L'ISOLA DI NIENTE

The last of the first phase of PFM, and PFM's third-best album.

L'isola Di Niente continues in much the same format as Per Un Amico, but with a harder edge, and the use of even more progressive rock staples (synth solos, etc), and with the addition of a choir at certain places (including opening the album). This is, to my mind, the last great PFM album. Like 'Per Un Amico', they also recorded an entirely English-language version of this album, with English lyrics by Peter Sinfield (called 'The World became the World'), and again, this Italian version is far superior to that Engligh version (on this album, however, there is one song they wrote in English: "Is My Face On Straight", so not all the singing here on the Italian version is in Italian). The music here is again quite varied, even more rock than the previous album. There are some great moments. I really like the brash guitar chords that follow the choir on the opening title track, which is on the whole great, and there are some really excellent sections towards the ends of both "La Luna Nuova" and "Via Lumiere". The fourth track "Dolcissimma Maria" is one of PFM's best-ever songs, and the most musical piece on this album. Saying this, the transitions between the very diverse musical sections on this album work less well than they did on their two previous albums, and the album comes across as a somewhat fragmented listen. There are many sections you hear that are very musical, but they don't develop them, and the listener is left wondering why they didn't stay a bit longer on them, add a solo, etc. This album just squeeks by into a 4-star rating: I give this 7.9 out of 10, which is the minimum needed to attain 4 PA stars on my 10-point scale. It is the end of their first period - after this, their albums would go downhill.