Banco del mutuo soccorso
Darwin!

THE REVIEW

This is Banco's second album, a concept dedicated to the theme of evolutionism (Darwin, to be precise), so dear to "secular" thought, and often so poorly regarded by certain religious fundamentalism. Except for rare exceptions, these albums always carry a type of "strong", incisive thought, whether one agrees with it or not. It just so happens that the first words of Francesco Di Giacomo say:

"Prova, prova a pensare un po’ diverso,
niente da grandi dei fu fabbricato,
ma il creato s’è creato da sé,
cellule, fibre, energia e calore"

This implicitly characterizes the "manifesto" of the album. It begins with the origin of life on Earth, moving through the evolution of man, the search for love, hunting, until the first macabre premonitions and the end of everything. Let's set aside the content and considerations of the excellent lyrics and focus on the music: we are talking about one of the best Italian progressive groups ever. It's useless to try to list the "peers," which would be incomplete anyway (I say this every time, sorry): let’s just say that these artists have been among the designers of a musical genre with a huge following (quite in Italy, much more abroad) that abandons the patterns of music conceived until then, pushing to the extreme what came out of the amplifiers of Led Zeppelin, the '60s rock, skillfully mixing also the baroque of classical music. Di Giacomo's voice is splendid, but it may not appeal to everyone, being on unusual tones, let's say: yet he manages to create that magic that only symphonic-progressive can give. All of this mixed with many digressions that are never boring and highly evocative, with the sound of mellotron, piano, and guitar solos.

Long introductory suite, beautiful, with continuous variations on the theme, an extraordinary singing style, and with an unusual (and perfect!) and unforgettable vocal metric from the first listen. Massive and omnipresent are the so-called baroque parts (keyboard and piano), worthy of the best classical works, with an absolutely thrilling finale. The album continues with the evocative "La conquista della posizione eretta", in whose first 3 minutes we seem to have before us the first hominid beginning to rise from the ground, though not yet having "straightened the neck".
If on the one hand, we note the wonderful "Cento mani e cento occhi" (with the theme of the struggle for survival) and the never banal "750.000 anni fa... l’amore?" (a true poem), on the other, if you really want to find a flaw, the last two tracks of the album are slightly harder to digest. But it’s an opinion (that some might not share). A great album, overall, but surely the first "piggy bank" stands out for greater incisiveness.

"7 giorni son pochi per creare"