BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO

One of my personal musical mutations happened when i discovered prog rock, but not just that, but when i discovered Italian prog rock, i was amazed by their different and beautiful style and one of the finest examples of what Rock Progressivo Italiano is, has to be this legendary band that created several masterpieces, called Banco del Mutuo Soccorso.

And what a band, that appeared in the early 70s and in 1972 let the world know about their music, a giant was born with this debut and self-titled album that every time I listen to it, I feel the same excitement I felt the time I discovered it, and believe me it does not happen that often, so I think you understand why my enthusiasm with these bands or albums, it's a love at first sight, it is a complete crush with their music.

The album features only 6 songs and a total time of 41 minutes of beautiful, elaborated and complex progressive rock with a different flavor, there are 3 long songs and 3 shorter ones.

It opens with "In Volo" which is a kind of introduction to their music, it is a short song with spoken word, the use of a flute that puts the folkish side of prog to their music, and some female chorus over there, besides some synth as background.

Then in a fast and sudden change we will find the second song entitled "R.I.P. (Reqcuiesant in Pace) where you will listen for the first time the extraordinary, unique and amazing voice of Francesco di Giacomo, I am sure that one of the main features of their music has to be the voice, with his voice he can provoke several things on you, no matter if you speak or not Italian. This is a longer song, with almost 7 minutes and a jazzy mood due to the piano sound, some kind of funky guitar and of course an obvious symphonic element, after some 3 minutes the song slows down and becomes like the music of a beautiful fairytale, it is so peaceful and beautiful, the piano is simply outstanding.

Next one is another shorter track, the prelude of the next 2 longer ones, "Passagio" contains just a piano sound for one minute. Then the next one is "Metamorfosi" that is one of their finest compositions and the second longer track of the album, the introduction is awesome with guitar and keyboards along with excellent drumming that calms down after one minute, then it is a noticeable change where just the piano stays making some classical music, then the next minutes are totally crazy, instrumental music that will make you think in what is next, I mean, there is not a musical standard on this song, you don't really know how the next few seconds will sound, what is sure that the keyboards predominate here, there is a constant drumming a also constant bass lines, at the middle of the song, you will listen again to the beginning of it, and then it changes again and again, the mood is in a moment darker and at the same time beautiful, strange isn't it? The last minutes are very melodic, cool guitar tunes and also the piano over there, and also the vocals appear as well, but wait, there is one moment left, which is the very end with a powerful sound like if you were in a maze and don't know what to do, the music gives you the feeling of a desperate moment, awesome.

Next we have the mighty "Il Giardino del Mago" which is my personal favourite, my most loved Banco del Mutuo Soccorso song, and the longest track of this album with almost 20 minutes. Since the first minute you will feel hypnotized by it's sound, some soft piano and drums, then it is developing and progressing of course, there are some backing vocals over there and then a powerful guitar sound which makes the song louder, the music is complete outstanding, the different changes over the song will make you consider this as one of the best epics ever. The complexity and development of it is incredible, the son is building up a masterpiece minute by minute, from slow time with soft vocals and piano, to a fast tempo keyboard based song, quite impressive, at minute 8, there is a mood of complete calm with only some piano notes, but the beauty of it is how the same piano begins to develop into a complex and challenging composition, in order to change the song's mood some moments later, this is a true masterpiece of progressive rock.

And finishing the album, after that superb previous song, we have another short track, "Traccia" which is like the outro, but again, a wonderful theme whose sound isbecoming louder through the seconds, it is basically a piano based song which has some choral vocals making again a kind of folkish tune, it is a bombastic outro after all.

So as you noticed, I love this album and I really consider it as one of the masterpieces of Rock Progressivo Italiano, and of prog rock in general, so I personally recommend it to all of you, who love this wonderful realm of progressive rock.

Masterpiece, 5 stars! Enjoy it!!

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