STORYBOOKFinisterreRock Progressivo Italiano |
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I have very little knowledge about Finisterre's music before I got this album from Moonjune Records. Well, I also have the In Limine album in my Mount Everest like mountain of albums I want to review for PA before the end of next decade. I think it is fair to say that the Fabio Zuffiani interview and this live album has pushed both that album and the rest of the albums I have from him pretty much to the top of this mountain.
This live album is from their gig in the USA in 1997. I am not sure about the full story......... ProgDay '97 it is, according to the other reviews here. And it is the full performance. Which makes this live album so great. You get the "you are beautiful" comments from the band to the audience too, which is both funny and very charming. I am glad they included this in this live album. The interaction between the band and the audience adds a lot to this live album.
....... Which brings us over to the music........ Finisterre's music has a contemporary feeling, but it is still rooted in the RPI scene. The keyboards is vintage. The same goes for the vocals and the guitars. The sound is also excellent. The performance is top notch.
The quality of the songs is here more or less a reflection of the band itself. I guess they did not travel all the way from Italy to USA to play obscure substandard material from their albums. Hence, I suspect this is more or less a greatest songs package and a reflection of where Finisterre stood at that point. Finisterre has nothing to be ashamed off, to put it like this. Their brand of RPI is at times pretty fusion like and close to the Canterbury Scene. The use of flute enhances their soundscape. The songs itself are all great. The best one is Orizzonte Degli Eventi which alone is reason enough to scramble for the credit card and the rest of their albums. The rest of the songs is excellent too. The inclusion of King Crimson and Genesis songs into one of their songs is excellent too. Finisterre put on a good show that night, I believe.
The great songs aside; this is a live album with a very good live feeling and a lot of warmth. You can melt glaciers with this good humoured live album. My only gripe is the lack of some really killer tracks, but that is my only gripe. This live album is as good as it can get from the RPI scene and Finisterre has found themselves a new fan.
4.5 stars
This is the result of a live performance recorded back in 1997 at the Prog Day Festival, and in my opinion, a clear example of the exquisite sound of this Italian band. Finisterre is one of the projects of Fabio Zuffanti, a prolific musician who has given a lot to progressive rock for the last two decades, with several projects full of quality. This band has a special symphonic flavor, with clear influence of those old RPI bands, but with a fresh sound nonetheless.
In this CD which was released in 2000, (in spite as I said it was recorded in 1997) offers excellent performances of eight songs, four of them reaching more than ten minutes length, and six of them shorter ones, all, making a total and truly enjoyable time of 77 minutes. So once you play this album, sit comfortable and enjoy what you will listen. Important to say, that the songs performed here were taken from their first two studio albums (Finisterre, and In Limine), in addition to one cover (Altaloma, original by PFM).
Lush keyboards, wonderful strong bass lines, challenging compositions and a first-class musical execution is what you will find here. Songs such as "In Limine", "Macinaaqua, Macinaluna", "Canto Antico" or "Orizzonte Degli Eventi" will delight you with their great sound, so the music will take you to the ProgDay itself, you will feel like being there listening to this cool symphonic music. Worth mentioning is that in some passages the band made a homage to some older prog dinosaurs, such as King Crimson or Genesis, playing some representative notes, and of course, the most evident homage to their countrymen, Premiata Forneria Marconi with "Altaloma".
Though I really enjoy this live performance and I highly recommend it, it is not what I would call a masterpiece, so my final grade will be four stars.
Enjoy it!
The first time I played this was on a long car journey and I was taken with the clarity of the production and the way that the band can seamlessly move from one musical idea to another. There is quite a strong jazz element, and is outside of the 'normal' prog scene, which cannot be a bad thing. This is an interesting album that also contains their cover of PFM's "Altaloma" that was missing from the original release. Worth hearing.
Originally appeared in Feedback #64, Dec 01
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- mejuta (Jukka Tarvonen)
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- Civas (Francesco)
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