PER UN AMICO

. Not likely I will be the Amico mentioned here , but read me out, anyway!!

After the near-perfection of their debut album, it wasn't going to be an easy task to equal it, and according to the vast majority of their fans, they managed it; but this writer begs to differ: if SDUM is a unique and ultra flowing album, Per Un Amico is really anything but that, more like a succession of rocks scattered on a pool table stopping any pure trajectory from the Q ball. Don't get me wrong, PUA is still quite a good album, but it sounds like it's trying too hard to outdo its predecessor, it sounds a little forced, not as naturally flowing. Even the clumsy gatefold artwork tries to say something profound, but ultimately failing to say it well enough to come out as timelessly as it could have. In that regard, the inner gatefold might just give us an intrusive peak, with the musicians trying to find space between an array of keyboards, but ending up a cacophony. I know it's an image and jusrt a picture, but a picture is worth more than a thousand words doesn't it.

Opening up on the album's best track, Appena Un Poco, with delicate guitar arpeggios emerging from a mellotron layer, it continues alone at first, soon joined by a flute and a harpsichord, before the group intervenes in a fairly muscular fashion, bassist Piazza instilling much of the power. Once the group calms, the duet of singer take the track to a Genesian cloud (Foxtrot-era) partly on celestial mellotron layers, but also good songwriting. The same can't be said of the following Generale sounds more like an ELP track, where the virtuoso qualities seem to be more important and not necessarily to the service of the track, in this case a cross between ragtime jazz and a jig., then into a march and more nonsense. The title track starts out well enough: a quiet flute leading a piano, before the bass escalates the tension and the vocals come along with rest of the group. And it (PUA) seems headed into Gentle Giant territory, especially once the violin gets under way, but unfortunately halfway through the solo, the songs turns to a guitar-strumming-thing, before taking a needlessly (Nothing At All from GG) complicated finale

The flipside is made of just two tracks, the first of which Banchetto (Banquet, I think), which seems to be headed at early Crimson soundscapes, but I am less than thrilled by the Moonchild-like improv with old instruments. One could also compare Banchetto to ELP's Take A Pebble, but anyway, I am not at all convinced by its middle section improv. Generally I am a little wary of those Italian raspy singer spreading all too loudly their gob over the microphone anti-spit protection as they try to sound soooo sincere, but I never had the problem with PFM, a group with gentle unobtrusive vocals and with Banchetto, it's about as raspy as they get. Rounding up the album is the patchy Geranio, which has brilliant moments (namely its quiet start, but with its share of weaknesses: the weird ending.. Ever heard of of an outgoing panache??

A very short album (the International English version of it, Poto of Ghosts will come with two more tracks to make it acceptable), and definitely a taste of too few, but given its forced birth feel, I say that it's enough. And if I gave SDUM some 4.5 stars (it's incredible "live in the studio" excitement), it was partly due to certain kind of naiveté that you can allow on a debut album, but no further; so I will give this second flawed album only 3.5 stars (why didn't they apply the "live in the studio" process??), although still being able to recommend it to progheads, despite my legendary severity. .

PFM's "Per Un Amico" is a masterpiece of Progressive Rock all the way through. PFM prove their ability to deliver a complete album ranging from serene acoustic guitar passages to heavy mellotron soaked heavy breathing prog. PFM never get too dark on this release and offers a strong symphonic aspect to it. Vocals are in Italian and like most PFM releases the musicianship is very high. The songs of "Per Un Amico" are well written and performed. Once again it was hard to pick the best of their releases, but this one has a real beauty to it that needs to be heard to be understood.

A real Gem of Progressive music. I am not going to bored everybody with details, just because unless you listen, listen and listen...this album, then and only then you will start to grasp the magnitude of the work put into this Masterpice. Pionneers of the progressive rock scene in the 70', PFM developed several excellent albums; but this one is how still now you measure truly progressive music. Even now, after 30 years I fell goosebumps down my spine when I listen the acustic riff guitar in Per un Amico. An absolute MUST in every serious prog fan collector. My highest recommendation.

Simply one of the all-time great Italian prog albums. While many people might be more familiar with the English-language conterpart, "Photos of Ghosts", to me, I think the original Italian language version is much superior, as they aren't stumbling with the English language, and it sounds more natural. This was their second album in one year (1972). This is a more complex and challenging album than their debut, "Storia di un Minuto". The album starts off with "Appena un Pò" (the label of the original LP states it as "Appena un Poco"). The song starts off with Mellotron and harp, before the acoustic guitar kicks in, played in a classical style. The music itself kicks in with violin and drums, then the band's early trademark vocal style starts. When you hear this, you know right away you're hearing one of Italy's all-time great prog albums. "Generale" is all instrumental, again going through many different changes. "Il Banchetto" is the album's epic, starting off acoustic, once again, with some extended synth experimentations, and even a piano piece that sounded like it came off ELP's "Karn Evil 9: Second Impression", although "Brain Salad Surgery", the album that song came off, didn't appear until a year after "Per Un Amico".

Apparently Greg LAKE got to hear this album and was impressed enough to sign these guys to ELP's newly-formed Manticore label. No doubt about it, "Per Un Amico" is one of the all-time greats of prog, and is a totally essential album.

Ever since I got to listen to this album for the first time, and by that I mean entirely, I couldn't believe my ears. Before "Per Un Amico", my Italian symphonic prog rock perspective was based merely in some other well known exponents of this sub-genre such as BMS, LE ORME and MUSEO ROSENBACH, and I don't know why I haven't listened to anything regarding PFM in the first place! and the way I got to know them was quite funny. When purchasing BANCO's album "Di Terra" over this famous music website, I noticed that there was this offer about purchasing two albums and paying just for one, and the other album within the BANCO's CD pack was actually "Per Un Amico". and ever since I got this recording, I cannot picture the Italian symphonic scene without it.

Besides getting to consider this album as one of my favorites throughout the 14 years I've been listening to prog rock, I think that many other subsequent Italian or not Italian bands, whether they play symphonic prog rock, psychedelic prog or art rock, they owe most of their musical accomplishments and success to bands like PFM that due the inevitable pass of time they're still present upon the nowadays prog scene.

Thanks to this album you will get to experience several comfortable and inexplicable situations like the feeling of sorrow, happiness or even madness, and I mean all that in the progressive intended way provided by this unique masterpiece. "Appena Un Po' " explains all this by its own means, this almost 8 minute track contains way too many contrasting profiles of the style that the bands to come through the next ten, maybe fifteen years, adopted and implemented perfectly; this melody has got it all: musical arrangements resembling a renaissance époque all the way through punchy, signifying drum preludes, and most important, marvelous rhythmic guitar playing by signore Franco MUSSIDA. Also, you might as well think of "Per Un Amico" itself as one of the most representative PFM's songs, and you won't be mistaken because far beyond from what the band actually did with its first album, "Storia Di Un Minuto"; they also proved that they could be more than a single, and created some other meaningful prog pieces like "Photos of Ghosts", "Prime Impressioni" and "Passpartú" with their own representative singles as well. Simply magnificent!

'Appena Un Po' ' instantly grabbed my attention in 1972, and PFM has been one of my favourite bands ever since. It's not difficult to see why the band became so well known internationally - and so well loved - when you listen to this, their second album, which exhibits some inspired song writing and musicianship. PFM and Italian Progressive Rock are almost synonymous; when discussing an Italian band, people often ask "Do they sound like PFM?"

This is very melodious music with liberal use of flute, acoustic guitar, piano and violin, and with synthesizer, Mellotron and organ such an integral part of the music that you almost don't notice they're contemporary, even during the very electronic-sounding parts. If you listen to these tracks you'll realise that the band really knew how to use the flute, strings and piano to great effect. Bass and percussion are good on this album too, again melding well and supporting the other instruments. Then there are the calm, smooth Italian vocals, which only add to the enjoyment of the music. Wish I could understand the lyrics, though.

