FIABA

After the debut album "Frontiera" released in 1972, Procession released their second album for the record label Fonit Cetra in 1974 with a different line up festuring original members Gianfranco Gaza (vocals) and Roby Munciguerra (guitars) plus Maurizio Gianotti (sax, flute) and Paolo D'Angelo (bass). In studio they were helped by some guests musicians like drummer Francesco Froggio Francica (Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno), keyboardist Ettore Vigo (Delirium) and vocalist Silvana Aliotta (Circus 2000). The result was excellent. The overall sound is less raw and aggressive if compared with the previous album and dreamy acoustic atmospheres prevail while lyrics by Marina Comin perfectly fit the music blending dreams and reality.

The opener "Uomini di vento" (Men of wind) starts with a rhythm percussion pattern, then electric guitar comes in... "The wind blows strongly by now / Men run away because they can't stand it...". Sax, flutes and vocals depict a world stormed by the wind where scared shadows are looking for a shelter. Reality and its hypocrisies are swept away...

"Un mondo sprecato" (A wasted world) is more reflexive and darker and features good electric guitar and sax solos... "I wasted a world trying to understand / But I don't know how to begin / Man, you look at me and you don't understand / I used to live like you / A bitter life like many others / But I made up my mind and now I know / You're laughing at a clown / That has stopped playing with the wind by now... You are laughing without asking yourself what this tale could mean...".

On the long and complex "C'era una volta" (Once upon a time) the band try to explore the "dark side of the moon" and sax and vocals every now and again run after Pink Floyd's shadows... Lyrics are about a quest for true life: a child set off looking for the sense of life and when he thinks to have found it he realizes that he's old by now and that he has wasted his time...

"Notturno" begins softly, with acoustic guitar and flute drawing a strange and unquiet dreamy atmosphere... "A boat sails lightly on the see / There's a man on the edge / And the breeze wets his face / And the night gets darker / The man seems looking for life / But what is he looking for? He's not a fisherman... And the sea gets darker and darker / And the man leaves the edge / Now the boat is lighter...".

"Il volo della paura" (The flight of fear) is another beautiful dreamy track. Lyrics depict a flock of seagulls that darken the sky. When they land all together the earth is shaken. Men that can't fly are scared and remain on their shaken world where there's only a wall left, so hard to climb... Just thousand wings and so much fear!

The final title track "Fiaba" (Fairy tale) describes a village on top of a hill where live people refusing the rules of the world and enjoy their peace... I think that the inlay painting featuring classical and rock musicians climbing the hill describes this track better than words...

An essential album for every Italianprog lover!