Marco Masoni
Il Multiforme (paesaggi catartici e operette morali)

Marco Masoni was the leader of the Pisani band Germinale, one of the most interesting formations of the Italian new-prog scene of the '90s, which included names like Finisterre and Moongarden. In the past, he also participated as a solo artist in the legendary tribute to Italian prog by Mellow Records, Zarathustra's Revenge, where he ventured with a personal and effective reinterpretation of the early - psychedelic and avant-garde - Battiato, that is, albums like Fetus and Pollution.

Now, his first solo album, significantly titled Il multiforme (paesaggi catartici e operette morali), is released by BTF, an album balancing between singer-songwriter style and prog. The cover is a well-executed collage and indicative of the numerous loves and musical influences of Marco Masoni. You can spot Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Genesis, Peter Hammill, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, Franco Battiato, Lucio Battisti (actually a painting as due to rights issues it was impossible to use a photo), and many others. The cover of the legendary Forever Changes by Love, a milestone of psychedelia, can also be glimpsed.

Indeed, listening to Il multiforme you can find some Battistian atmospheres like in "Tutti in colonna (la vita non è)" and "Maggio d'improvviso". "Catarsi" - divided into three parts - is, in my opinion, one of the album's strengths: it starts acoustically and calmly but then the settings become psychedelic and prog transporting the listener into a surreal and cathartic delirium. "Perdersi" is another of my favorite tracks; it is characterized by its mystical and bucolic suggestions that reminded me of the Hostsonaten. "Sa Domo De Su Re Domo De Su Re" is an effective piano and acoustic guitar ballad, as is "Il treno temporale", another beautiful song full of pathos. "Il suicidio di 500 pecore" has lyrics with an ironic and apocalyptic vein, while "Predoni" instead has a nice rock rhythm. "Mi ha detto Bob Dylan" has beautiful acoustic guitar and piano arrangements. It closes with "Theodore il poeta", an excellent ballad with an experimental "ghost" part at the end. Even the lyrics turn out to be very interesting and reflect Masoni's philosophical and unconventional "vision".

Il multiforme (paesaggi catartici e operette morali) is certainly an excellent album of songs (but will surely appeal to many progsters as well) that incorporates various influences and demonstrates that we are not facing a trivial artist.