Record Reviews

PFM ~ CHOCOLATE KINGS (EXPANDED EDITION) ESOTERIC / MANTICORE 1008 (Barcode: 5013929380820) ~ ITALY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1975 Released: 2010 Italian Prog Giants PFMFind albums by this artist (Premiata Forneria Marconi) was among the very few non-UK European Prog groups to actively pursue international exposure outside of their native country. An incidental meeting between the band and Greg LakeFind albums by this artist led to the signing of PFM to the ManticoreFind albums on this label label owned by Emerson, Lake & PalmerFind albums by this artist, which started to release the band´s albums in UK (and US) and promoted the band worldwide. This was the 4th album the band released on the label. PFM consisted of vocalist Bernardo LanzettiFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Flavio PremoliFind albums by this artist, guitarist Franco MussidaFind albums by this artist, violinist / flautist Mauro PaganiFind albums by this artist, bassist Patrick DjivasFind albums by this artist and drummer Franz Di CioccioFind albums by this artist. Among them they possessed incredible instrumental powers, compositional ability and vocal delivery and harmony, which was almost unparallel with any other Prog group at the time. Long and complex instrumental passages, performed mostly on keyboards, quiet contemplative moments and deeply melodic and harmonic compositions and arrangements turned their albums into Prog heaven. This expanded edition adds a whole CD of previously unreleased live material as a bonus. Essential music for body and soul!

Updated: 16/01/2022Posted:

CD 2 Oversampling Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

PFM ~ I DREAMED OF ELECTRIC SHEEP INSIDEOUT 580 (Barcode: 194398537429) ~ ITALY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2021 Released: 2021 This is an album by veteran, legendary Italian Prog band PFMFind albums by this artist, which follows their previous album “Emotional TattoosFind albums with this title” from 2017. Co-led by original members: vocalist / drummer Franz Di CioccioFind albums by this artist and bassist Patrick DjivasFind albums by this artist, the band also includes guitarist Marco SfogliFind albums by this artist, violinist Lucio FabbriFind albums by this artist and keyboardists Alessandro ScaglioneFind albums by this artist and Alberto BravinFind albums by this artist. Prog icons Ian AndersonFind albums by this artist and Steve HackettFind albums by this artist guest on one track. The album presents ten tracks, three of which are instrumentals and seven have lyrics. Same as on the previous album, this album also consists of two CDs, one with English and the other with Italian lyrics, with the identical instrumental background. The music is classic Symphonic Prog, which sound like something that might have been recorded in the early 1970s, and offers the typical Italian Prog mixture of lush lyrical, highly melodic music, which has a unique sonic signature, that no other Prog bands from outside of Italy are able to reproduce. Of course the CD with the Italian lyrics sound way better that the one with the English lyrics, since the Italian language is simply highly musical on its own and fits the instrumental background perfectly. This is true as far as every Italian bi-lingual album ever released, and there are quite a few of those. There is absolutely nothing innovative or different on this album that was not already stated fifty years earlier, but it still sounds great, at least to me, and infinitely better than anything Neo-Prog has to offer in the years that followed. This is like tasting a piece of cake your Grandmother baked when you were a toddler, which you never tasted again since. Overall, this is a solid / classic Italian Prog album, which offers a pleasant trip down the memory lane, and which will be obviously loved unconditionally by the fans of the genre. I had an absolute blast listening to this album and I am sure many other true Prog lovers will share the same kind of experience. Hats off to these two musicians in their mid-seventies, who carry playing what they believe in.

Updated: 16/05/2023Posted: 16/01/2022

CD 2 Recommend To A Friend

PFM ~ JET LEG (EXPANDED EDITION) ESOTERIC / MANTICORE 1007 (Barcode: 5013929380721) ~ ITALY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1977 Released: 2010 Italian Prog Giants PFMFind albums by this artist (Premiata Forneria Marconi) was among the very few non-UK European Prog groups to actively pursue international exposure outside of their native country. An incidental meeting between the band and Greg LakeFind albums by this artist led to the signing of PFM to the ManticoreFind albums on this label label owned by Emerson, Lake & PalmerFind albums by this artist, which started to release the band´s albums in UK (and US) and promoted the band worldwide. This was the 5th and last album the band released on the label, which folded soon after. PFM consisted of vocalist Bernardo LanzettiFind albums by this artist, keyboardist Flavio PremoliFind albums by this artist, guitarist Franco MussidaFind albums by this artist, violinist Gregory BlochFind albums by this artist, bassist Patrick DjivasFind albums by this artist and drummer Franz Di CioccioFind albums by this artist. Among them they possessed incredible instrumental powers, compositional ability and vocal delivery and harmony, which was almost unparallel with any other Prog group at the time. Long and complex instrumental passages, performed mostly on keyboards, quiet contemplative moments and deeply melodic and harmonic compositions and arrangements turned their albums into Prog heaven. This expanded edition adds a rare live track as a bonus. Essential music for body and soul!

