FLORIAN

The prospect of a prog rock acoustic album is a tricky one to contemplate. Marillion attempted one not so long ago with Less Is More, but this was a set of earlier material adapted to the format and I found it underwhelming in the long run. On the other hand, given the healthy overlap between 1970s prog and the more adventurous folk music of the time - think of the various prog flutists and violinists we've celebrated over the years - you'd think that a leap into an outright acoustic mode would be viable given suitable material.

For this 1979 release, Le Orme undertook the exercise of putting out an all-acoustic album, taking a two-year break after their preceding album specifically to hone their mastery of the instruments in question. Out are electric guitars and synths; in comes acoustic and classical guitar, harpsicord, harmonium and piano.

The end result is a masterful bit of acoustic folk-prog in the RPI mode. It's graced with one of the most winter-y prog album covers ever executed - reminiscent of those from Genesis' Wind and Wuthering, or Galadriel's Muttered Promises From an Ageless Pond, and whilst the three albums each have a differing musical approach they all share the same sense of melancholy so aptly captured by their varying bits of mostly-monochrome cover art.