The Italian Prog Appreciation den

Locanda Delle Fate's Forse Le Lucciole... is a cohesive and thoughtful collection of songs that displays fine musicianship all around, and the usual wonderful melodrama expected from classic RPI. One of the more soothing albums out there, it's not going to be your cup of tea if you like a lot of grit or agression in your prog.

Opening strong, with the two best tracks, 'A volte...' and 'Forse...' we have a promising two-punch. The stirring piano and tight kit work throughout 'A volte' make up one of my favourite moments in progressive rock, and it's the perfect instrumental introduction to the band. Melodic and richly textured, it's a treat for keyboard lovers - as is the rest of the album. 'Forse...' starts in ballad mode and we get our first taste of Leonardo Sasso's warm voice. It isn't until halfway through the song that he allows some fire to enter his performance, and it is all the better for it.

Generally, the harder moments are reserved for guitar and drums, and are scattered throughout each song, but are produced so cleanly that they loose some edge. Whereas flute is mostly employed for quieter moments, the wall of keyboards are used to add effective texture or to take the lead. While never becoming frenzied, there's always something interesting going on from the synths, moog and the piano especially,

As has already been stated by many, this album looses some steam in its second half, despite some memorable guitar toward the end in 'Vendesi saggezza' and the great 'Sogno di Estunno' (my pick of the second half) with its energy, concision and excellent transitions.

Perhaps the chief issue for many with the record, is that it can be a little treacly overall - basically the whole collection of songs have so many moments of beauty that is can overwhelm you.

Only 4 stars if you like gentler progressive music, otherwise a 3.

(As a side note, bonus track 'New York' doesn't really fit the feel of the rest of the album.)