Updated: 16/01/2022Posted:

CD 1 Oversampling Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

PFM ~ THE EVENT AERESTELLA 1008 (Barcode: 8034094090953) ~ ITALY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 2022 Released: 2023 This is a live album by the legendary Italian Prog group PFMFind albums by this artist, recorded at the Lugano Jazz Festival in 2022. Co-led by the founding members: vocalist / drummer Franz Di CioccioFind albums by this artist and bassist Patrick DjivasFind albums by this artist, the band also includes violinist / keyboardist Lucio FabbriFind albums by this artist, keyboardists Alessandro ScaglioneFind albums by this artist and drummer Eugenio MoriFind albums by this artist. Since the regular guitarist of the group, Marco SfogliFind albums by this artist, was not able to appear, two guest musicians were invited to join, both young rising stars on the Italian music scene: guitarist Matteo MancusoFind albums by this artist and keyboardist Luca ZabbiniFind albums by this artist. The album presents sixteen tracks, which span the entire output the band in the last five decades. The music is, not surprisingly, a brilliant display of Italian Prog at its best, full of gorgeous melodies, typical Italian lyricism and brilliant instrumental parts by all the musicians. It is plainly obvious that this music is absolutely ageless and sounds as good today as it sounded decades ago. There is not much innovation or new discovery herein, but sometime the best things are better left untouched. I have recently attended a Prog Festival, where I had the opportunity to see many veteran Prog musicians perform and had also the opportunity to talk to them at ease. I was surprised by the energies and vitality of these people, not that time did not leave a mark on them, but despite the fact that it did. Even if they play the same music they played half a Century ago, they still do it with passion and total dedication, and the least we, who enjoyed the fruits of their labor for so long, can do, is to respect them for going on, which is anything but obvious. This album lasts for almost eighty minutes and there is not a dull moment here. The music flows briskly from one tune another and the melodies seem to be as heartbreaking as they were the first time I heard them, which is pretty incredible. Overall, this is a superb live album, which summarizes perfectly the PFM phenomenon, but also the Italian Prog in general, proving it is still some of the best music one can hear today, as long as these great musicians are alive. Hearing the two “youngsters” on the stage certainly opens hope for the future as well. Absolutely not to be missed!

Updated: 07/08/2023Posted: 07/08/2023

CD 1 Digipak Recommend To A Friend

PFM ~ THE WORLD BECAME THE WORLD (EXPANDED EDITION) ESOTERIC / MANTICORE 1005 (Barcode: 5013929380523) ~ ITALY ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1973 - 1974 Released: 2010 Italian Prog Giants PFMFind albums by this artist (Premiata Forneria Marconi) was among the very few non-UK European Prog groups to actively pursue international exposure outside of their native country. An incidental meeting between the band and Greg LakeFind albums by this artist led to the signing of PFM to the ManticoreFind albums on this label label owned by Emerson, Lake & PalmerFind albums by this artist, which started to issue English language version of the band´s albums in UK (and US), in parallel to the release of the Italian language versions released in Italy. As a result, several of PFM albums exist in two different versions (and with different titles), creating quite a confusion among record collectors. This album is the second of these "twofold" releases and the band´s 2nd album released in UK. It is almost identical to the band´s 3rd album "L`Isola Di NienteFind albums with this title", re-recorded with English lyrics written by Peter SinfieldFind albums by this artist, who also produced the album. PFM consisted of keyboardist Flavio PremoliFind albums by this artist, guitarist Franco MussidaFind albums by this artist, violinist / flautist Mauro PaganiFind albums by this artist, bassist Patrick DjivasFind albums by this artist and drummer Franz Di CioccioFind albums by this artist. Among them they possessed incredible instrumental powers, compositional ability and vocal delivery and harmony, which was almost unparallel with any other Prog group at the time. Long and complex instrumental passages, performed mostly on keyboards, quiet contemplative moments of gentle flute and deeply melodic and harmonic compositions and arrangements turned their albums into Prog heaven. This expanded edition solves the sound quality issues of the earlier releases and adds a massive amount of bonus material. Essential music for body and soul!

Updated: 16/01/2022Posted:

CD 1 Oversampling Remastered Bonus Tracks Essential Recommend To A Friend