Premiata Forneria Marconi
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THE REVIEW

In the early '80s, Premiata Forneria Marconi was wrapping up one of the most successful progressive-rock experiments in Italian music, with the pinnacle of success as the first Italian rock band in the United States, but now it was time to change course. And hence emerged a few albums decidedly more oriented towards more commercial pop-rock, but not devoid of enchanting tracks, also because they were always played with astonishing skill.

An example definitely comes from this 1980 album, which is certainly not a masterpiece but contains good tracks, such as the title-track (later covered by Riccardo Cocciante), a song about the passion for playing music, "Si può fare", a fast and energetic rock piece where it eventually ends up at home playing a drum, "Topolino", a beautiful ballad showcasing Francone Mussida's voice (with most of the vocals in the album supported by Franz Di Cioccio), "Bianco e nero", not bad either. The album also has some forgettable tracks (if so far you've lived without ever listening to "Volo a vela", "Sogno americano", or "Tanti auguri", you can safely continue to do so without missing anything particularly essential).

I reiterate, this album is not exceptional. But it has an enormous merit. That of containing a song that is not just a song, it is THE song. One of those tracks that makes us die-hard record buyers say, "here, I'll buy this because it has... "MAESTRO DELLA VOCE", a perfect song, a ballad where everything merges sublimely, from the music to the lyrics, with a masterful vocal performance by Franz, and with a particular dedication to Demetrio Stratos. Definitely a song worthy of being part of the anthology of Italian songs, and a piece that alone is worth purchasing the album.

Anyway, a good album, with a great masterpiece and some good songs, and above all, played superbly (damn, it's PFM!).