I well recognise the genre! So at certain moments, you might say, PFM are very much a product of their time, or of the times that came right before them. Other tracks, though, feature solos, sudden tempo-changes and adventurous group playing that will knock you out flat.
PFM fans will know that I'm thinking especially of "Dove Parte 2 ", which features the most exquisite playing on among other things piano, violin or is it really a viola? If anything, such music recorded in , as far as I can tell sounds more varied and sophisticated than anything Yes or Genesis were trying to do at the time; it also runs more smoothly and remains highly enjoyable. Overall verdict: three and a half stars. To my shame, a imagined a lot of softness and biased ardor in Italian Symph's regular inspiration, only for one of the best such expressions and, incidentally, one close to being my first ever experience from the entire universal-lengthen catalog to prove me wrong.
The italienesque sapience comes indeed with linguine morphs of passionate, sweet-ceramic or soporifically suave, otherwise the accent would fall on gainful dappers or gigantic tones. But PFM finds a different approach, with no stop at it, combining the sweet candor and a quite original candid warmth with notch and fruitful hard arrangements and artistic challenges, much to complement dynamic and suspense, under empathies and lucid vocalities.
In rest, the band and most awarding Storia Di Un Minuto plays and sings under genuine and basic treats of excellent music and extra-viral emotion.
The music vibrations of this album are deceitful at times, but always masterful. The dependency is pure progressive, but also aspires and supports originality. A work like Storia Di Un Minuto , not that heavy at all but surely more shaped than within a "minute"'s veritable splendor, is profoundly something of genius, but most especially of a major sensibility.
It has most of the classic prog puzzling instrumentality, describing it with an indulgence of a careful expression. The art sounds simple, in terms of fantasy and numbness, colors and serenities. The band here consists of musical poets, who are also aggressive melomans. With a huge effort of mixing the traditional rock band weight with instruments of finesse and radical expressions mandoloncello, ottavino, clavicembalo!!
My personal hero is Mauro Pagani, playing wonderful flute macro-arrangements and ample sonorities - somehow, I am also sure many will love the piquant guitar frenzy, interpreted by Franco Mussida, and di Cioccio's vocal ethereal lead. All the rock passions and lyrical impressions conserve PFM's out stand and show a soul conditioned musical act; there are full caprices of all the beloved dynamics and symphonic dialects, sensing and scoping the artistic embrace and the full demise of imperfections.
The walkthrough that follows is the easiest impression yet, since the entire album burns under a clever light of ingenuity. But it is true that each piece enchants specifically.
Introduzione is a "prelude-simfonietta", with a hard climax. Impressioni di setembre is agil and tasteful, a first melodic fantasy in the album, with a grand tumultuousness of a prog deep rock rhythm, by scenic keyboards grave choruses. E' Festa is absolutely sensational, as an embalming musical play, going from sensibility till plenitude. Flawless, really, if only the vocals wouldn't oscillate so darkly.
La Carozza di Hans is unnaturally splendid and charming, mostly loving crazy and eclectic rock fireworks, under a mindful melody and beloved heartbeat.
Grazie Devvero ends with another full effect, in a constrict ensemble of movements and a graceful freedom; the orchestral-touch beholds the simple guild of the final flair. Storia Di Un Minuto is wonderful, as a typical PFM magic-clasp, and as a simple and hallucinating classic album motive. I'd hate to say that this wouldn't be a five star grand creation, a strong and charming music and, most gently said, one of the most lucid Italian symphonic dreams, sharing a pretty immortal essence.
It is actually the Italian and original of the song "The World. This Italian one is softer, more delicate while the English one is more bombastic. It is hard to tell which one is best, but what's for sure is that "Impressioni" is the best song out of this debut album.
Extraordinary melody, wonderful fluting and strong finale. One of my preferred PFM songs. The hardest parts are ewxquisitely combined with the sweetest and most melodic ones. A great achievement. Both "Dove. While "Part I" is light, pastoral and rather tranquil, "Part II" is fully jazzy and therefore not very appealing TO ME but the band will be rather jazz influenced on some later work. Scary intro and extremely sweet and pleasant piece of music. Very much like "Dove, Part I, this song is almost acoustic except for its finale during which the violin adds an original touch.
