STORYBOOK

All Fabio Zuffanti's projects are very good, and I think FINISTERRE is the best. A great GENESIS and early Italian prog influenced band. This live cd gives a trip trough the Finisterre's music, standing out "Orizzonte Degli Eventi" (+15 minutes fantastic track) and "Canto Antic". Beautiful guitar and bass work, delicious flute, energic drums and -specially- superb keyboards (with lots of Mellotron!). An excellent album.

This is a re-release of FINISTERRE's limited edition "Live at ProgDay '97" CD which was recorded live on August 31, 1997 during the ProgDay Festival, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. The only different between the releases is the bonus track added to this release. It's a cover of PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI's masterpiece "Altaloma". FINISTERRE's music is symphonic rock with reminiscences to BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO, CAMEL, Peter GABRIEL-era GENESIS, JETHRO TULL, PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR. If I hadn't knew that FINISTERRE was formed in the 90's, I would've guessed that they were a band from the 70's Italian symphonic rock scene. There are many mood and tempo changes, lengthy instrumental passages and their keyboard sound is a mix between modern synth sounds and classical ones like Mellotron, Moog and Fender Rhodes. The sound quality is very good for being a live recording. I'm a big fan and collector of 70's progressive and symphonic rock, but FINISTERRE is the evidence that there are bands in Italy today that carries the legacy with great pride.

Ever since I first this band I have held their music in my heart with admiration with their honest patronage to the 70's Ital-prog era while mixing many different unique elements. "Storybook" documents FINISTERRE's first US appearance at the Progday Festival in 1997 drawing on material from their first 2 albums. In their mission of preserving the 70's influences they also play a wicked version of PFM's "Altaloma". Although portion of this famous Progday show was previously available on a limited edition released, the fine folks at MoonJune records have added a number or two and magically re-mastered the whole sh'bang. For those unfamiliar with their music it is very rich in the classic italy prog vein with flute, acoustic guitars, classic keyboard work, great vocals and punchy guitars, bass and drums. Songs generally move through a variety of moods and different tempo's always building into explosive crescendo's.

"Storybook" is a live album from FINISTERRE's gig at the 1997 Progday Festival in North Carolina. FINISTERRE, for those of you who are not aware of them, are one of Italy's best prog bands at the moment. Many consider their 1997 CD "In Limine" as their best release to date. Their style of prog is deeply influenced by the Italian symphonic prog scene of the early 70s, and early GENESIS (thankfully, they don't imitate GENESIS). Personally, I tend to enjoy studio albums over live albums. Besides live MAGMA, KENSO, Frank ZAPPA, and a few others most live prog performances don't compare to the studio work. But, incredibly, this live album kicks ass. First off, the sound-quality is superb. And FINISTERRE's live sound is as rich and fat as their studio work. In fact, I'm much more impressed with the live versions of some of their best tracks from "In Limine". The band not only play their compositions note-perfect, but also extend them with inspiring jam-sections. Their live keyboard-sound relies less on the modern digital sounds found on their studio albums, and more on analog keyboards like the Rhodes, Mellotron, and Moog. The overall sound is earthly, and organic. Along with several tracks from "In Limine", and their previous albums. The group also breaks out into jams that turn into covers of several well-known prog classics. Overall, this is one of the best releases of the year. Fans of FINISTERRE and Italian prog will be in for a treat.

As I said in another review of yet another live album from 97 , this is their third live album from that very year so believe me , unless you are a real fan , pick one live if you must have one , but forget the other two. As for the choice of music on this release , you might have a hard time choosing one of the three lives because most of the tracks are present on at least two ( if not all three) albums. Your pick!!!!

Remarkable live album that starts out slightly muddy, but as the concert progresses the music becomes tighter, more organic with tons of refrences to past classics, ("Fifth of Firth", "Court of the Crimson King", and others). The fact that they do a wonderful rendition of PFM's "Altaloma" shows how masterful these guys can play. If you're not familiar with 'Finisterre', they play in the classic style of Italian symphonic masters like PFM, Banco and Celeste. Superb keyboards, fantastic guitar and bass, nimble drumming and that remarkable flute make these guys for me the #1 Italian band in the business right now. Just check out how incredible they jam during the track "Phaedra" mixing in the songs I mention in the beginning of this review, it's done as smooth as silk. Yet, it's not all thunder. They do have a soft side that shows well live also. They can be so hypnotic! I envy the crowd that got to hear them play and they show their appreciation with great applause. This is one of the best live albums from the past 10 years and if you're any kind of fan of symphonic prog and can get past the singing in Italian, you must get this disc. You won't be disappointed. 4.5 stars!

