THE BOOK OF DREAMS

Very impressive debut album by this italian band. A friend was visiting my hometwon and told me about them, saying I´d like them, based on my personal taste. And he was right. First of all I must say they don´t sound too much like other prog bands from Italy. the first track after the short introduction surprised me a lot for the heavy sounds and american styled harmony vocals. It´s a good track but hardly their best on this CD and clearly a wrong tune for its opening.

But from then on things run pretty smoothly: great progressive music with outstanding playing, tasteful and creative arrangements, plus some fine vocals (all done by 3 guest singers, including Bernardo Lanzetti, once a member of PFM). It was good fun to see that the band does not even try to show how much they adore early Genesis: the title track´s rhythm section is based unshamely on I Know What I Like. Fortunatly Mangala Vallis is way too good to let it be a hindrance or anything like that. Their songwriting habilities let them do tricks like that without risking to fall into plagiriarism. The song becomes more of a homage to Genesis since, like Magenta or Marillion, they have a very own strong personality .

Certainly The Book Of Dreams is not a perfect CD in any way, but as a first efford it´s an excellent start: fine melodic guitar solos (yes, there is some Hackett-like lines), fantastic analog keyboards (yes! lots of moogs and vmellotron waves included!) and a solid rhythm section. Oh, by the way, no, the singers don´t sound like Gabriel or Collins (except for Lanzetti, but he is only featured on the last track) Most of all those guys know how to write great, catchy tunes. Very addictive I´d say. Ok, nothing too original, but certainly they have the potential to go very far soon.

A four stars affair, at least. Another fine prog gem from Italy. Don´t miss it!