Some parts of the music are purely acoustic whilst others are very symphonic Progressive Rock. I can't really say which other bands, if any, the music reminds me of, although it does feel very Italian in style and there are definitely some reminders of classical music, perhaps baroque. OK, if you push me, the piano in 'Il Banchetto' does remind me a little of early EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER, but there the comparison very definitely ends. Later in their career PFM's music had more of a jazz and pop feel, but neither of those styles is evident on this album (far from it).

The tracks on "Per Un Amico", plus 'È Festa' from PFM's first album "Storia Di Un Minuto", were rehashed with English lyrics (except 'Il Banchetto', which stayed in Italian) by Pete Sinfield for the PFM album "Photos Of Ghosts", released by ELP's Manticore Records and which is perhaps better known outside Italy. So if you are familiar with "Photos of Ghosts" you will recognise the music on "Per Un Amico" instantly. The original singing in Italian is very pleasant indeed.

There are many changes in melody, tempo and mood, and the music varies from the simple to the grandiose. I can't single out any one track: they're all good and I never tire of listening to them. Even though the album came out in 1972 the music does not sound at all dated. At only 34 minutes, it's over all too quickly but I get up feeling invigorated. In my opinion this album is a classic and I unreservedly recommend it to you. I cannot give this album anything other than 5 stars. Enjoy.

This site introduced me to Italian prog, which has become my favorite subgenre after the "seminal" British prog bands. Indeed, the more I hear of it - especially early Italian prog (PFM, Museo Rosenbach, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso et al) - the more I'm convinced that it rivals British prog in every way. Composition, lyricality, textures, vocals, musicianship, etc. - the Italians are every bit as good as their British counterparts.

The band description notes early King Crimson and Genesis as influences in PFM's work. However, while it may be that Genesis influenced them later on, this is not what I hear on "Per Un Amico." (Indeed, the timing is all wrong: given that this album came out in 1972, this means it was written in 1971. Thus, PFM could not have heard either Nursery Cryme or Foxtrot, and there is little here that sounds like Trespass.) Although there is definitely some early Crimson influence (esp. the Lizard/Islands era), I hear mostly Gentle Giant and Jethro Tull. (As an aside, having listened to a great deal of non-British prog of late, especially from Italy, I am convinced that Gentle Giant had an absolutely extraordinary influence on European prog in general - far more than most people are aware.) Indeed, although PFM is in the Italian Symphonic Prog category, most of this album might be called Italian Canterbury School. Because although there are the occasionally "heavy" keyboards and textures associated with "symphonic prog," the larger influences here are classical, folk and even a bit of jazz. [N.B. I have always felt that Gentle Giant was miscategorized on ths site: they belong in Canterbury, not Symphonic prog.]

"Appena un Po'" opens the album with a very lyrical (in the literal sense of that word - "of the lyre") Baroque classical intro, moving into a more traditional "prog" composition with early Crimson, Tull and GG (especially the vocals) influences. "Generale" has even heavier GG influence, with a bit of ELP mixed in. The first three minutes, especially, bring to mind Minnear-like keyboards, Green-ish guitar, and Schulman-esque violin. The title track, "Per Un Amico," is probably the most truly original composition. Although there is a passage toward the end that is clearly an "homage" to "Nothing At All" (from Gentle Giant's first album), this composition both takes from and adds to the prog-rock lexicon in a way that none of the other pieces does. "Il Banchetto" is a very interesting composition. Opening with CSNY-like vocals and acoustic guitar (and this is by no means an insult), it moves into a mildly Genesis-like section full of texture, Banks-y keys and Hackett-like guitarwork, and then into a bizarre, disjointed GG-esque secition full of Minnear-like keyboard work. Pianist Premoli then launches into an Emerson-like keyboard solo reminiscent of the middle section of "Take A Pebble." Then its "back to the beginning" for a CSNY-type ending. "Geranio" is the weakest composition on the album, and one of the two reasons I did not give the album five stars. The piece begins in fine Tull/GG style, but then gets lost in a largely directionless keyboard-heavy section, the last four minutes of which is repetitive in the extreme. (Did they simply run out of ideas?)

Despite the few missteps here, "Per Un Amico" is an excellent, well-executed, highly listenable album with very fine musicianship throughout. (BTW, where is the drummer's credit?) As an aside, the other reason I did not give the album five stars is that, even without the few missteps, I do not believe it ranks with the true masterpieces of the genre - though it undoubtedly ranks with the early masterpieces of the subgenre of Italian prog. (We have had the "masterpiece" discussion ad nauseum in the forums; I have settled on this approach.)

All said, this is truly "an excellent addition to any prog rock collection."

An amazing album, even among the many pioneering releases of 1972. I've always valued italian prog for its deceptively simple-seeming emotive and evocative power, and "Per Un Amico" is probably one of the best examples. PFM has an extremely tasteful blend of electric rock elements, acoustic and symphonic instrumentation and sparing synthesizer and mellotron accents detailing compositions of constantly evolving beauty. Whoever was producing all these crystal-clear recordings for the italian prog arists should have given lessons to Alan Parsons and the other "muddier is better" prog producers of the early 70s.

"Appena un po'" is a great opening piece- the antique tones of the guitar, spinetta and flute weave a pastoral tapestry, but the structure is completely modern. I can definitely hear some similarities with KING CRIMSON; the way the chorus hestitates and then surges into the following section- rooted in the guitar, mellotron and distorted bass- reminds me of songs like "Starless"; the wah lead and Cross-like violin on "Generale" definitely evoke passages from the "Starless and Bible Black" album. The latter song is a bit disjointed- all the sections are well done, and the more rocking passages are just as good as the more common lighter moods, but do they add up to a cohesive song? The title track continues the exquisite classical/ jazz influence, and ably shows the band's precision and instrumental prowess. The synth is much more prominent here, and sounds much less primitive than in many 1972 releases. "Il Banchetto" is full of beautiful, understated guitar and tinkling piano riffs- an exceptional track, starting with surprisingly accesible sounds but gently evolving into more challenging textures. Although superior in mood and composition, the song reminds me of ELP's "Take a Pebble"- for the pretty piano work, but also in the structure and development. "Geranio" takes many compositional risks, but holds together very well, at least until the end. The big crescendo in the middle is engaging, if somewhat premature...

I have very few complaints; sometimes the album is so comfortable to listen to that my mind wanders, but that could just be my slippery attention span. As part of the musical texture, the vocals blend well, but lack some distinctiveness. Then again, I'm a big fan of the more gritty and dramatic italian singers (LOCANDA DELLE FATE, ALUSA FALLAX) but I readily admit that Mussida complements the softer touch of much of the album. The vocal harmonies are one of the few places where the album can seem dated ("Geranio" does this from time to time). There's a symphonic beauty here that is echoed in the works of QUELLA VECCHIA LOCANDA, but also a subtle playful modernism that JETHRO TULL fans (or even Canterbury types) can sink their teeth into. Highly recommended!