Thank God for some of the newer Italian Prog bands, who are giving us real Prog fans music we can enjoy and love in these modern times. When metal Prog and neo Prog have taken over the definition of Prog, its nice to see some bands no go that route, but take the lonlier, but more nobel, route of post- Canterbury style Prog. Some of these tracks are amazing. Gripping and strong largely instrumental Prog. When the singer sings, I sometimes want him to stop, he's a little atonal at times. But thats the exception, the music is largely pure prog for progressive people like you and me. Not jazzy at all really, just very Proggy. They're not going to knock D.F.A. off their mantel of best Italian Prog of the 90s/00s, but they're still very good.

Another very nice discovery from Italy.

I have very little knowledge about Finisterre's music before I got this album from Moonjune Records. Well, I also have the In Limine album in my Mount Everest like mountain of albums I want to review for PA before the end of next decade. I think it is fair to say that the Fabio Zuffiani interview and this live album has pushed both that album and the rest of the albums I have from him pretty much to the top of this mountain.

This live album is from their gig in the USA in 1997. I am not sure about the full story......... ProgDay '97 it is, according to the other reviews here. And it is the full performance. Which makes this live album so great. You get the "you are beautiful" comments from the band to the audience too, which is both funny and very charming. I am glad they included this in this live album. The interaction between the band and the audience adds a lot to this live album.

....... Which brings us over to the music........ Finisterre's music has a contemporary feeling, but it is still rooted in the RPI scene. The keyboards is vintage. The same goes for the vocals and the guitars. The sound is also excellent. The performance is top notch.

The quality of the songs is here more or less a reflection of the band itself. I guess they did not travel all the way from Italy to USA to play obscure substandard material from their albums. Hence, I suspect this is more or less a greatest songs package and a reflection of where Finisterre stood at that point. Finisterre has nothing to be ashamed off, to put it like this. Their brand of RPI is at times pretty fusion like and close to the Canterbury Scene. The use of flute enhances their soundscape. The songs itself are all great. The best one is Orizzonte Degli Eventi which alone is reason enough to scramble for the credit card and the rest of their albums. The rest of the songs is excellent too. The inclusion of King Crimson and Genesis songs into one of their songs is excellent too. Finisterre put on a good show that night, I believe.

The great songs aside; this is a live album with a very good live feeling and a lot of warmth. You can melt glaciers with this good humoured live album. My only gripe is the lack of some really killer tracks, but that is my only gripe. This live album is as good as it can get from the RPI scene and Finisterre has found themselves a new fan.

4.5 stars

Excellent performance!

This is the result of a live performance recorded back in 1997 at the Prog Day Festival, and in my opinion, a clear example of the exquisite sound of this Italian band. Finisterre is one of the projects of Fabio Zuffanti, a prolific musician who has given a lot to progressive rock for the last two decades, with several projects full of quality. This band has a special symphonic flavor, with clear influence of those old RPI bands, but with a fresh sound nonetheless.

In this CD which was released in 2000, (in spite as I said it was recorded in 1997) offers excellent performances of eight songs, four of them reaching more than ten minutes length, and six of them shorter ones, all, making a total and truly enjoyable time of 77 minutes. So once you play this album, sit comfortable and enjoy what you will listen. Important to say, that the songs performed here were taken from their first two studio albums (Finisterre, and In Limine), in addition to one cover (Altaloma, original by PFM).

Lush keyboards, wonderful strong bass lines, challenging compositions and a first-class musical execution is what you will find here. Songs such as "In Limine", "Macinaaqua, Macinaluna", "Canto Antico" or "Orizzonte Degli Eventi" will delight you with their great sound, so the music will take you to the ProgDay itself, you will feel like being there listening to this cool symphonic music. Worth mentioning is that in some passages the band made a homage to some older prog dinosaurs, such as King Crimson or Genesis, playing some representative notes, and of course, the most evident homage to their countrymen, Premiata Forneria Marconi with "Altaloma".

Though I really enjoy this live performance and I highly recommend it, it is not what I would call a masterpiece, so my final grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!

This set was recorded at ProgDay in 1997, and was originally released on Peter Renfro's own Proglodite label. As with the DFA release this has been issued as a Digipak, and that is not the only similarity as yet again this is an Italian band playing their first gig in America. Musically there are also some similarities in the way that they can both play ferocious rock that is interspersed with some gentle vocals. The major musical difference in that Finisterre also feature flautist Sergio Grazia, who provides the band with an extra melody element.

The first time I played this was on a long car journey and I was taken with the clarity of the production and the way that the band can seamlessly move from one musical idea to another. There is quite a strong jazz element, and is outside of the 'normal' prog scene, which cannot be a bad thing. This is an interesting album that also contains their cover of PFM's "Altaloma" that was missing from the original release. Worth hearing.

Originally appeared in Feedback #64, Dec 01