THE WORLD BECAME THE WORLD

Their second English-language album ("Photos of Ghosts" being the first, and of course, there were the two classic Italian language albums from '72 that should never be overlooked: "Storia di un Minuto" and "Per un Amico"). "The World Became the World" is the English language version of "L'Isola di Niete". I haven't heard the original, but I have to say they succeeded in this English language adaptation. Once again, Pete Sinfield provides the English lyrics (apparently does not translate to the original Italian).

The first couple minutes of "The Mountain" is enough to throw anyone off. It's nothing but choir, making you wonder if you bought the wrong album. But once the music kicks in you know you're listening to a prog rock album. The music here seems more aggressive than anything I've heard from PFM before. For some strange reason the vocalist sounds like David Gilmour here. The songs goes through many different and interesting passages, with some truly mindblowing Mellotron passages. There are some more mellow moments, like what PFM has done before. "Just Look Away" is yet another one of those typical PFM acoustic ballads, I don't think it's quite live up to what's on "Storia di un Minuto" or "Per un Amico", but it's not bad. The title track is actually an English language adaptation of their 1971 single "Impressioni di Settembre" (which of course appeared on "Storia di un Minuto", but having not heard the original single, I can't tell you if it's different or not). "Four Holes in the Ground" is perhaps a bit jazzier. Lots of nice Moog, and more amazing Mellotron passages. There is one section that sounds scarily similar to STEELY DAN! "Is My Face On Straight" was the only song that was in English on "L'Isola di Niente", and so the song is kept the same way for this album too. A nice, upbeat number, with lyrics that seem to poke fun at bigoted comedians. "Have Your Cake and Beat It" is the only song I felt was mediocre. It's the only instrumental cut, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of development going on. Still a great album for all who enjoy Italian prog.