BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO

A strong debut from the great Italian band, not far behind "Darwin!" or "Io Sono..." and a great introduction to Banco, establishing their classic sound and musical tendencies . The music , though slightly less impressive than that on the aforementioned classics, nevertheless balances beauty and complexity quite well, making this record as interesting as it is enjoyable.

IN VOLO is a short introduction and not really a musical statement on it's own,although it's oddly compelling, with weird background noises , spoken lines and other quirkiness.

R.I.P. Starts off as an uptemto rock track with catchy melodies, memorable vocals, and jazzy guitar soloing , then turns into a nice piano ballad halfway through. Tastefully arranged and very enjoyable.

PASSAGIO is a short, classical harpsichord interlude, and quite likeable for that matter.

METAMORFOSI begins with full-band major-key theme, but quite soon we are treated to a nice piano passage ( something the Nocenzi brothers are more than competent at in both writing and execution) . The mostly-instrumental composition continues to develop , alternating between classic prog and mellow interludes, and concluding with a memorable fast-paced outro. Though weak points are present and in parts the music could've been more intricate, the track still works remarkably well.

IL GIARDINO DEL MAGO ,at over 18 minutes long, is somewhat overextended with unnecessary repetition and could've been trimmed to about 10 minutes, although it's still reasonably good.A slightly sinister (and not very remarkable) organ line begins the track, and proceeds to serve as the songs main theme , recurring in many variations throughout the piece. Thankfully , there are other musical segments that help make this an enjoyable listen , such as the one introduced around the 8:30 , and overall, this is one of the better examples of lengthy epics of this nature (many of which fail to take flight completely).

TRACCIA starts with a piano, which is soon joined by the other instruments, and works quite well as an album closer ,the fast organ at the very end being my favourite part.

To sum it up, this album , though inconsistent in places, is quite enjoyable shouldn't be overlooked once you've checked out Banco's best works.