Probably the most difficult one to approach. Still, it features some melodic and appealing moments. I can hardly consider this album as a masterpiece. It is historical and rather different at the time of release '72 but it is too much inconsistent. The best "Impressioni", "E Festa" is balanced with the average "Dove Part II" or the good "Dove Seven out of ten would be the most accurate rating as far as I'm concerned.
But I'll upgrade it to four thanks to the two great songs it is holding. Perhaps people consider them the essence of Italian because of their long history with many releases whereas many of their counterparts were one or two-shot bands.
I personally find that many of those one-shots are much dearer to my heart than PFM, whose music may be more polished and sound closer to their English rivals, but in pursuing that sound have less of the intrinsic Italian traditional flavor I hold so dear. I'm less interested personally in hearing the Italian take on English influences than the actual unique qualities that draws me to those small groups that cooked their magnum opus straight from their heart and hometown, with little thought about what the foreign press were raving about.
But that's just a personal impression not meant to diss PFM in any way. They're definitely one of the greats and Storia is a fine early Italian release. There is so much more out there than the big 3. Quando part 1" is a perfect example of PFM in this era, rather mellow with wistful flute and finger-picked acoustic guitars. This album has a dreamy quality with lots of acoustic moments to counter the heavier symphonic portions.
It is very well played with a good sound although as I mentioned I think Amico is a slightly more impressive overall composition. If that works for you try this one, L'isola, Stati, and Chocolate Kings. The sound seems good though. The legends of the Italian progressive rock scene were formed in Milan in by ex-members of a band called ''Quelli'' along with multi-instrumentalist Mario Pagani,coming from ''Dalton''.
Inspired by the works of GENESIS and KING CRIMSON and adding their typical mediterrenean flavor,they blended classic rock with elements from classical music and the italian tradition to present a superb work full of memorable moments,demanding orchestrations and ethereal italian vocal lines,led by nice mellotron work,smooth flute parts and delicate acoustic and electric guitars.
Very close to a masterpiece of the italian and global progressive rock world and a must-have for anyone's collection! Having aired those few thoughts, music doesn't get much better than this. I put this record on late one night a couple of weeks ago, sat down in my comfy armchair with a glass of whiskey by my side.
I just repeated them once, twice, three times before I could even continue with the rest of the album. Now, a masterpiece album for me always tend to have these characteristics. Some songs that just resonate so deeply with your soul that you feel them, physically, be it by galloping heartbeat or restless legs or not being able to resist laughing out loud, all by yourself. Storia Di Un Minuto not only meets these criterias, it surpasses them with ease. Now what is this beast of an album if I, against my will, try to break it down musically?
I see that many other reviewers cite early King Crimson and Genesis as obvious influences. The early, jazzier Tull. The period from This Was to Benefit. And I can't help noticing something else, much mure subtle in there. A certain relationship to more proto-prog-like bands. Early Deep Purple comes to mind. Even some Lucifer's Friend.
Harder stuff. But it's played not as a tribute, not even as an influence, no, more like as it is expressed sub-consciously.
If this seems hard to follow, don't worry, it is. Better to listen and judge for yourself. Instruments you'll find here include things such as aggeggi, dodici, mandoloncello and ottavino. Exotic names that say very little to me, but they must have a tremendous effect on the music, and certainly add more of that unique, dreamy and often laid-back feeling.
I love every instrument, tone and word here. Can't single out what is best, making this the only album I've come across so far, where all instruments are played at the right moment all the time, creating the right mood and atmosphere all the time. I realise this has rambling praise written all over it, but I hope that the reasons for it are somewhat clear, and that everyone who haven't listened to Storia Di Un Minuto will listen to it in a near future.
Worth every penny, and just a little more. Odd, but true: ask any Italian Irish glam-folk rockers if you don't believe me. The very short first side never really lifts me beyond that strange mediocre mix. Flip the record and the second side opens with piano.
This is a little bit more like it. Mmm overtones of Yes, we have the symphonic sound properly engaged. My question is: are they really trying to mix classical with prog? It's too brash and, for me, doesn't work. Having packed that in for a game of soldiers PFM move swiftly on to a full-on anything Tull can do we can do better track. And, hey, they pull it off! Finbar Saunders would definitely put in a phnaar phnaar here. There's a pleasant acoustic guitar track.