After making such a great entry with their stunning debut album 'Storia di un Minuto', the amazing Italian quintet Premiata Forneria Marconi proved that they could do even better with their second effort "Per un Amico", which, after more than 30 years from its release, remains as one of the most definite masterpieces in Italian prog history. Their prog sound, based on a typically Mediterranean melodic sensitiveness exquisitely seasoned with influences from early KC and Genesis, remains quite the same, but it is obvious that the band has progressed as an ensemble and that the cleverness of the arrangements to shape their musical ideas has been improved: to put it in other words, they have become more confident performers and better writers. The opener 'Appena Un Po'' starts with a mesmeric, dreamy intro with a featured mellotron layers that expands as a vision of a distant horizon; then comes a delicate Baroque-styled motif led by the classical guitar - soon joined by flute and spinet -, then followed by a brief yet effective rocky interlude (great interplay between electric guitar and violin); finally arriving to the main section, which alternates introspective passages and majestic ones. The splendid chord progression a-la-Beethoven that comes at the ends is the properly fantastic epilogue to an outstanding song. But none of the remaining repertoire gets overshadowed by this gem. On the contrary, "Per un Amico" is, strictly speaking, a treasure chest in which each and every item is a gem that shines with a brightness of their own. The jazz-rock oriented spirit of 'Generale!' is translated into an overtly complex motif and a catchy rock variation; the joyful martial interlude is simply delicious, and so is the reprise of the opening motif. The namesake track also contains some jazzy hints, but this time, in a more folkish context: maestrissimo Mauro Pagani shows his finesse on both violin and flute to a 100 % level, but again. he does so all the time! It is true that PFM are not only a most excellent ensemble: but it is also undisputed that each individual element is pure virtuoso genius. That being said, Pagani and drummer DiCioccio are, IMHO, the most notable musicians in the fold, or at least, the ones who show their prowess and inventiveness more often. But, of course, it is Mussida's versatile efficiency (equally distributed on both his electric and acoustic guitar interventions) and Premoli's lucid orchestral vision on his use of multiple keyboards that provide the main focus for PFM's overall sound. Now, back to the repertoire. The vinyl's B-side starts with 'Il Banchetto', another folkish spirited composition that may somewhat remind us of the most bucolic side of JT, until the multi-part interlude arrives and takes the listener to unsuspected places. The 6/8 synth-and-mellotron driven interlude built on a 12-string guitar sequence, the extravagant synth fanfare and the piano solo follow one another as a surrealistic pastiche, until the folkish first motif is retaken and reprised until the song's conclusion. When the song is over, you don't know how to explain what happened, who the hell came up with the notion of putting all these diverse ideas together in one song. but it worked, it worked tremendously well (not even Peter Sinfield dared change a bit of it for the first English PFM album), like the most bizarre scenes in a Fellini movie. The closure 'Geranio' is another monster track, perhaps the most similar to the stuff comprised in the debut album. The classical guitar and the flute marry together with the keyboard serving as a master of ceremonies during the opening Renaissance-like motif. The up-tempo interlude gets things in a sort of compromise between old fashioned jazz and folk: the interlude is finished with a carnival motif, which introduces the first motif's reprise. The sinister, almost martial instrumental litany seems to conjure images of myriads of splendorous flowers bursting out from the soil of some inscrutable paradise - once again, I think of Fellini from the very moment this section kicks off headlong into its fade-out. Overall balance: an absolute masterpiece.

(Review dedicated to my friend Giorgio Murillo).

On the second album "Per un amico" PFM has even matured their sound: wonderful symphonic rock featuring acoustic instruments like the piano, violin, acoustic guitar and flute along electrified instruments like the Mellotron and the Minimoog synthesizer. The climates are more frequently changing including up-tempo rhyhtms with electric guitar or a surprising church-organ intermezzo. The songs are very melodic and harmonic and the vocals are powerful and expressive. ANOTHER CLASSIC AND AGAIN FIVE STARS!!

My absolute favorite Italian symphonic album and is, for me, the template for all others in the genre. All you need to hear when it comes to pastoral majesty is to listen to the first song, "Apena un Po'". It has everything that makes Italian symphonic prog so wonderful. Gorgeous keyboards, (especially the mighty Mellotron), whispery precious vocals, delicate guitar and bass, and understated drummin. It is a song as fragile as a thin layer of frost but oh so beautiful. About 4 minutes in you'll hear what I think is the most hauntingly sad, but beautiful melody in all of prog. It just brings me to tears. In fact, if you're a fan of the Japanese animator Hiyao Miyazaki, (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Laputa...etc) the composer on most of his films, Joe Hisaishi uses pieces of this song in a lot of the themes to the soundtracks for some of the films, (at least to these ears ;-)). Anyway, throughout this whole album, there is not one note misplaced, or out of tune. It is so meticulously recorded and performed, that when played loud you hear things you'd never hear if played on a lower volume. And yet, it's still delicate at higher volumes. It's not all pastoral, mind you. 'Generale' is a rocking instrumental with Kansas-like violin work. And the album ends on a dark note. If there is any negative I can think of for the album, its the rather short overall length. So....if you're planning on diving into the genre, I would like to recommend this album as your first. One of the greatest prog albums from any country. Bar none!!!

I heard this album only a few days after hearing "Storia Di Un Minuto" and I've always considered both as a double output, with "Per Um Amico" acting like the disc 2 of a great symphony-like. In fact, either were released in Italy in the same year and I guess that here in Brazil, they were not only released in the same year but simultaneously (1974). Hence, to consider them as a single work, divided in two long pieces wasn't (isn't) really an absurd. We have the same band line-up, the same arrangements and production, the same song style; yes, they could fit perfectly in a kind of PFM's White Album, although a little pretentious if one takes on that those were their first real recordings.

On the other side, dividing the pieces we were able to recognize that PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI was not a single-shot band. they had much more to offer - what's true until the present days, fortunately. PFM, together with other historical Italian-prog bands helped to establish a remarkable and auspicious progressive musical sub-genre demonstrating also that Italy needn't rely only on old Tarantella-like tunes or the sometimes boring San Remo Festival style of grandiloquent songs.

There's very few to add when "Per Un Amico" is compared to the previous album, if one could randomly exchange tracks between both outputs the differences should be meaningless. Musicianship is outstanding, singing and playing are high as usually; Italian vocals give a special touch to the songs. There are great themes being developed and when it seems that all juice is extracted from the fruit, a surprising note or tune appears to stupefy us and take us to an almost dream.

'Appena un pò', the opening track, is a great piece, the calm and placid beginning, very symphonic and pastoral, with pleasant mediaeval and folk tunes gives room to a complex moment where a jazz-rock fusion brief theme takes place before vocals begin. The voices sooth softly, like a beautiful chorale only to be supplanted by an enjoyable part, very progressive, where all instruments act in a series of homogeneous airs. Near-ending the song becomes grandiose with great keyboard playing leading to a non-sense vacuum. A huge opener.

'Generale' is very catchy and easy. Now guitars dominate amidst all other intruments and there's a notorious rock atmosphere - more noticeable if one can appreciate also the live versions of this particular song.

'Per un amico', the title-track, is decorate by a delightful flute opening and soon the singing appears accompanied by marvelous and meaningful mellotron backing. Solo section is intensely shared between violin and acoustic guitar with a heavy bass presence; synths and piano do the magnificent closure: I sometimes wished to be the amico (friend) honored.

'Il banchetto' is for me the prototype of the medium-size prog-rock song; it's really one banchetto (feast) for the ears. Even the description of the theme is difficult due to the continuous changes and different signatures. The initial serenade with soft voices and guitars goes in a crescendo to a kind of ethereal, agreeable, clear, majestic tune. The middle section conveys us to a reverie unreality where the hearer literally flies away to distant and impressive worlds. Ending part is calm and sophisticated. My preferred album track.

'Geranio', the closing track, has great moments but with less power than preceding tracks. However, it's a song with the characteristic PFM trade mark: a soft and pleasant beginning, an always amazing core with great signature variations and a very surprising ending.

Once the album finishes, a sensation of 'want more' remains for the listener and the solution is to hear and hear again; it's healthy. Being a natural following to the debut album, "Per Un Amico" must be treated equally: a MASTERPIECE. Final rating: 5.

With "Per un amico" the band developed the ideas of their debut album. You can still find here the influences of King Crimson and EL&P blended with classical music patterns, Italian folklore and a touch of jazz: anyhow the result is an album without weak moments, well balanced and where the music streams fluently with many changes of rhythm and mood.

