IN OGNI LUOGO

Finisterre produced some good albums (studio or live) but never over-excited me. Their leader, Fabio Zuffanti is a very busy man. Lots of projects in his musical life : Hostsonaten, La Mascherra Di Cera (my fave), Finisterre, Lazona, Merlin...maybe a bit too much for a single musician.

When I listen to the opening track "Tiempi Moderni" I am just blown away. These five instrumental minutes are magnificent. A short summary of the best Italian prog music. It takes a while to lift off, but when done it is a wonderful song. Magical rhythmic section, beautiful guitar and aerial keyboards. Very much "Genesis"-oriented (while they were four). It is a very strong opener. I just hope that it will not overshadow the other songs from this album. The melody of the second part is just so emotive. Such a beauty. A great and passionate moment. A five stars track IMO.

"Snaporaz" should also have been an instrumental because the "vocals" featured are rather unpleasant and somehow ruin it. Some strings are added and give a nice flavour along with wonderful backing acoustic guitar while "vocals" enter the stage. It almost sounds as a very old "ELO" song (from the "II" era). Really a pity, these spoken messages.

"Ninive" is another very good song. Fully space-rock with fantastic keybords. If you like the early "Floyd - ASOS" this song can only please you. Another highlight (already the second one in three songs).

On this occasion, there will be some guests on this album. I already mentioned some violin but there will also be a female vocalist : Francesca Lago. She has a deep, low-pitched voice which fits perfectly on the title track. On top of this, the violin also brings an added value. So, yes : four good tracks in a row.

"Coro Eletrico" is well named. One would believe it is fully hard-rock oriented. Wild to heavy for about two minutes (a bit too much actually), a wonderful guitar riff combined with strong background keys comes at the rescue. Another full instrumental song which second half is just repetitive and little creative with some Middle-East influence. The weakest song so far.

"Agli Amici Sinestetici" belongs again to the good side of this album. More-guitar oriented, rocking damned good, the mood is very pleasant and the final part of the song is fully symphonic. Crying and so emotional guitar work. Another beautiful song.

"Continuitta" is the second number with "true" vocals. A jazzy and very quiet intro (sounds as a "Sade" one). This long song holds a very good middle and instrumental part during which the symphonic side of the band is fully expressed but it will go back to the jazzy mood later on. Actually this song is suite from jazzy to symphonic sections. It is not a bad song but the mix does not work too well. It should have been two separate songs IMO.

The short "Peter's House" also combines the same genre. It is a short track during which symphonic instants are so beautiful and the jazzy ones so dull. "Wittgenstein Mon Amour" is again on the soft jazzy mood. Definitely not my cup of tea.

IMO, this album holds several excellent songs but some (partial) other ones won't be on par. Therefore I will rate this album with three stars although it deserves seven out of ten.