IO SONO NATO LIBERO

I've been a BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO fan for years, but the only time I bought "Io Sono Nato Libero" didn't reached my house and had to cancel the Internet payment, so when I found the album in my local store last week, it was like a dream come true, and even when it was quite expensive, any price is well paid for this lost treasure.

The album starts with "Canto Nomade Per Un Prigioniero Politico" (Nomadic Chant for a Political Prisoner), and from the start the marvellous voice of Francesco di Giacomo combined with Gianni Nocenzi's delightful piano, almost made me break in tears, but the story is only about to start, during 15 minutes that seem short, the band presents us one of the best examples of what Progressive Rock means, with a very complex structure only compared to King Crimson with Jazzy overtones, but never forgetting the importance of a solid melody as most Italian bands, a perfect way to open an almost perfect album.

"Non Mi Rompete" (My Italian is rusty but I believe it means Don't Break Me) is the only track from this album I heard in the DVD BMS released a few years ago, and is everything you can expect from an Italian Symphonic band, the beautiful acoustic introduction with guitar and vocals is again close to perfection, mainly because Francesco's vocal range is by far one of the best in all the market.

This time don't expect as many changes as in the previous track, just the acoustic passage interrupted by all the band in a vital and fast section, this structure is repeated constantly, but each time the fast passage is slightly different with magnificent chorus and a Moog performance by Vittorio Nocenzi.

"La Cittá Sottile" (The Subtle City) is a radical change after two melodic songs, BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO plays some sort of Symphonic - Jazz, with elaborate structure, the instruments enter and leave one after the other in a magical dance crossing several genres while Gianni Nocenzi plays his piano in the powerful style of Rachmaninoff, the album keeps surprising me even more.

"Dopo... Niente È Più Lo Stesso" (After... Nothing is the Same Anymore) is another complex track that starts with a dissonant section in which the sweet flute enters in conflict with the vocals and the rest of the instruments, specially the impressive piano, after a while the song seems to get more calm, but still the constant flute collisions with the distorted keyboards, guitar and drums, but it's only a link to another frenetic passage in the vein of KING CRIMSON, simply impressive.

The album is closed by "Traccia II" (Trace II), a short and practically Classical instrumental (practically because the Moog and drums bring us back to Prog territory), with a beautiful melody that works as a brilliant epilogue for "Io Sono Nato Libero", all along "Traccia II", the interplay of Gianni Nocenzi in the piano and his brother Vittorio in the organ is out of this world.

I can't say much more, because simple words won't describe with accuracy the impeccable music presented by this legendary Italian band.

Five solid stars.