BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO

I look at Banco and PFM as companions of Yes and Genesis. PFM have a pastoral side similair to Genesis and Banco has a more aggressive side ala Yes. With Banco's first album they almost hit a home run right out of the gate. The album starts with some choral work with female singers and the legend talk singing something, (sorry, I don't know Italian). Then BAM! Track two is one of their alltime classics, "R.I.P. (Requiescant In Pace)" is a fast paced, scorching Itailian prog song as good as any made on any continenent, plus it has one of the world's greatest singers belting it out keeping up the pace of the song. Excellent guitar work, fast drum play and keyboards that punctuate the song perfectly. "Passaggio" slows it down with some pretty harpsicord. Then BAM #2! "Metamorphosi" is another alltime classic, mostly instrumental it has an unforgettable melody with Francesco singing towards the tail end of the song. Bravissimo! <--(did I spell it correctly?). Side two begins with their very first epic, "Il Giardino Del Mago". You have to have guts to have an 18 minute song on your very first album. Not as memorable as the two classics on side one, nevertheless it has fantastic instrumentation with Fransesco's best singing but a lull 3/4's of the way through drags it down. The album ends with a sorta recap type song. I believe for a first time album it is remarkable. Banco right from the start are tight as a unit with great melodies and a legendary singer. Other then the lull inside the epic it would garner a 5 star rating easily. I rate it 4.5 nudging it to 5.