DARWIN!

While in italy a lot of singers were singing songs with the important part of voice, tunes and few instruments, few (very few) like BMS were trying to found a progressive group, like PFM or even Le Orme... '72: After the year of adjustments in the group (Francesco Di Giacomo, Renato D'Angelo & Pierluigi Calderoni joined in '71 form Esperienze) BMS comes out with 2 gems: Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Darwin!, where the influence of english prog rock music were folded with italic tenor voice, giving to the music a footprint of liricism but still focused on the prog sounds.

We have 7 tracks, 1 instrumental and 2 half... from the 1st 2 songs we see what we are talking about a strong opera that was built on keyboards using Di Giacomo voice as storyteller of the facts, or better of what is happening to the Earth and his young creature, the man, we see here some chaotic music a draw to explain the perpetual change of the planet and the creatures that live it with the keyboards (excellent stops and reprises using piano and keyboards), while L'evoluzione is full of parts where the voice explain the phases of the evolution La conquista della posizione eretta is an instrumental piece till the last few words that make the voice works as instrument to describe the erect position. (mostly poetic and slow as the singer cannot explain in words what he see!). From here (side 2) the suite is end, a man is born but there is time to make a step back, here Danza dei grandi rettili is the instrumental and starts with an increasing of the piano and Keyboards, while the other instruments play their part quite but giving to the song a strong jazz influence.

Back to the man... the born of tribes and the rapid changes in the human society, from tribes to big cities, here we can see 2 parts... the first is full of chorus, with rapid music from keyboards, while the second part starts with quite voice, some words to describe the born of the a village, and again with a grow of keyboards and voice, to finish again with some tribal chorus... but now it's time for love... 750000 anni fa... l'amore? starts again with the piano and the voice from Di Giacomo that describe a woman from the eyes of someone that want her love (as something that is more sex than love, but we are a lot time before today...) at the middle of the song there is an interlude which is a lot different from the main song, again some great piano and voice and again at the end an increasing of voice and paino that bring us to the next... again we have a into of full music with piano, and after 2 minutes the voice of Di Giacomo start do sing as strong as it can while the music change again and become quite till the words ends then the music (keyboards and piano, yes) take the reprise of the intro with the help of good drums and guitar. Ed ora io domando tempo al tempo ed egli mi risponde... non ne ho! is the end of all, the mankind is old and in this song we have a creak that follow the singer to remark the evidence of how all is finished while the music plays like a circus repetitive tune... till the end where all ends... all but the wheel and his creak. 5/5 stars on music and 1/1 from bonus (they worth it for the first italian concept album and the sleeve that I like it too much), so 5/5 total... an album that NEED to be in every prog collection!