FORSE LE LUCCIOLE NON SI AMANO PIÙ

Released in their year of founding, Forse Le Lucciole Non Si Amano Più (1977) was their sole LP until their reformation in 1999. A beloved record of the broad yet clearly identifiable Rock Progressivo Italiano idiom, Forse is a landmark Second Wave Progressive Rock statement. As such, Locanda Delle Fate had pulled from what came before, but produced music fit for the time, in some cases (frequently more than the host of their contemporaries) even raising the complexity and interest (of the norm). Not perfect, but excellent nonetheless.

"A Volte Un Istante Di Quiete" is Prog eccellenza, kicking us off with symphonic mastery of space and form. Throughout, there are callbacks to my ears to Gentle Giant and Genesis. To avoid typing it once more, our title track is next. Balladic and sweet, it begins with vocals and once again feels deeply rooted in Foxtrot-era Genesis. Things pretty quickly pick up and brighten. It is one of those situations where it's just interesting hearing this sort of older-sounding instrumentation in the late-70s. Not a big fan of Leonardo Sasso's voice, but the melodies are good and rich.

Sasso immediately has a much better performance, in the least, on "Profumo Di Colla Bianca". A shoutout is really due to Conta and Mazzoglia on keys and synths. It's not like they carry the whole band, but they are so vital to the sound of Locanda, it's not even funny. They're very good at what they do, and you won't get a much better example of that than here. Giorgio Gardino on drums is the other certain highlight to the whole affair. Such a great player. Overall "Profumo" is a wonderful composition. This was nicely juxtaposed with the quieted "Cercando Un Nuovo Confine". This is one of the first tracks that, given the style of piano, really shows its age. How do you spell 'AOR' anyways? Decent song, but naturally well performed, at least.

If I had my eyes closed, was unaware of what was on and "Sogno Di Estunno" began, I would have sworn it was Camel! Very cool, and ultimately, it is cool, because they are, in fact, contemporaries in a truer sense than we might think ('we' specifically those most familiar with the classic and most popular English Prog groups). This is quickly revealed to be yet another example of pure Second Wave excellence. Stupendous performances on this awesome, edge-of-your-seat composition. To me, on the level of Happy The Man; but classically Italiano, no doubt about it. A surefire highlight. Another stark juxtoposition is in the soft, near-acoustic "Non Chiudere A Chiave Le Stelle". Pretty, but offers little when compared to the lot.

And with a third 8+ minute composition to spare, we have "Vendesi Saggezza". Ah, Italians, you said? The bass here sounds somewhat like Chris Squire: bright and melodic. Another that I feel, compositionally, can be placed squarely in the late-70s. Things eventually rise and brighten further around minute 4. Great performance here. Picking up even more around minute 6, this is... forgive me... 'where the fun begins!' haha. Big build, then it falls back to still epic proportions. Again, clear lineage traceable to Genesis, to my ears. And finally, "New York". This is one of the better vocal performances [not Sasso? but then who?], and once again, we are in 'epic' territory (to clarify, in the way in which it's composed), bouncing from soft and feeling to the more grandiose (though not at all over the top).

And indeed, it's rather easy to realize how long this album is, at just short of an hour... Rewarding still, well balanced and well constructed, this album is.