COME TI VA IN RIVA ALLA CITTÀ

Warning: this is not a prog album! After "Suonare suonare" Flavio Premoli left the band and PFM went on looking for an Italian way to AOR roc". Franz Di Cioccio became the "front man" with Walter Calloni on drums on stage.

«"Come ti va in riva alla città" contained a different musical language, maybe less poetic than the previous LP. Lyrics told about sub-urban stories: they were about young people who cannot get used to social reality which wants everybody to be homogenous; lyrics told also about young people who want to be protagonist in their life, in a good or bad way. The LP atmosphere was very well represented by its cover. As always critics were different, even if we had a great success during the Italian tour. Di Cioccio's front man role was giving the band a lot of energy» (from the official website of the band).

Lyrics have never been PFM strength and I prefer Franz Di Cioccio as a drummer. The music here is far away from the mood of early seventies albums: just some good simple pop-rock songs like "Come ti va", "Quartiere otto", "Chi ha paura della notte" and "Indians" to save (anyway the songs used to be dilated and improved in the live performances to let the band show his great musicianship). The rest is to forget. An album only for die-hard fans and collectors!

Did Trevor Rabin fly to Italy on weekends to wreck PFM too on the side? I'll have to investigate that. Just kidding.

Actually this album precedes 90125 a bit but you get the idea. By this point PFM had swallowed the 80s Kool-aid that would soon infect Yes, Genesis, Zeppelin (Plant and The Firm), etc, as the 70s legends began to trade artistic integrity for boardroom decisions aimed at keeping the money trains rolling. While this album is light years away from the magic of the early 70s releases and while it is clearly not progressive rock, it is at the very least a darn good pop album.

There's no point in doing a track by track review of an album like this. What you have is 80s AOR that is slick, tight, well-produced, and good fun if you like pop music. The musicians are great of course across the board: guitars, drums, bass, keys, and vocals are all bright and upbeat. The music consists of 3-5 minute simple but stylish rockers. If you like pop music and want to hear the Italian version of 80s FM radio, here's your chance.

I would rate this a full star higher on a straight rock site but on this site it is "for fans." I really feel that 1 star is uncalled for here because the quality of the playing is so high that it should not be rated "poor." And if you happen to be a person who likes bubble gum prog like 80s Yes/Genesis/Asia then you may very well want to consider buying PFM's version. It's very well done and enthusiastic. 2 ¼ stars.

COMO TI VA ? VA BENE.

Especially when I don't listen to this album. It has been a while now that "PFM" didn't release a very good album. Six years actually separates "Chocolate Kings" and this one.

Six difficult years to fall down from the pinnacle to the abysses. "Suonare" already showed a MAJOR change in their musical directions but here and there, some nice violin parts from Lucio Fabbri to highlight a few tracks.

Nothing as such on this album (even if Lucio is still there). No great (not even good) songs; but the "palme d'or" is for "Rock In La". But the battle to distribute such a reward is tough on "Come Ti Va".

"PFM" was not at its creative heights while recording this record, beleive me. There is hardly one song to be put in evidence. It is more a collection of insipid music. The ultra lows of "Jet Lag" are almost reached. But no jazzy mood in here. Just some pop songs, some rock ones. But no prog ones; that's for sure.

Even if it not totally bad, I can absolutely not recommend this album. Some Italian rock music which I would compare to several "Ange" albums of the eighties which were only average French rock music without interest. For your piece of mind, just stay away from this one.

Two stars for this non "PFM" album.

Prog legends in their own right, PFM's place in the gilded pantheon of progressive music is forever assured thanks to classic albums such as 'Per Un Amico' and 'Cook'. However, just like Yes, Genesis et al, the onset of the 1980's brought about a new sound aimed at a broader audience; prog-rock this really isn't. Issued in 1981 and sandwiched between the studio albums 'Suonare Suonare'(pretty decent) and 'Miss Baker'(execrable), this lightweight slab of slickly-proferred Euro-pop was the group's sixth Italian-language release, but only the third since 1978's 'Passpartu'. It was also the first PFM album to be released after guitarist-and-vocalist Franco Mussida had assumed control of the group following the sacking of former lead-vocalist Bernardo Lanzetti, the talented ex-Acqua Fragile frontman whose warbly tones had given the group's English-language albums such a unique flavour. With Mussida now augmented by Patrick Djivas(bass), Franz Di Cioccio(drums, vocals) and Lucio Fabbri(keyboards), the sound is all about melody, vocals and demographics. Melodies, to get that oh-so needed radio exposure; vocals, in Italian, for Italians; and demographics, because this is PFM the pop group, not PFM the prog-rock pioneers. As a result, there really is very little of interest for trye progheads here, yet 'Come Ti Va In Riva Alla Citta' is by no means a dreadful album. Those with a penchant for smooth melodies, upbeat pop hooks and slick production values may well find much to their liking, and fans of REO Speedwagon, Air Supply, Toto and Steve Perry-era Journey are all advised to take a peek. Comparing albums such as this and 'Suonare Suonare' to the group's early-seventies masterworks is, of course, a moot point. And we won't be doing that here. Suffice to say, unless you've a sweet spot for those bands previoiusly mentioned, you should probably look elsewhere for yout Italian prog thrills. As it says down below: 'collectors/fans only'. I couldn't agree more. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2015