DIARY

Lifestream came to life in Prato, Tuscany in 2006, influenced by bands such as Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Kansas, Pain Of Salvation, Porcupine Tree or Marillion. After a first demo Ep and some line up changes, in 2018 they released an interesting full length debut album entitled "Diary" on the independent label Lizard Records with a line up featuring Alberto Vuolato (guitars), Andrea Cornuti (bass, backing vocals), Andrea Franceschini (piano, keyboards, backing vocals) and Paolo Tempesti (lead and backing vocals, drums, percussion). According to the band, it's a concept album "sui generis" where all the tracks follow a common thread drawing the listener inside the lives of different characters like a wind flipping through the pages of a book. The art work by Alessandro D'Aiuto tries to give an idea of the subject matter...

The opener "Dreamer" starts by background keyboards, a strummed guitar and soaring melodic lines, then the rhythm section enters bringing darker atmospheres. It's a piece that depicts a man fed up with his daily routine and wants to break free following his dreams. At night he fills the blank pages of his diary with his plans and desires but the morning after the change is always postponed...

Next comes "Built From The Inside" that features the backing vocals by the guest Marta Guerrini and deals with a man who gets lost in the virtual reality of his self-made world. This piece fades in the following "The Shy Tree", a beautiful ballad with a Gothic flavour that conjures up sweet memories from the past, ghosts and regrets.

"Sound Of The Earth" deals with environmental issues and evokes a kind of call of the wild. It's the reflection of a man who wants to live in harmony with earth and nature. He feels like a grain of sand in the hourglass of life, a leaf beaten by the howling wind but he still stands up looking for the truth in an empire of lies... Then it's the turn of the long, complex "Discoveries" that is divided into four parts and tells of a man attracted by forbidden theories who tries a dangerous experiment to find a way to explore the afterworld and discover the truth of all things...

The soft, melancholic "Whispers" evokes spirits and voices from the past coming out from the pages of a diary and invites to not fear the changes because the road that leads to peace and harmony is full sacrifices... It is linked to "Over The Rippling Waters", an excellent, complex suite divided into five parts that every now and again could recall Marillion and tells of a nightmare where ashes dance in a mad, frozen reality during another journey through the unconscious... Then the beautiful title track, "Diary", marks the moment where the nightmare fades out and a new awareness rises. It depicts a diary where you can write down your sorrow and disappointment, a diary that can have a therapeutic role...

A cover of Il Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, "E mi viene da pensare", closes the album with a tribute to the memory of Francesco di Giacomo and Rodolfo Maltese...

On the whole, a really good work!