She even think of keeping it closed in a glass box as it tries to breathe and behave like a human being...

The ethereal "Se solo avessi un'anima" (If only you had a soul) begins softly, then the music and lyrics depict the sense bewilderment of the protagonist in front of her new companion... What she misses more is the feeling of a real interaction in front of a creature without soul and heart, she would like to teach it to believe in God or to make it understand how important relationships with other human beings are. But something seems to go wrong... On "Un gioco" (A game) the machine in some way begins to feel human! It's thunder, light and uproar but it tried to be good and what does it discover? It's just a game. But it's too late and it can't stop what she has created, they're both victims of a sterile world...

The last track, "Il viaggio da farsi" (The journey ahead) is open to various interpretations. The protagonist feels that her creature is just an extinguished fire, time is running out and hysteria prevails, the creature is about to die. The melancholic finale depicts the creature hanging in the room of her maker, swinging lightly. The protagonist, in her madness, feels a strong sense of guilt and becomes aware that there's no way out to escape the spectre of silence and there's no need of heavy suitcases nor ships for her next journey...

On the whole, a very interesting concept and an excellent work.

The opener "Tribal Domestic Suite" is a long, complex piece divided into nine parts respectively subtitled "Le note degli idoli" (The idol's notes), "Tributo agli dei" (Tribute to the gods), "Raduno dei vecchi" (Gathering of the old men), "L'ultimo dei sogni" (The last of dreams), "La notizia" (The news), "Il diario" (The diary), "Simbiosi" (Symbiosis), "La chiave inglese" (The wrench) and "Il crepuscolo delle illusioni" (The twilight of illusions). In my opinion, it's an excellent piece, composed by Enzo Vita and arranged with the help of Rino Amato, where the guitarist and his group of rock musicians perfectly interact with the orchestra. The music flows without drops in tension as the lyrics, well interpreted by Chris Catena, conjure up images halfway between a confused stream of consciousness and divertissement. Shocking, alarming articles about a world where solidarity and freedom crumble provoking rash reactions, the sad reflections of a man on the brink of a personal crises leading to madness, the search for balance and the refuge in an inner-self able to create its own world, regret and bewilderment and finally the image of a man running barefoot in the evening without the tools to fix up his life...

"L'origine" (The origin) is another beautiful track where orchestra and rock instruments interact. The mysterious incipit sets the atmosphere, then the music and lyrics take us on inner journey to the origin of life. Birth is a big bang for everyone, it's the moment of the perception of the whole, a truth we progressively forget giving names to things and identities to persons...

On the instrumental "Mutazione X" (Mutation X) Enzo Vita's guitar is in the forefront and takes the listener on a fiery ride through the hard rocks of Sodom and Gomorrah and to the atmospheres of Il Rovescio della Medaglia 1971 debut album, "La bibbia", although with an updated sound. Then it's the turn "La sacra eternità" (The holy eternity) explicitly inspired by "La bibbia", in particular by its last two tracks, "Il giudizio" (Judgement day) and Il diluvio (The flood). Here, introduced by a dark marching beat and a hint of liturgical choir, the music and lyrics describe the protagonist's soul entering the afterlife where it joins the whole, beyond good and evil. It's a place where there's no one to judge, no measure or need to invent anything, here come those who have the dignity of looking straight in the face their own oblivion, beyond the sky and the sea, because the eternity is holy...

"L'apocalisse" (The apocalypse) is the only track featuring the vocals of Il Rovescio della Medaglia old singer Pino Ballarini. It's an ironic piece that blends hard rock, classical influences and a touch of operetta evoking a daily, raging apocalypse in a world where media confusion rules. In a story containing many other stories, restlessness carries away the protagonist, on the wings of madness, towards a place where he can enjoy a panoramic view on his memories and regrets... Last comes the sparkling instrumental "Proclama II" (Proclamation II) that concludes the album with a lively beat and electric guitar fireworks.

On the whole, an excellent work that marks a rediscovered creativity for Enzo Vita and his new and old companions.

The opener "Venite giù al fiume" is a rock adaptation from "In the Hall of the Mountain King." The track exceeds 10 minutes with a lot of variations and jams. The flute work is really nice, and they even added some vocals. The vocalist Richard Benson was a half-English and half-Italian man who you can barely tell is not fully Italian from the tone of his voice. The song is mainly driven by Hammond which seems to either have an extremely high rotor rate or an effect on it. Saxophone occasionally comes in when the song shifts from a jam back into the main riff. It's a really nice track but, considering the other two tracks on the album, I would say this is the weakest one (even though it's far from bad).

The second song '"Evivva la contea di lane" is my personal favorite song off of the album. It is a beautiful symphonic masterpiece. The first minute begins with a melodic guitar intro which is picked up by the vocals and flute. The saxophonist and flutist, Sandro Cesaroni, really goes off during this song. The end of the song is dominated by one of the dirtiest yet, most astonishingly amazing saxophone solos I have ever heard. I genuinely could not even fathom a saxophone being able to make the noises that it did.

