DRACULA OPERA ROCK

It was not until mid-90's when PFM seemed to return eventually towards the right direction.Flavio Premoli was back on track after many years and the quartet of Mussida-Djivas- Premoli-Di Cioccio recorded two albums, ''Ulisse'' from 1997 and ''Serendipity'' from 2000, which showed some hints of the great talent of these musicians, though being more on the accesible side of rock.In 2005 they came back with a more ambitious project entitled ''Dracula Opera Rock'', released on Sony BMG.

This concept album is a weird combination of rockin' parts along with PFM's old symphonic style blended with some more complex parts.The later are definitely what a listener seeks in PFM's music.And while the band sounds more fresh and modern than on their early years, anyone can still detect the similarities between the old and new sound.Most of the tracks fullfill all the Classical aspirations the title of the album suggests.Plenty of string sections, romantic piano textures and grandiose keyboard work with a cinematic edge along with series of dramatic vocal lines are definitely elements close to the prog likings.And the band presents them in a very professional way.Some of the compositions recall PFM's legendary past: Acoustic parts, symphonic keyboards work, organ leads and multi-vocal harmonies are more than welcome to be listened.And a fair amount of complex breaks appears every now and then.However a few compositions are rather dull, far of course from being bad, but also far from PFM's adaption.Very plastic synths, a couple of rockier' chessy parts and some flat vocal sections should not belong among the usual PFM menu and prevent the album to be really great.Nevertheless, there is enough material to satisfy the prog listener in here.

Do not expect a bombastic Rock opera from ''Dracula opera rock'', this is rather a modern and artistic Progressive Rock album with symphonic and Classical inspirations, but most of all it's a decent comeback of PFM into the prog field.Warmly recommended, despite being a step back compared to the essential efforts of the band from the 70's.