FORSE LE LUCCIOLE NON SI AMANO PIÙ

The story of this Italian prog band is the story of many that came a bit too late to the prog party which reached its apex in the early 1970s and started waning around the 1975 timeline. LOCANDA DELLE FATE which translates into "Inn of the Fairies" and referred to a closed brothel in the band's native Asti in Northern Italy, formed in 1977 and featured the already established tried and true romantic symphonic prog established by the bigwigs such as Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and countless others who rode the prog train.

Despite the decline in knotty complex prog music that had left an indelible mark on the rock music world, some bands decided to swim upstream and craft their own masterworks in the vein of those who came before even while the most popular prog bands including the Italian greats started watering down their compositions with more accessible pop infused banality. When it comes to airy fairy symphonic prog, a trend that was popular with certain English prog bands like Genesis as well as the more subdued Italian bands, perhaps none was more so than LOCANDA DELLE FATE with its one and done album tenderly titled FORSE LE LUCCIOLE NON SI AMNO PIÙ which in English means "Maybe the Fireflies Do Not Love Each Other Any Longer."

This septet featured a double whammy with both twin guitar and twin keyboard attack which gave the music a rich tapestry of contrapuntal prog majesty with much of the melodic development initiated by arpeggiated piano rolls and a procession of moody subsections that wend and wind into beautifully intricate motifs of symphonic prog splendor. Despite the core trio of Oscar Mazzoglio ( keyboards), Luciano Boero (bass) and Giorgio Gardino (drums) forming the band after dissolving a prior band fixated on cover songs from bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and even Blood, Sweat and Tears, the music of LOCANDA DELLE FATE was indecisively as prog as one could possibly hope for in the late to the game year of 1977.

While firmly placed in the traditional symphonic prog of the Italian scene, LOCANDA DELLA FATE displayed a much mellower version with less bombast and jittery workouts than that of the wild and untamed early 70s provided. In fact in many ways FORSE LE LUCCIOLE NON SI AMNO PIÙ is more like an album of sappy ballads all dressed up with clear and concise progressive workouts inserted at key moments with occasional outbursts into more energetic rock episodes. Lead vocalist Leonardo Sasso provided the perfect romantic lyricism without missing a beat and although the album is dominated by the rich tapestry of keyboard sounds that include everything from the Hammond organ, Fender electric piano to Polymoog synths and a harpsichord, the addition of the flute and vibraphone gives this album a pastoral sensuality unlike many others, especially from the late 70s.

This is truly an album that took me a looooong time to warm up to. For those who enjoy the more upbeat and brutal versions of Italian prog, this one can come off as a bit to schmaltzy and overweening for its own good upon first listen but after time and a shift of focus to the intricacy of the compositional fortitude, my respect has elevated severalfold as the album is subtly brilliant while remaining defiantly chilled out however there are moments that generate some true rock bombast albeit never to the point of breaking into the knotty sinew crushing riffage of bands like PFM or Banco. While this band was masterful at nurturing soothing melodies, so too could this group of masterful musicians break into extremely complex outbursts of instrumental gymnastics.

This is one that i have to be in the right mood for and while LOCANDA DELLA FATE hardly makes my top listing for favorite bands of the Italian prog scene, there's no denying that this one shot album has certainly stood the test of time in which it evolved from the commercial dud upon release to one of the more respected albums of the entire Italian prog 70s. Due to the resurgence of popular in all things prog in the 90s, LOCANDA DELLE FATE was revived and released "Homo Homini Lopus" in 1999 and regrouped again for yet another album titled "The Missing Fireflies" in the year 2012 that tried to duplicate this early style. Despite all these attempted comebacks though, it's clear that this early offering is the album that showcases the band firing on all pistons.