DRACULA OPERA ROCK

Finally a modern accessible Opera Rock, which can be appreciated by a wider crowd of listeners (not for the prog fans only!!), of course with the same mood of a musical, even though I can not say it's equal to the 70's majestic opera rocks, such as "Jesus Christ Superstar for example or the good work by Who entitled "Tommy"...nevertheless it's suitable for a thrilling music event live on stage (as foreseen in the next concert programme of 2006), starring the whole old line up of PFM, plus a few guest stars, as well as a young talented female singer called "Dolcenera", singing in the final track "Un Destino di Rondine"... the good and the evil living together, the perfect representation of Dracula, this latter character already represented in the cinematographic masterpiece by F. Ford Coppola and here helped by the orchestral sections and the symphonic chorus as well, really delightful ; it's strange that it's the second concept album only, after the controversial (and quite disappointing too) "Ulisse" dated 1997, as They try to be involved in the development of a famous story and this time reaching their goal in a lot of circumstances: in fact the style of PFM is inspiring both in the accessible classic rock genre and in the symphonic breaks-through as well, close to a kind of classic music and with a certain creativity which is often remarkable. The lyrics by Vincenzo Incenzo are clever, thanks also to the melodramatic passages (think of the overture): of course it's not a prog masterpiece nor strictly a progressive concept album, but their music taste is always pleasant, being able to represent the various dramatic and romantic moods!! It should be worth a "3 stars" righter score in comparison to their best albums ...long live PFM, anyway!!

I was a bit suspect before listening to this "opera rock" as mentioned on the front cover. Rather pompous appellation IMO.

Some songs are on the plus side like the beautiful "Ouverture". Full of lyricism and beauty. Truly "PFM" like we were used to a long time ago.or "Non è Un Incubo è Realtà" which is a combination between one of the rockiest song from the band and some pure symphonic parts. A very good combination. When you listen to the intro of "Il Castello Dei Perchè" you can't avoid to recognize the "ELP" sounds. Of course with such an "opera" project.

My preferred song of the whole and fully in line with the "Dracula" concept is "Il Mio Nome è Dracula". It has a scary and intriguing mood. Melody is not forgotten either. This is a bombastic song with the band being really powerful.

After having heard the mellow ballad "Non Guardarmi", the band offers a more complex and tortured song. "Ho Mangiato Gli Uccelli" is close to "Crimson". Jazzy flavour and harder sound. I prefer the peaceful and melodic "Terra Madre". This ballad is by no means precious: there are rhythm changes, very good guitar work and emotional vocals. Another good song.

I have an opposite view of "Male d'Amore" which is a flat and uninspired rock song. The negro spiritual chorus is particularly difficult to bear. The worse is still to come. This honour is without any doubt hold by "La Morte Non Muore". A noisy song mixing rock, jazz, improvisation. Completely chaotic and unpleasant.

Of course, there is the long closing number which is holds some good moments (but not those Broadway-like passages). It stops after almost six minutes and then starts again for a pompous finale.

This work is only a part of the full "Dracula" opera. I can't really agree that this album is a masterpiece. A good album, maybe. At best.

Three stars.

Getting better and better...

Again this remarkable band comes on the horizon with a great work. After the reformation in 1997 this is the third consecutive album by Premiata Forneria Marconi to be better than its predecessor. If we talk about the future Stati di immaginazione will be the fourth consecutive step forward. This reveals a strong return to form, lost after the middle of the 70s - thirty years earlier. It's admirable for sure. What about this album? Dracula Opera Rock is the first rock opera album by the band and it deserves this title. It's probably the first concept album by the band, too.

After a couple of controversial albums and thirty years of wandering, Premiata Forneria Marconi find its own new style and its way. Its strongly recommended for prog-period band lovers and not very much for pop-period band lovers (ha-ha). I would say it's different to 70s, but not in terms of weakness. The musicianship is very good and the songwriting, too! The album contains some opera themes (familiar to a rock opera), symphonic flavour and little jazz fusion. PFM is there they have to - on a solid ground! 4 stars!

First of all, I speak no Italian, so I have to judge this release purely on the music alone. That may be a good thing for the band, as the work "amore" seems to pop up all too frequently, so if I was albe to understand it, I might be put off by the excessive mushiness.

This album bears little resemblance to the seventies PFM, despite being the same core group of musicians. On the plus side, the music sounds big. The orchestrations, mostly done on synthesizer patches are exquisite, giving this rock opera a very overblown (in a nice way) theatrical sound.

It was not until mid-90's when PFM seemed to return eventually towards the right direction.Flavio Premoli was back on track after many years and the quartet of Mussida-Djivas- Premoli-Di Cioccio recorded two albums, ''Ulisse'' from 1997 and ''Serendipity'' from 2000, which showed some hints of the great talent of these musicians, though being more on the accesible side of rock.In 2005 they came back with a more ambitious project entitled ''Dracula Opera Rock'', released on Sony BMG.

This concept album is a weird combination of rockin' parts along with PFM's old symphonic style blended with some more complex parts.The later are definitely what a listener seeks in PFM's music.And while the band sounds more fresh and modern than on their early years, anyone can still detect the similarities between the old and new sound.Most of the tracks fullfill all the Classical aspirations the title of the album suggests.Plenty of string sections, romantic piano textures and grandiose keyboard work with a cinematic edge along with series of dramatic vocal lines are definitely elements close to the prog likings.And the band presents them in a very professional way.Some of the compositions recall PFM's legendary past: Acoustic parts, symphonic keyboards work, organ leads and multi-vocal harmonies are more than welcome to be listened.And a fair amount of complex breaks appears every now and then.However a few compositions are rather dull, far of course from being bad, but also far from PFM's adaption.Very plastic synths, a couple of rockier' chessy parts and some flat vocal sections should not belong among the usual PFM menu and prevent the album to be really great.Nevertheless, there is enough material to satisfy the prog listener in here.

Do not expect a bombastic Rock opera from ''Dracula opera rock'', this is rather a modern and artistic Progressive Rock album with symphonic and Classical inspirations, but most of all it's a decent comeback of PFM into the prog field.Warmly recommended, despite being a step back compared to the essential efforts of the band from the 70's.