The closing track "All'uomo che racccoglie i cartoni" is a five-movement epic that stretches 15 minutes. It includes some really great guitar soloing and acoustic sections. The vocals throughout the album are pretty subtle but, on this song they definitely shine some more. The translation of the name of the song is "To the man who collects cartoons," which is written about a man from some of the band members' neighborhoods who collected cartoons. My only takeaway from the song is that it's all over the place, even going into a swing section at a point, and is very hard to follow. It is a 15-minute song, so that is probably why.

The keyboardist Alessandro Centofanti went on to collaborate with and play with some famous Italian pop artists as well as forming the fusion group "Libra". Richard Benson, the vocalist, went on to do a bunch of stuff on television like a talk show and as a producer. The rest of the band went on to form the progressive rock group "Bauhaus." Overall a really great album, with great history and some awesome pre-PFM Italian Prog. It's very rare that you will find bands like this before the classic era of Italian prog, and it is unfortunate that they didn't release any others.

This was made all the more so when legendary lead singer Francesco Di Giacomo perished in a car accident in 2014. Who in the world would have thought that this legendary band had any second life in them? BANCO shocked the prog world it was reformed by the only original member still standing, pianist and keyboardist Vittorio Nocenzi with a new cast of characters and released "Transiberiana" in 2019. The track record of forty year old prog bands reforming and recapturing the spirit of their original run isn't very good and although nobody initially thought anything of this comeback, BANCO exceeded expectations with a brilliant album that melded the soulful performances of decades ago with a new modern sheen that incorporated all the newer production techniques to the mix. I was pleasantly surprised for sure and now it's officially no one off fluke. BANCO are back with ORLANDO: LE FORME DELL'AMORE (The Shapes of Love), officially the band's 18th studio album.

Hard to believe that ORLANDO: LE FORME DELL'AMORE has arrived just in time for the band's 50th anniversary of the self-titled masterpiece and "Darwin" but a half of a century has elapsed making it so. Unbelievably BANCO sounds amazingly reinvigorated with the same music mojo that brought them to the world's stage so many decades ago. This is a concept album not based on the famous city in Florida but rather the 16th century poem "Orlando Furioso" written by Ludovico Ariosto which first appeared in 1516. ORLANDO was a Christian knight who fought in the war between the Charlemagne Christian paladins and the Saracen army that invaded Europe for the sake of overthrowing the Christian empire. The poem itself was divided into 46 cantos. The concept and complex nature of the poem lends to an amazing display of musical antics that accompany these themes.

ORLANDO, the album is like a double album from the classic prog era with 15 tracks and a running time of a whopping 79 minutes, quite a risky endeavor for a band some 50 years in existence but let's face it: this is BANCO in name only with only one original member. Despite the fact that Vittorio Nocenzi is the only original knight in this musical escapade though doesn't mean that this lineup of six hasn't successfully captured the essence of BANCO's classic sound. In fact ORLANDO is an even better album than "Transiberiana" which i rather liked quite a bit. Like any great Italian prog album, lyrics are exclusively in the Italian language and the diversity of sounds matches anything from the golden years. The new vocalist Tony D'Alessio performs the unthinkable task of replacing the late great Franceso Di Giacomo and while this may prove to be an insurmountable task, D'Alessio delivers stellar performances despite not being a young whippersnapper himself.

Paced like a traditional concept album from the classic prog years, ORLANDO opens with poetic prose and then breaks into a never ending series of melodic developments, strong composiitons and of course excellent musical deliveries. Although not original members, the five musicians sound like seasoned veterans in the prog field with the ability to craft pastoral intricate melodies or bombastic outbursts of prog excesses often within the same track. The track "Il Palidino" showcases some of the knottiest hefty workouts on the entire album. Lush ballads and adrenaline fueled heaviness more or less perfectly narrate the concept without the listener having any idea what the Italian lyrics are referencing. Most of all much effort was obviously put into the album's diversity of individual tracks which makes ORLANDO a most surprising comeback indeed.

Perhaps the biggest downfall of ORLANDO: LE FORME DELL'AMORE is its excessive playing time. I mean 79 minutes is a lot to ask for in our contemporary short attention span era. There's no way i would've even considered listening to this album if not for the fact it was BANCO! While BANCO's classic albums are in no danger of being outdone, this one is so much better than i could've possibly hoped for. The album basically builds on what what was presented on "Transiberiana" as the new BANCO and carried out to classic BANCO progginess. None of the guys in this lineup are youthful so don't expect any virtuosic performances on par with past glories but for a band of aging prog rockers you really couldn't expect anything better than what is presented on ORLANDO. The album could be shorter but even so there are really no substandard tracks, just too many of them! An excellent comeback for BANCO who appears to be on a roll with its second coming. Bravissimo!