The opener "Appena un po'" (Just A Little Bit) begins softly, the music is clearly classical influenced and the mood is dreamy and a little bit melancholic. "Away from here, away from here / I wish I could go away from here at once / How I wish I could go / I would leave, I would run towards another truth / If only I could believe it, that would be enough / I know I would set off. Away from here, away from here at once, away from here / I would find myself in another reality / Just to see open space in front of me / Away from here, away from here at once, away from here." Well, lyrics are about the desire to escape from reality and in my opinion they're a little bit "naïve", but they perfectly match the music and the result is good. You can find another version of this track in "Photos of Ghosts" as "River Of Life" with English lyrics written by Peter Sinfield, but I prefer by far the original version.

"Generale" is a good instrumental track where all the members of the band show their great musicianship. After a "jazzy" beginning with great drum work, a military march breaks in led by drums and flute. Then come organ, violin and the other instruments for the "finale". The version of this track on "Photos Of Ghosts" ("Mr. 9 till 5") features English lyrics provided by Peter Sinfield and weak vocals. I prefer by far the instrumental one!

"Per un amico" (For A Friend) suggests a soft way to "revolution" giving " friendly advice" about the need to come back from dreams to reality and to fight for a better world. "Don't ask me if one day it will change / Start to do something and it will change with you / It will change. You run away, you hide yourself and that is not possible / You live your compromises and that is not possible / It's no time of dreams anymore / You must fight harder, harder..." There are no screams or rumours of war here: the dreamy vocals and the romantic mood of the first part of the piece contrast with the more "struggling" instrumental closing section and the lyrics fit the music very well. In my opinion the English version called "Photos Of Ghosts" (with completely different lyrics) is not so good.

"Il banchetto" (The Banquet) is a complex and "politically engaged" song. The simple lyrics draw the imagine of a banquet in a king's court while outside the people is whining. The beginning is soft, with acoustic guitar and vocals in the forefront. "Sir, His Majesty / Reverent as always, here we are / Sir, that's us / The poet, the killer, and His Holiness / All together, your faithful friends / Ah, His Majesty. Please, my friends / You know I can't stay without you / Hurry up, take a seat! / At the banquet we were just waiting for you / As always, as every day that will come / As long as love and peace will rule." Then, there's a long and complex instrumental middle section with clear classical influences that melts back in the "reprise" of the main theme. "Everybody smiles / Only the people don't laugh, but you know / They always whine / They're never satisfied / Who knows why." A little prog gem!

The final track "Geranio" (Geranium) features almost whispered vocals and an oneiric mood. "The wind dances in the night / It dances slowly in the street / A melted dream dances / The shadow of the moon dances / Barely touching the time and the fortune / It dances softly, it dances down there." Well, in my opinion the lyrics here are non particularly inspired and the music, though not bad, is not at the same level of the other tracks. You can find an English version of this piece in "Photos Of Ghosts" as "Promenade The Puzzle" and I think that this is the only track where the lyrics of Peter Sinfield fit the music better than those of Mauro Pagani.

Though perhaps not perfect, in the whole "Per un amico" is without doubt one of the most influential albums of the Italian progressive scene of the early seventies and an essential one in every prog collection.

If you'd heard ELP, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull and Yes before, this album will not impress you much (apart from the fact that these guys were not english, but italian... plus the lyrics are even less understandable hahaha). This is not me implying that these guys were bad, but they were not pioneers, even being almost contemporaries along the "supergroups" of the 70's. They can evoke emotions with one simple verse, without having the necessity of understanding the lyrics. The title track ("For A Friend" in italian) has a sample of very powerful melodic pop in it's verses and a very Yes-ish bridge. Appena Un Po begins and adopts the form of early chamber baroque music and then a very Gentle Giant-like segment comes in with some atonal chords thrown in, interesting drum patterns and flute, and the mellotron really evokes Genesis and early King Crimson. "Generale!" is mostly ELP-influenced with some violins in the vein of GG. "Il Banchetto" also mixes Yes with Genesis, and a very interesting Emersonesque piano break in the middle toward the end. Geranio is also Gentle Giant sounding, with vocal harmonies like the rest of the songs.

However, this is a fine example of symphonic progressive (Italian just refers to the place, in my opinion; they were symphonic progressive in the same vein as the English bands of that time), in spite of it being a mixed bag of pre-established sounds. I even dare to say that this band could outplay their contemporaries in composition at times, and that's a HIGH compliment.

In conclusion, although the song-per-song review was largely vague, each and every one of these songs are very worthwhile to listen through... and they have a very recognizable sound as a product of the styles they blend, proving that mixing is innovating as well; after all, prog comes from a mix as well. 4 stars. Excellent addition to you all.

Second album by PFM. This one is maybe slightly better than their first in terms of production. The music is also more complex but as always with incredible playing. These musicians are really awesome and I don't use that word very often. Just listen to the introduction of the first track. I think this is the best sound you can get out of a mellotron... and that classical guitar on top... this is pure bliss !

In the golden era for progressive rock, the Italian underground movement somewhat resumed a bit the best that was being done, while adding a special romantic feeling, the Latins glamor. A sense that is specially true in "Per un Amico", in which PFM mastered symphonic rock as almost anyone at the time: from baroque to romantic, neoclassical to psychedelic and even avant-guard, in a elegantly layered cascade of flutes, violins, piano and organ, in the background energy of a rock act.

The compositions are always very dynamic, impressing by their imposing beauty and a tremendous sense of subtleness. They brilliantly change from inspiration to inspiration fueled by almost unnoticeable nuances. Like the opening track "Appena un Poco": starts with a growing thrilling spacey motive, moves from a subtle acoustic moment to a flute driven folk moment a la Jethro Tull, explodes then in a symphonic baroque which gives rise to the melody and subtleness and ends in a jazzy psychedelic ending. This track reinforces the idea of the eclectic amalgam they made of the progressive rock lived at the time. In "General" the instruments seem joyfully to dance together with a glorious military motive in the middle. In fact, glorious and marking moments are spread all over the album, from the acoustic ending of the beautiful subtle "Per un Amico" to the ethereal space landscapes created in "Il Bancheto" and the unexpected moments of "Geranio".

Not revolutionary, but a work of imposing beauty and creativeness, which still touches people 35 years later. A classic, perhaps timeless, progressive rock masterpiece.

What's the big deal with Italy??

If you've asked yourself that question before then I must present this album as exhibit A. What an absolute feast of symphonic progressive music. This is an album that like Close to the Edge or Dark Side needs very little commentary. Why blather on for 8 paragraphs when everyone either has the title or needs to hear it soon! It's simply essential for symphonic lovers and features everything they love: great majestic melodies, romantic vocals, violins, flutes, lush pianos and guitars grounded by a very tight rhythm section. In typical Italian style everything is most thoughtfully arranged, recorded, and produced.

The sound on the mini-lp sleeve cd is heavenly and I recommend you find a remastered version even if it costs a little more.

A very good place to start for people wanting to sample the more melodic and beautiful side of Italian prog. And even those who like much more aggressive music should hear at least one PFM album in their life. It may change your musical perspectives.

Per Un Amico follows the style of PFM's debut with increasing complexity and progressiveness. Melodies are still strong, arrangements are again very sophisticated, and the album has that uptempo, elegant, romantic feel once again. So why 3 stars this time? Very simple: Generale is nothing special, the album is again very short, and there are two dreadful moments in the album that makes me wonder what PFM was thinking when they wrote those parts.

Appena Un Po starts with a beautiful baroque overture and then turns into a traditional Italian progressive rock of high caliber, with good production, high quality melodies, and plenty of mellotron. Unfortunately, one of those "unbearable" moments is located in this track: a horrible piercing flute motif that is painfully twee dominating a section of a song. the odd Generale is a tight song that goes through different themes in a short period of time. It's not really my cup of tea. Thankfully, the title track is an excellent song that says a lot instrumentally despite its short duration. It begins with a great flute motif and continues as an uptempo dreamy song. The instrumental break features a great violin section, quickly-strummed acoustic guitar, and a lot of moog synthesizer work. Il Banchetto is compositionally speaking the strongest track in here. There a great use of acoustic/synthesizer/harp interplay, many changes and outstanding melodies. Unfortunately, the other "unbearable" moment spoils the song. This time, it is an absolutely horrible avant garde synthesizer symphony which not only has a repugnant sound but also seems to play completely out of tune/scale. Geranio is where Per Un Amico has an epic feel. It has it's ups and downs without losing coherence and finishes with a symphonic coda driven by a Synthesizer riff.