Maybe that's the defining characteristic about this album: dabbling with many different ideas and sounds but there does not seem to be defining band signature. It's good but not essential to a prog collection. Maybe, if you have not listened to any PFM this is the best place to start provided that you listen to "Per un Amico" next.
You will realise how good Per un Amico is and be very pleasantly surprised. I hear a strong King Crimson influence Early King Crimson where especially the mellotron waves point in that direction. There are also a very obvious influence from the Dutch band Focus which is mostly due to the use of classical inspired flute playing and early Genesis is also an influence. The big difference here is of course the Italian lyrics. The quality is very high throughout the album and Premiata Forneria Marconi really know how to vary their music to keep the listener excited all the way through the album.
Not a moment is wasted time. Besides the symphonic prog tendencies there are also a bit of folk influences here and there and even a bit of jazz in Dove The musicianship is excellent and the use of violin, flute, moog and mellotron really adds some nice touches to the music. The vocals are pleasant and calm. The production is warm and organic. Until I listened to this album from Premiata Forneria Marconi I only knew the Chocolate Kings album which I bought in a used records store when one of the other customers said that they sounded a bit like Genesis.
For me Storia Di Un Minuto is a deserved 4 star rating. This one is highly recommendable to fans of early seventies symphonic prog like King Crimson, Genesis and Focus.
It's pity, but I affraid that I like more "rock" in progresive rock music. So, even understanding how high quality is this music, it doesn't take me deeply. I like some classical music sometimes, so , looking from that side, I realy hear plenty of beautiful harmonies and originality in this early music of PFM. But from other hand, when I listen classic, I prefer true classic, when we are speaking about rock, it will be nice to find more rock sounds there.
Classic melodies, acoustic beauties, very sweet and soft sound all italian beauties in one place , so - what about rock there? Too often it reminds me of popular translation of classical music to listeners, for whom real classical sound is too complex and boring.
Good job, but - what about rock? So, all in all, I think because of my very personal point of view this is beautiful and original sympho - sympho - rock what means plenty of sympho and few rock accessories.
If you like it, it's perfect example, if you prefer more rock in your prog, just leave it. Premiata Forneria Marconi is the most popular band of the scene and there are moments where that status seems deserved. They are just so sweet, emotive, creative and accessible. However, judging from the little I heard from this scene, there are bands out there that appeal more to me. I also don't find PFM albums to be entirely consistent. There's always a dip in the song writing or an experiment to digress from their basic romantic sound that doesn't feel really accomplished.
I sure appreciate their willingness to take risks and progress their sound, but the result can't always convince me. The debut is quite consistent though, the only track that feels out of place is E'Festa. It has a charming playfulness but overall it isn't very impressive and has aged pretty badly. It's decidedly less compared to the wealth of beautiful dreamy music around it. I even like the fanfare at the end. Another reason why I prefer their debut over the second album is that I hear a much more personal sound here.
On the second album, the presence of the great UK prog bands is felt much more prominently then here. This one is all gentle sounds, acoustic guitars, flutes and mellotron with at least as many campfire moments as your average Simon and Gartfunkel album. Of course PFM plays in another league where it concerns composition and musicianship, it's just that the gentle melancholy feels similar.
There are some toy synths in Impressioni Di Settembre that are somehow inadequate but overall the use keys is not too disruptive. This album only lasts for 34 minutes. Given that I could have lived without E'Festa , the album is unsatisfactorily short.
Nevertheless, the 30 remaining minutes are very solid and packed with creativity. Something that is largely preferable over minute albums that don't get to the point. Now, I really wonder what further surprises this scene has in store for me. Storia Di Un Minuto features a much less consistent production with uneven mixing where on one instance the music seems too quite but once the band gets into a more energetic section it becomes a bit too loud.
This is of course understandable considering that it was recorded in ! Although Per Un Amico also has some of those difficulties I consider it a much better production which ultimately results in me playing it a lot more.
It can be considered unfair because the material on both these albums has that distinct Premiata Forneria Marconi style with many of these tracks easily being interchangeable between the two releases which would even later be proven on Photos Of Ghost. The album begins with an an introduction number where we also get to hear the first example of uneven production.
