COME IN UN'ULTIMA CENA

I would rate "Come in un'ultima cena" as Banco's third-best effort, behind "Darwin!" and "Io Sono." but ahead of their debut. The composing abilities of Vittorio Nocenzi are still very much intact, as is the creative spirit of the group. The result is an album that's interesting, complex and varied, although on the downside, it's somewhat inconsistent and seems to lack that magic found on the first three records by BMS.

Regarding the songs: "...A cena.Per Esempio" is a competent opener based around a smooth two-chord vamp. "Il Ragno" is quite a surprising track, it's excessively catchy nature suggesting that it was perhaps an attempted hit single; I don't know if it succeeded, but don't worry, the sumptuous melodies and plentiful prog elements guarantee an enjoyable listen. Next we have "E'Cosi'Buono Giovanni.Ma... ", a soft major-key piano ballad that's bound to appeal to fans of this sort of thing. Unfortunately, "Slogan" is a failure: it's quite evident that the band was trying to create a dark grandiose track, but the result does not justify the pomposity. I'm not particularly fond of "Si dice che i Delfini Parlino" either - while it's highly melodic and well-arranged, it doesn't inspire repeated listenings (in my case anyway). Thankfully, "Voila'Mida(Il guaritore)" makes up for all of that, thanks to a wonderfully weird and sophisticated riff that brings to mind Gentle Giant's "Cogs in Cogs" -only that "Voila Mida" is far better. The dissonance is skillfully countered with melodic, optimistic choruses, making this song one of the band's strongest compositions. As for the remaining tracks, they generally fall into the "good, but unremarkable" category , although they have their moments.

Still, this album is certainly worthy of your prog collection - though it's better if you get "Darwin!" and "Io Sono" first.

3,5