Premiata Forneria Marconi
Per un Amico

THE REVIEW

Prog rock is a genre that in the last 10 years has experienced a strong resurgence thanks to bands like Dream Theater and others. Yet I don't think it's right to talk about prog as music completely composed to satisfy the musical follies of artists, who are certainly valid technically (see Portnoy & co.), but of a unique and disarming coldness. No offense to the fans of the "theater of dreams," but it's absolutely not possible to talk about strong emotions and unique sensations to be found in albums like "Systematic Chaos" or others by the Boston group. Sorry if Petrucci's group is now my sole target, but it's the most striking example of what I want to talk about. It's not just by making 10-minute tracks, perhaps divided into 2 or 3 parts, that you've created a masterpiece.

In the 70s (when the true masterpieces of the genre in question were being released), "Per Un Amico," the second studio work by PFM, was launched on the market. Analyzing such an eclectic and multifaceted work is absolutely not a simple task: indeed, in just 35 minutes of music, you find everything you can ask for from prog; keyboard solos, guitars, odd times, violins, keyboards, choirs, and more. Yes, there are 10-minute songs, but they flow smoothly, harmoniously, without disturbing elements or fillers; just music. And it's difficult to listen to half an hour of technical music (not hyper-technical), delicate and rough at the same time, in a modern prog record. How can you not be carried away by the magical melodies of "Per Un Amico," or by the snare-driven marches of Di Cioccio in "Generale"? And what about the almost videogame-like atmospheres of "Il Banchetto"?

So here there is everything you can also find in a Dream Theater album: Solos, technicalities, instrumental parts that scream... but there is one thing that cannot be learned in any music school, and that technique cannot give; it's not imagination... But it's the magic.

One of the greatest proofs of one of the greatest bands on the world prog scene.