IO SONO NATO LIBERO

I've been listening to this for a while, trying to really get to know this 'classic'--as well as a core insight into the whole RPI sub-genre. The study has been immensely rewarding. First of all, I want to point out that "Io son nato libero" is incredibly well engineered, recorded, and mixed for 1973. Except for the vocals and drums. Everyone raves about Banco's keyboards, drums, or Francesco di Giacomo's voice but for me it is the acoustic guitars and hand percussion work that draws me back again and again. I actually find the drum kit and voice the weakest elements of this album--though 'weak' here is still stronger than 95 per cent of the other groups out there--and the 'weakness' I feel may be as much in the recording as in the performances. Francesco's vocals sometimes seem a bit forced--especially the high notes. The laid-back scatting in "Non mi rompete" (9/10) is beauty perfection. (Does anyone else detect the pleasant JOHN DENVER similarity to Francesco's voice and singing style?) The drumming just feels, at times, as if he's struggling to stay with the rest of the group--sometimes ever-so slightly ahead, sometimes slightly behind. The keys--both acoustic and electronic--are as incredible as everyone says. (How cool that it's two brothers who play with and off of each other!)

The opener, "Canto nomade per un prigionierio politico" (9/10) is my favorite song here--though I can see why some have commented that the successive sections of the song seem somehow disjointed or that they lack comprehensible flow. I love the 'Indian' percussion and acoustic guitar parts. My only dislike is the kit drumming.

"La città Sottile" (10/10) is exquisite: such emotional construction, pacing and soloing; such a tight rhythm section playing the music of this shifting, jazzy, quirky, surreal song, such amazing clarity and definition in its recording.

"Dopo ... niente e più lo stesso" (7/10), though anthemic, just feels like a twelve cylinder Rolls Royce engine running on eleven; the flaws are almost imperceptible yet somehow, collectively they add up to disappointment--inexplicably lacking some of the magic and awe of the previous four songs.

"Traccia II" (8/10) is a pretty little Wakeman-like keyboard-led instrumental which serves as the album's outro. What fun it would have been to have developed this a little more.

This is without a doubt a masterpiece of recorded music--performance, composition and production. Every bit deserving of its high ranking on PA.