STORIA DI UN MINUTO

The first album of PFM is a perfect example of the great influence that the English prog had on the Italian music scene in the early seventies. The style is inspired by bands like Genesis and King Crimson, with great use of mellotron, violin and wind instuments, and general references to symphonic prog with bombastic arrangements in classical style, and a lot of rhythm variations.

It is one of the great classics of Italian prog, but in my opinion not the most beautiful record, nor the most representative of the genre. The band has no real role singer, so the vocals are rather weak. Except for Impressioni Di Settembre the lyrics are banal, so I think it's much easier to appreciate this album if you're not Italian. Fortunately, the quality of the music is very high and so the technical skill of the musicians (and guitarist Franco Mussida overall). Although the group makes extensive use of electronic keyboards (mellotron and moog especially) the real protagonists are the traditional instruments like the flute (Dove ... Quando part 1) the harpsichord and violin (Dove ... Quando part 2), and classical guitar (La Carrozza Di Hans).

The music remains at high levels throughout the album except for the last track, the insipid Grazie Davvero. The delicate initial prologue immediately leads to Impressioni Di Settembre, the most famous song of the band. The lyrics by Mogol (one of the most famous authors of the Italian pop scene) are amazing, but what will go down in history is the chord sequence of synthesizer that, here in Italy, was a kind of small revolution compared to the canon of classic Italian song. E' Festa is a song full of rhythmic variations and large displays of virtuosity. Dove ... Quando is another classic. The first part is a delicate melody sung with the accompaniment of classical guitar and flute (pity about the lyrics, really depressing) while the second part is an instrumental piece with an amazing performance by Mauro "Paganini" Pagani. This second part is, in my opinion, one of the best song of the album and is a sort of prelude to La Carrozza Di Hans, another classic of the band's career, with a great solo by Mussida and extraordinary changes of time sig.

Recommend to everyone, especially lovers of symphonic prog.

rating 8/10.

Best song: Impressioni Di Settembre

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