Recommended for Progressive Rock veterans and Italian Rock lovers, not to mention PFM fans.

1. Appena un Po' (B-) 2. Generale (C) 3. Per un Amico (A-) 4. Il Banchetto (B) 5. Geranio (B+)

This is my first and only experience with PFM, but suffice it to say that I will certainly be purchasing more Italian prog (if only I can find it...). This album has some phenomenally high moments and relatively few low ones. I always gravitate toward creative and predominantly instrumental music, so naturally this is right up my alley.

Appena Un Poco. Quite possibly in my top 25 prog songs of all time, this piece really is remarkable. From the dreamy fade-in to the funky groove to the powerful mellotron/keyboard melody to the chaotic ending crescendo, this song oozes creativity and attention to detail. I really have no adequate benchmark to compare this to (a combination of Yes' And You and I and Genesis' Fountain of Salmacis is the best I can come up with, and that's not really close), though all proggers will appreciate this music.

Generale. Here is where I hear the Gentle Giant and Gryphon similarities: very cool and diverse instrumentation (piccolo, violin, etc), rapid fire changes between melodies, and tons of interesting fills from backing instruments (especially drums and piano here).

Per Un Amico. A nice mellow intro hints at the first "normal" song from PFM on this album, but no! Halfway through we find a great instrumental that winds through some fast strumming, leading to a spectacular crescendo, followed by a mild yet stately conclusion. Another great example of PFM's unique sound.

Il Banchetto. Here is where things start to become a bit uneven. Nice vocal harmonies lead to a mysterious and quite well-done keyboard/mellotron bit. However, we then sit through a few minutes of what sounds to me like cheesy Nintendo music before eventually winding back to the chorus. I don't mind experimenting, but I'm not going to let PFM skate by while ELP, King Crimson and others are penalized for the same thing.

Geranio. The trend toward lower quality escalates. This song revolves around a happy, catchy tune and an interesting waltzy bridge as highlights, with a lot of quiet filler and a repetitive (and uncreative) ending. Really kind of a headscratcher--maybe these musicians aren't as mature as they indicated with earlier tunes.

Some great ideas, instrumentation and creativity, but not entirely consistent; therefore this gets the same treatment that other albums that fit this description receive. Original and entertaining music? Certainly, but a masterpiece this is not.

This is the first band that I have listened to because I came across them on this site.

I ordered a few LPs (i'm a vinyl addict) from a UK supplier and invited a mate round to listen to my new discovery. By the way, no matter how you broach the subject, mentioning that you're into "italian symphonic prog" makes you sound like a pretentious git. So, my best advice for the uninitiated is just listen wihtout prejudice and introduce it as some 70s stuff I found ...

This is just an awesome album. Sort of Gentle Giant and Gryphon meet Yes with Steve Hackett (post-genesis) rather than Steve Howe, but different. Oh and the occasional interludes of Mike Oldfield. Actually there are parts of this album which you et the impression MArk Kelly form Marillion must ahve listened to (not as blatant as Grendel-Apocalypse 9/8)

Trouble is this music deserves better equipment than I've got (a nice pair of Sonus Faber Cremonas would be great).

Side One: There is an indescribable delicacy in Appena un poco. there are too many groovy riffs Generale is an interesting short instrumental. Per un amico (you can listen to on this site)

Side Two: Il banchettois my favourite track. Is there some Crosby Stills & Nash in here? If there's an influence it passes. No, this is too good, you ahve to listen to it and I have to work harder so I can afford better hi-fi. Geranio: ok now there are shades of Jethro Tull but onyl for a breif moment or two. A very Yes like riff with accompanying vocal harmony takes over. A quiet interlude (nice drumming) builds back into the riff. there is a punctuation of "scarey fairground" music before order and calmness is once more restored. There's a bit of fun going on here and no mistake.

So the verdict, well my mate who's in to Tragically Hip, Radiohead, Rush, Floyd, PT and Amplifier was gob-smacked. I have absolutely no hesitation in giving this album 5 stars. It's the sort of album which 5 stars was invented for. can you be serious about prog without it??

This has to be the most original and the most simply astonishing prog album ever to come out of Italy. Compared to its predecessor, STORIA DI UN MINUTO, it's an enormous leap forward. If I've awarded it four stars, not five, this is only for the following reasons:

1. On the whole, those lazy vocals still sound weak. When they get a bit more powerful (as on "Il Banchetto"), the harmonies remind me of run-of-the-mill Italian pop.

2. As other reviewers have pointed out, the final track is dreadfully repetitive. After the grand fiesta of all that came before, you'd expect the album to end on a bang, but instead you get a mess.

3. As musicians, the members of PFM are second to none (their technique is clearly superior to what Genesis, Jethro Tull and other British bands could do at the time) but PER UN AMICO does not reach the heights of the greatest prog masterpieces.

But let's be grateful for what we've got! You'll be hard-pressed to find a more breathtaking collection of virtuoso violin solos, clangy rock guitars, jolly multi-tracked recorders, spooky waltzes, Beach Boys-style vocal outbursts, exuberant mandolin-strumming, pseudo-baroque interludes, magisterial grand piano cadenzas and dreamy Moog & Mellotron climaxes - all wrapped up in quicksilver tunes with more unexpected tempo changes than you can shake a stick at.

Essential listening for symphomaniacs!

After the excellent debut ''Storia di un minuto'' and its huge success,PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI enter the studio again to record its follower ''Per un Amico'' in the same year.The album was released on Numero Uno as their debut at the end of 1972.Someone would expect that the band would run out of ideas in such a short time,but that's not the case here...

Listening to ''Appena un' po'' you can know what to expect from the whole album.KING CRIMSON and GENESIS are the band's main influences but now the band presents a more original and personal sound.Mediterrenean tunes (acoustic guitars,flutes,violins) blend with soft guitars,smooth mellotron and deep bass lines in a symphonic magical arrangement.On ''Generale'' the intensity is turned on with a jazzy feeling dominating the track through the complex interplays,while the organ section thrills me every time I listen it.On the self-titled track the folk-tinged face of PFM returns.Here flutes,violins and grand piano are mixed with strong use of the moog synthesizer and the sweet vocals to offer another majestic moment.''Il banchetto'' is the most classical-oriented composition of the album,while it is also the closest one to GENESIS' style.The track opens with delicate acoustic guitars and romantic multi-vocal parts,but soon it's Premoli's moog s6nth,which takes over in a memorable solo,recalling TONY BANKS at his best,while a classical-inspired piano passage towards the end is the best tribute to classical music by a prog band.''Geranio'' closes the album in a folk/symph/pop way with some catchy sung passages leaving their place to flute-driven symphonic rock,accompanied by mellow piano parts and strong violins.Not to notice the grandiose ending section of the track with those haunting tubular bells and spacey synths.Awesome!

Two albums during a year was a rather common thing for a rock band back in the 70's...but two masterpieces during a year is so scarce like finding a button in a lake.This is your best introduction to Italian progressive rock music....and you shouldn't miss it!

An Italian prog classic

PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI are the most widely known and lauded Italian symphonic prog and with records like Per Un Amico is one of their best. The music isn't really as progressive or symphonic as the major symphonic acts like Yes that were around at the time but it is still in the same league, it's just got a different and distinct flavour to it favouring more laid back acoustic guitar style arrangements.

The first 2 songs make this album for me Appena Un Po' starts off with some swelling mellotron (one of my favourite mellotron sounds ever) before a small flute and acoustic guitar part accompanied by organ and harpsichord leading into the meat of the song in an ominous fashion. We then get lead into the laid back feel that permeates most of the album, great if you're in the mood for relaxing. 'Generale' is my favourite song on the album with a marching snare motif and a more guitar oriented approach with a creamy fuzzy tone and some great supporting bass work that seems reminiscent of Banco's 'Darwin'.