No matter where I set the volume on my speakers I always have to pick up the remote and adjust it as this one minute tune progresses. Eventually I always end up lowering the volume significantly during the last 20 seconds! Fortunately the album's highlight compositions comes early in the shape of Impressioni Di Settembre and lightens the mood.
It's such a beautiful composition with one of the most memorable Moog performance ever put on a studio recording. I would assume that E' Festa is considered this album's highlight since it's the only track off this release that made it to the band's English-language re-release album a year later.
Personally I never considered it as such although it's nonetheless an interesting performance. Next up is the two part Dove Quando which I guess had to be split up due to the vinyl record's length limitations although it still doesn't explain why the compositions couldn't be moved around in order to place it all on one side.
I prefer the first part of this composition slightly more because the second part is a wild instrumental number that goes all over the place and in the end feels slightly less then the sum of its parts. I strongly recommend listening to La Carrozza Di Hans with earphones on because it definitely enhances this performance, plus you won't have to adjust the volume as much. This has to do with a great acoustic section which unfortunately is played much too quiet in comparison to the second act.
There is a similar problem with Grazie Davvero which also features a distinct Brain Damage -sounding guitar riff that I just can't overlook. This album's material is well worth a high ratings that Storia Di Un Minuto has received so far but the production ruins some of the moments for me and so I shall settle for a shaky excellent addition rating.
Parte I Dove Enough of the analogies--PFM is a very talented band that made some great music, starting right here in their debut. In Storia, I hear a group of musicians who are quite comfortable playing with each other, as well as playing off each other, but still left a bit on the table in the songwriting department.
Highlights for me include Impressione, E Festa and Dove. Impressione is one of those quintessential tunes, just like the opener on the following album, that set PFM apart from any other progressive band, alternating between dreamy verses and powerfully beautiful choruses, and with expertly placed flute and tympani. Simply wonderful, and the high point of the album for me. E Festa shows a different side of the band from the rest of the album by rocking out a bit.
I probably would prefer this as the album closer, but that's a minor quibble. The Dove series shows the variety of the band, with a very mellow and pastoral opening, followed by some uptempo, quasi-improvisational instrumental work. Here it's hard not to be impressed by their collective musical ability. Due to somewhat uneven flow and quality of songs, I see this as an overly qualified 4-star album--particularly considering that this is a debut in but just short of a masterpiece.
However, it's hard to imagine any progger not finding this a meaningful addition to their collection. Especially when compared to the successor Per un Amico this debut is even much more hard to grasp prog.
I've listened to the album many times now but I'm just unable to get hold of it in any way. I still don't know exactly how good it is, I just know it's good and it's also very special. The short opener with the logical title Introduzione is setting the tone already with several moods and styles within one minute.
Second is the famous Impressione di Settembre song which sounds both accessible and intricate to me. E Festa is much more rocky all over sudden showing the diversity within PFM's possibilities. Typical seventies this one.
Next up are the the Dove Quando tracks which are my favorites really. And also the best examples of what I mean in my opening lines. This is prog of the highest caliber. I mean I could get all 5 songs of Per un Amico under my belt but these two songs are true enigmas, I just don't know what to think of them, what to feel for them, they're like ghosts or something.
And at the same time they secure a four star rating definitely because of that. And that's what these tracks are. Truly amazing!! The two remaining songs La Carozza di Hans and Grazie Davvero aren't the very best of this special debut but are still very much worth while and don't really diminish the value of the album's greatness.
They're just less exiting and significant. So why did I say before that the Dove Quando tracks secure the 4 stars and not 5?
That's the crucial question here. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. It appears your browser does not have it turned on. Please see your browser settings for this feature.
Their first album under the new name was Storia di un Minuto. Sinfield was so taken with the group that he decided to come on board writing lyrics and producing them. The result of that collaboration was Photos of Ghosts, but it was really only an English reworking of Per un Amico. Due to difficulties the British press was having with the name of the group, it was then shortened to PFM. The group released a true third album in L'isola di Niente.
In the mid-'70s, Cook, a live album was released. It was renamed Live in U. Their next release, after extensive touring and a short break, was Chocolate King. It became the first album to only feature an English version, the group having had done both English and Italian renditions of previous releases.
The album, although not a huge commercial success, did generate enough interest to sign the band to Elektra Asylum Records.
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