DIARIO DI VIAGGIO DELLA FESTA MOBILE

Festa Mobile still have a very unique sound. This is not the lush pastoral sound typical of Italian Symphonic Rock... it is frantic, aggressive, pseudo-jazzy, up-tempo music driven by fast piano flourishes and a solid heavy rhythm section. This album grabs your attention right away with it's intensity and never lets up or slows down long enough to let you catch your breath. It's a wonderful and all-too-short experience.

One of the best songs here for me is Canto which features a repetitive (but never boring) piano riff that can get stuck in your head all day if you're not careful. The song is a joy to listen to... full of excellent guitar solos and jazz organ sounds laid overtop the dominant omnipresent piano.

Ritorno is my favorite number here. It starts relatively slowly with some solo piano meanderings but picks up soon with ominous bass lines and jazzy rhythm and piano chords. The vocals are what make this song so great... the vocal harmonies are spine chilling and very beautiful and compliment perfectly the sad piano arpeggio in the haunting slower middle section of the song. The final third of the song turns frantic again and reminds somewhat of ELP's better jazz-influenced moments... until the song finally falls into chaos and starts playing backwards on itself until it implodes.

All in all: a unique album from a very original band. I recommend this album to all lovers of the more wild and out-there side of ISP and possibly Jazz Rock fusion fans, though it's not quite as technical as the average Jazz Fusion album. 4 stars.