From there on the album is just nice, things fade away a bit and there isn't as much cohesion or immersion in the music and nothing really holds my attention for that long although I can still recognise there is good music there. Overall a good album but it doesn't measure up with the best from the west in my opinion and lacks a lot of memorability, it's also painfully short - all that aside a worthwhile album for any fan of symphonic prog.

Genuinely unique and beautiful, "Per Un Amico" is one of the finest examples of '70's prog around and, while certainly being influenced by their UK contemporaries, maintained a distinct style and sound all their own. Simultaneously symphonic and jazzy, "Per Un Amico" features classy, laid-back playing from all members, whose skill as composers and musicians shines throughout. The songs are universally complex and dense, heavy on melodies textures with a nice, mellow energy far different than the epic pomp and majesty of Yes/Genesis. The Italian vocals add the finishing touch, making this one an exceptional, if short, addition to anyone's classic prog library.

Songwriting: 4 Instrumental Performances: 4 Lyrics/Vocals: 4 Style/Emotion/Replay: 4

I guess that ANY symphonic prog lover will just be blown away with this album. Whether you understand Italian or not does not really matter. It is an important album for the symphonic genre. Tout court (humm, this means "period").

I discovered "PFM" a few years (three) after this album was released and this might well be one of their best album.The opener is just a magnificent piece of music. These mellotron passages, so strong, so ... sublime. It is always with great emotion that I listen to this jewel of symphonic music. The only negative comment would probably be the vocals which won't never convinced me (whoever holds them).

This album isn't a whole symphonic one. "Generale" is particularly hard to digest for me. Directionless and more improvisation style. But this is another TM from the band.

Most of this very good album holds brilliant songs as we all like. Complex music, difficult to grasp at first sight. You'll need to be patient with "Per Un Amico". It will grow on you and you'll be rewarded for sure. Take the test, really.

The best song IMO is "Il Banchetto". Mostly instrumental, it is a marvelous trip into the lush mellotron sounds. It summarizes quite well "PFM" music overall. Complexity and beauty all mixed in one of their most beautiful piece of music. Classic, jazzy, symphonic...PFM. The highlight.

The closing and very quiet "Geranio" will leave some "Trespass" marks at start but will soon turn into some sort of Italian feast as the band has been used to with "E Festa" from their debut album mixed with lots of classicism as well. Breathless at times and changing from theme several times.

I wouldn't rate this album with the masterpiece status but it is definitely worth your listening. Four stars.

Not much to add here. An excellent example of the Italian scene. I have a real soft spot for "Il Banchetto". Pastoral in nature with one of the best examples of using the moog as a colour of sorts rather than a virtuoso solo a la Keith Emerson. Nice! An excellent introduction to anyone intererested in Italian Progressive Rock. Start HERE.

4.5 stars.This is the third PFM album I have heard and yes it is a classic but I do prefer the debut. Part of the reason might be because the debut featured quite a bit more mellotron on it.

"Appena Un Po" has some of the most beautiful sections of music I have ever heard. It opens with the dreamy sounds of mellotron and harp before the acoustic guitar arrives a minute in. Flute follows and then a full sound. There is some surprising heaviness 2 1/2 minutes in before it gets pastoral with vocals 3 minutes in. This part is simply gorgeous especially when the mellotron comes in. Later 6 1/2 minutes in we get more waves of mellotron as the theme from earlier is repeated. Nice. This is one of my all time favourite PFM songs. "Generale" gives the impression to begin with that they are throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us. It stops and starts over again 2 minutes in with a different soundscape that is brighter and more pleasant. Heavy organ 3 minutes in as it becomes bombastic like intro with lots of piano, violin and drums.

"Per Un Amico" opens with flute and piano. Vocals before a minute. Check out the violin 3 minutes in and the strummed acoustic guitar with moog to follow. Cool. "Il Banchetto" is my second favourite tune on here. Acoustic guitar and vocals are beautiful. A fuller sound a minute in. Piano comes in followed by a flute solo before 2 minutes. The acoustic guitar returns and synths then harp joins in. Various sounds come and go after 4 minutes.The piano takes over 5 1/2 minutes in until a couple of minutes later the vocals and that wondrous melody return. Nice. "Geranio" opens with a pastoral mood as flute, acoustic guitar, piano and soft vocals fill out the sound. The song kicks into gear 2 minutes in with a vocal melody and a full sound. Lots of piano and drums. Vocals come in before 5 minutes giving us another beautiful passage. A full sound comes back to end the song.

This album should be in every prog fans collection. There are some breathtaking moments on this record that make it a must have.

Well, the musicians in this band P.F.M., as I wrote in other reviews for their albums, are clearly for me Classical Music trained musicians (I could be wrong), and they really used all the musical knowledge they have to create an excellent album, full of songs with melodies, with good use of musical landscapes, emotions, etc. This album is a mind trip for me, very enyojable from start to finish. The album caughts one`s attention from the first song to the last. It could be a bit unfair to said who in the band is more important than the others, but in my opinion, in this very melodic album the keyboards are the most important thing for me, because they create the musical atmospheres on which the guitars and the wind instruments / violin play very good melodies and arrangements. The bass and the drums sound very well, too. There are still some influences from the early KING CRIMSON`s albums, with the use of the mellotron, and the drums sound very influenced by Michael Giles`s playing. But of course, P.F.M. is a very original band in sound and in compositions.It is really difficult to review an album like this and said which songs are the best, but I can say that I liked ver much "Appena un Pó" and "Per un Amico". "Geranio" has a very good finale. There are a lot of influences from Italian Folk music, I think, of course because they are Italian!

In my opinion, P.F.M. is the best Italian Prog Rock band that I have listened until now, and this is their best album that I have listened from them (but I still have not yet listened to all their albums!). I think that this album and "Cook" are their best albums from the seventies. Very recommendable.

While Storia Di Un Minuta most certainly had a flair for the dramatic, slightly melancholic aspects of music, Per Un Amico is in many ways like it, yet fundamentally different. The bulk of the material isn't as in-your-face as I experienced the predecessor to be, perhaps due to the fact that it was my first encounter with the whole RPI scene.

Storia Di Un Minuto showed some clear influences, mostly in the shape of early Jethro Tull, while still maintaining a high level of originality. On Per Un Amico, these influences are in no way as notable, and I confidently state that they firmly and successfully express their own, unique sound on this release. It's more relaxed, mature and sophisticated than the emotional, atmospheric but still slightly rougher, slightly unpolished music coming out of Storia Di Un Minuto, perhaps with the exception of Generale, which in many ways resemble the cheerful E´ Festa. But even here you can hear the transition musically. More daring in compositions, the use of many ideas that, almost magically, manages to form a single harmonious unity every single time.

As for the music, it contains even more classical overtones and is clearly more complex than it was earlier the same year, but when for some bands that means a colder, more mathematical approach, not so with PFM. Because the music throughout the album is positively vibrant with warmth and richness, with often long, tranquil passages of excellent acoustic guitar and piano, intertwined with more orchestral passages and very often, flute. The few bits of really notable electric guitar still shows some relation and admiration to Robert Fripp, but in the next second they are as far from the man as possible with the smooth, warm tone one can expect for this kind of music. That same warmth is not only limited to the instrumental side of the album, the vocals are equally soothing and patoral. The greatest difference, musically, must be that of the keys. Here we're served a more modern, in the words relative meaning, sound. More electronic, bordering on sharp from time to time. If you for some reason find this bothering there's no need to be alarmed: Mellotron-soaked melody will redeem that.

This is an album covering many moods and atmospheres along the way, but the one that lingers is above all the amazing laid-back, feel-good warmth and the fact that while staying true to this, that it still manages to be such an instrumental firework. It is, simply put and taken as a whole, a happy album. One that should be enjoyed outdoors, in summertime, with pleasant company, a glass of wine and in beautiful settings. I find it hard to believe myself, but this is another excellent album from Premiata Forneria Marconi, well deserving of the high accolades it receives from around the world.

4 stars.

//LinusW

Review 43, Per Un Amico, Premiata Forneria Marconi, 1972

StarStarStarStar

And though purity is maintained... it leaves us sterile

This Van Der Graaf Generator lyric is probably the best description of my 'problem' with Per Un Amico. All of the music is superb, there are no cracks in the playing, nor any problems with the flow in a conventional sense. I have difficulty with this in two ways (both entirely personal taste). I find it difficult to develop a relation or imagery for any track except the amazing opener. And, everything is too smoothly connected. It doesn't really flow and change for me so much as oscillate a little. I can't really fault anything about the album, but it is simply a nice listening experience for me, nothing more.

A searing mellotron accompanied by a beautiful harp introduce the album wonderfully. The amazing Appena Un Po' is the album's obvious highlight for me. A gentle acoustic from Mussida leads up to the flute and bursts of harpsichordy sound which are eventually supplemented by some much heavier keyboards to provide a vicious atmosphere. From this chaos the beautiful multi-vocals and soft drumming appear, with a reverent organ leading us slowly up to the gorgeous mellotron-led section. From here on, the entrancing atmospheres take us on a journey from a rural Italian mealtime to a busy city to the mystical beauty of the mellotron-induced atmospheres. 'Away from here' indeed.

Il Generalissimo is a pretty sharp contrast with a short drum solo leading to a lightning quick series of solos, violin and guitar especially. Flavio Premoli gives us some sharp piano-work, and we receive an excellent dose of guitar(could be moog, actually)-violin interplay. A humming gives way to military drumming with Mauro Pagani providing a flute solo before the keyboards, and then guitar, and then organ come in to provide a level of pomp. A twisted violin and some more of the moog/guitar from earlier leads us out. An incredible dose of ideas in only a few minutes, but I just find it difficult to go beyond the music and attach an image to it.

Per Un Amico is again a flawless piece of work, with some beautiful piano, flute and careful drumming shining throughout, as does the interplay between everything else and the stretching violin and vocal combination. Throughout, we see the players exchanging ideas without a flaw, and the Franco Mussida acoustics around the four minute mark are an absolute joy. Again, magnificent, but too smooth and musical for me.

Il Banchetto begins with an acoustic-bass-vocal combination, and the excellent Flavio Premoli throws us both carefully added piano and organ. A whimsical piano-drum-flute section and some upbeat cheerful music with slightly darker edges moves us on to a long jarring moog solo of the most moogly order with a burst of church organ and then a forceful piano solo. Some drumming and bass comes in to lead us back to the banquet theme and the reveling aristocracy. A great showcase of Premoli's skills, but it doesn't really move me in any way other than cerebrally.

Geranio is rather gentle, and somewhat harks back to the opener, with a careful vocal, and a dreamy feel given a slight edge by the taps of a piano's lower range. A delicate piano foreshadows a later singing section and builds up gradually in force and power. After the cheery vocal burst, a clever interplay between the moog, piano and others brings us to another instrumental break with a mandocello (I think) being used to full effect. A combination of haunting keys, tapped drums and tubular bells leads us out.

Basically, this album is absolutely essential to try and own, because it's musically flawless. Unfortunately, apart from the opener, it just doesn't move me. I'm not quite sure why, maybe it's just the lack of 'psychedelic' (word abuse) ideas or lyrics I can understand throughout (my snatches of Italian are unsurprisingly little help), but I would only really have missed the opener if I didn't own this album. Great stuff, you must own this, and see if you 'get' it more than I do.

Rating: Four Stars (though a personal three) Favourite Track: Appena Un Po'

Edit: Cut down to three stars for personal taste. Some people are much keener on the very smooth playing of the album than myself, so reading their reviews will probably help counter-act it. I'm seeing the lack of enjoyment more and more as a result of rather vacuous 'production' (I use the term with limited understanding). Still, I'd try it if you're not a heavily atmosphere or rock-driven person.

True progressive rock with everything you need to feel the genre.Thie album is so highly varied with gentle parts,classical moments,jazz sections and hard breaking sense.This is the band that perfectly use so different musical instruments with precise technique.You can feel the spirit of rock,jazz and classical music,because of the mixture of the instruments for the different genres.The variety and great musicianship of the album can be heard on the first and the third song - Appena un po' and Per un amico.They both possess the gentle line followed by more agressive part with clasical and then jazz moments.The second one - Generale - is absolute agressive song with harder sound,but precise,too.Il banchetto is typical long progressive song with much tempo changes and dramatical parts;included psychedelic moments.At the end of the song the piano work is of high standard.At the end of the album is situated Geranio,which contains too much instruments again and begin with extremely dramatical gentleness followed by typical harmonised vocals of the era and afterthat drama again,but without gentleness this time.I wish you good moments with this precious album!

One of the most beautiful and romantic Italian progressive rock albums you'll be sure.

Honestly, this Per Un Amico by PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI (P.F.M.) was the first Italian progressive rock album for me. As we can say about P.F.M., their worldwide-debut album Photos Of Ghosts was produced by Pete Sinfield and, to tell the truth, Pete's production could let me know about them. However, my first P.F.M. song was, not Cerebration but Appena un Po', and that encounter should be great! What a beautiful song...Appena un Po' could do make me mercilessly weeping.

One of the most beautiful track Appena un Po', frexible-speedy-jazzy style Generale, soft and smooth album-titled song Per un Amico, avantgarde and immediately-variable petit- suite Il Banchetto, and stable but strong epilogue Geranio...each song has its own position, role and character. This product should be absolutely strict as one story.

Although this album be easy to hear even for English-prog freaks, it should be one of the most Italian and progressive works. I wanna say only...listen with your ears like Dumbo. :P

My renaissance into the world of progressive rock began one year ago with the discovery of Prog Archives. (Thank you all!) With it I at first concentrated on refamiliarizing myself with all of the music I purchased and loved in the 1970s, I am now beginning an adventure into all of the music I missed which Progarchives.com reviewers have praised. I am now the VERY HAPPY owner of my first PFM disc, Per Un Amico. Just as all the reviewers have raved, it is clearly a classic, with excellent songwriting, instrumentation, musicianship, vocals, pace, melody, and very few flaws or 'misses.'

The opener, "Appena Un Po'" is so tight and full of surprises and twists with such wonderful balance of melody and superior musicianship as to win over the new listener immediately [9/10],

"Generale: is a romp through the sheer fun of Django-land [7/10],

"Per Un Amico" shows off a gentler, subtler side with more constant mood and tempo streams, and with such wonderful clarity in the sound mixing, and, of course, the wonderful presence of violin and mandoloncello. This song is especially representative of the way PFM masterfully incorporates the electronics among the wonderful acoustic. [9/10]

"Il Banchetto" opens with the wonderfully clear guitars, followed by the beautiful CS&N-like vocals and bass, before setting up the haunting moog solos, harp arpeggios, and background mellotron, before a Keith Emerson-like keyboard interlude. With the return of drums, Nash bass and vocal harmonies the group brings the song to a satisfying if sadly premature, end. [9/10]

"Geranio" [7/10] again opens with a quieter, almost medieval-then-Debussy/jazz section alternating with a Beach Boys "Pet Stories" theme, before taking us back to the twists and turns of una carnivale for a while. While the fuzzed-up bass and accompanying synth of the outgoing section get a bit annoying after the eight or twelfth measure, the album ends in a way that leaves the listener wanting so much more.

A very enjoyable and addictive listen even 37 years after its recording/release. So, I start it over again-until I can start adding the rest of PFM's classics (and maybe more) to my collection. Though my song-by-song rating system only yields an 8.5 out of ten; making it a 4-plus on the Progarchives scale, I would rate this album or perhaps its performers as an essential assets to anyone's Prog collection.

For [&*!#]s and giggles.. I decided to dredge up the first album review I ever wrote like 5 or 6 years ago. Just as I was getting into Italian prog. This album was one of the first RPI albums I got.

If you are looking for a place to start, this is it

Italian prog..... oh where to start. For many of us, a question that we ask of ourselves. For many of us, the Italian prog scene of the 70's is new to us. Lord knows I've been up on music for many years, and a fan of prog rock music since I was exposed to it by my parents. In the days before the internet, recommendations came from word of mouth. Nice but restricted by the area and region where you lived. Of course Yes, ELP, King Crimson, and Jethro Tull are first on everyone's minds when it comes to prog. Recently however, thanks to the internet I have been introduced to a whole literal world of prog that I really knew nothing of before. Italian prog caught my eye immediately for it's many diverse qualities. Italian prog is a diverse beast. Primary inspirations for the first generation prog groups, were ELP, and VDGG. Gentle Giant and Genesis are mentioned often as well. To state the obvious, a point to be made about Italian prog is an obvious one. It's not in English, for the most part. Some albums were issued with English vocals for export to England and America. The lyrics being unintelligible need not be a problem or a reason not to explore it however. Many of us like Prog for it's ability to take us away musically, it is a genre whose music and lyrics are open-ended and subject to interpretation. That's why Prog has often been characterized as a 'nerdy' or more accurately a 'thinking man's' genre. In order to get something out of it, you have to put something in to it. Italian prog is no different. The Italian language is so flowing and so romantic that it is a natural fit for the beautiful, and and time intense musical sections. It is a language meant to be sung, if that makes any sense. It is open-ended to the n-th degree, make what you want of what is being sung. It can adapt to nearly interpretation.

So this sounds interesting. O.K. where do I start. This my friends is the album to get. Find any list of the best, the greatest, etc. Italian albums and this will be at the very top of any list. This album much like English counterparts like Close to the Edge, or Dark Side of the Moon. Is for all intents and purposes the 'flawless' album. Per Un Amico was the 2nd album released by PFM. A close mirror, yet more mature than their first album. It caught the 'ears' of a certain group of musical visionaries with the initials E..L...and...P, who promptly signed them to their label Manticore Records. From there on, PFM took Italian prog worldwide. Tours of England, American, and Japan followed. Prog immortality resulted.

The album itself starts with a stellar lead off. The intro to Appena un Po, is breathtaking, a mellotron intro similar to 'Watcher of the Skies' accompanied by a plucked harp. After such atmospheric intro, some classical guitar 'noodling', with the various instruments falling in. The flute, a harpsichord, the Rickenbacker bass (yes a 1/2 point addition on the ranking thank you), finally the guitar and drums enter to an aggressive stomping main theme... to suddenly drop to bring us to the main section. Very nice vocal section. Love the Doo Do do....do do doo.

Two other standouts for me happen to be the next two on the album. Generale begins with a Soundchaser style fury, with some wild violin throw in. However just when you are ready for them to break out the Cha Cha Cha, you get sucked in by the main theme of the instrumental with the harsh violin contrasts being the ingredient that makes the whole song in my eyes. The third song, the title track is just a PERFECT song. Great melody, great singing, love the Grand Piano just below the mix. Not upfront, but just adds the right touch to the song.

In short if at all interested in exploring Italian Prog, this is the album to start with. The greatest from the greatest. Highly recommended, a 10 in my book. All five songs are high quality and will suck you in. Trust me on that.

edit.. for the site and for me 5 stars.. you're nuts.. not to mention wasting your time with prog if you don't have this.

Micky (aka Michael)

Second ( and I think one of most popular) album of the gods of Italian Progresive (RPI) PFM is all you wanna find in that kind of music: melodism, perfect arrangements, strong scent of classical music and baroque.

Compared with their debut, this album is much more better. More focused and well balanced, it contains of real mix of sympho-elements and rock structures and drives. For a first time in group's music you can hear not how few classicaly trained young musicians trying to play their beloved clasical music in a manner of rock-band. No, there is real melted sound, no one of two components is dominating. So, result is realy very attractive: less sweet, more rhythm, complex structures, pulsation of ideas and sounds. Right here I start to believe,that they are leading team of period's Italian Progresive.

I can recommend this album to anyone interested in searching Italian Progresive of 70-th as very strong and representative example.

You can guess this is masterpiece by many traits, many symptoms this album bears. People talk about it a lot, thus, it is quite well known in prog circles. And also, most of us have weak spot for Italiano Progressivo Rock. And another reason, it's number eleven in top albums chart here. It have to mean something, so many people can't be wrong.

Or can they ? Of course they can, but they are not. I can feel it from first sounds in Appena Un Po', that something magical has been crafted here, soft, tender, coming not through your ear, but skipping whole hearing system and going right into your brain, where it blows in wonderful explosion.

Of sounds. You know this feeling, when you simply know that every sound has its place in (well, we can call it) grand design. That you understand this composition almost instantly, no mystery for years, it's here, nice and clear to heard. But I admit that it took some time. This is music, which grabs you and attract mostly on first song and its beauty I think. On first listen I mean. But to take this as whole, talking about it's quality, one eye won't remain dry.

5(-), because last two songs quite hangs on first three ones. And hell yeah, walking on rush street, seeing all these people and wondering, what they could listen, I must say, little bit in vain, that for sure it's not as good as my PFM-PUA.

A review 6 months in the making...

When I started to settle on planet PA, I thought it would be a good idea to go through the site's favourite titles and challenge my taste a bit. After all, a new scope and perspective would do me good after being stuck in barren metal lands for the last couple of years. Per Un Amico was my first bite of RPI and it left me in complete disbelief. That was easily the worst prog I had heard in ages.

Highly disappointed, I retreated back to my black dungeon, bawling curses at the appalling taste of Prog Archives and writing a flaming first draft of this review. I didn't post it as I avoid reviewing music I don't understand. It contained nice play of words though, such as 'Retarded Prog Indigestion' and similar curses. Too bad I deleted it!

And so on went my life, happy and pretty much RPI-less. If it wasn't for Snobb's persistent inquiries when I would do my first RPI review, I would have given up on it entirely (thanks mate!). Based on his suggestion I picked up some Area albums and a bit later also Banco. I was sold on the spot, this is what I wanted to discover! Since then I've dabbed my toes further and further into the Mediterranean sea and have now come to a point where I can't see the shore anymore. This scene is huge!

As can be deducted from the rating, it has grown on me, but some of my initial criticisms still stand. In order to try and place this particular album in a context, I chose to review it together with a similar, but in my ears more accomplished album, Le Orme's Uomo Di Pezza.

Being new to the RPI scene, I hear this music for the first time with 2009/2010 ears. A first logical question is whether this almost 40 year old album has withstood the test of time successfully. I must say that, contrary to the other prominent RPI bands, Per Un Amico hasn't aged well at all to my ears. Particularly due to the primitive synths and the faint mellow vocals. Even though melancholic keys prevail, there's lightness in their sound that makes everything very sweet, too sweet and innocent really. I regularly feel tempted to play this at half speed to get a bit more oomph from the vocals. You might denote this argumentation to merely a matter of taste, but this is the second PFM album I review and I have praised the previous one, Storia Di Un Minuto, for its better cohesion and less ELP-indebted style.

Anyway, there's a second point of criticism and it is with the songwriting. While mostly excellent it isn't consistent throughout. Appena Un Po and Geranio and to a lesser extent Per Un Amico are simply marvellous. But on a song like Il Banchetto, PFM adds a folksy pop flavour in the first half, and some experimentation in the second half. None of both can impress me much really. Especially the pointless keyboard folly halfway in doesn't seem to come natural to PFM. It doesn't sound arty but artificial and disjointed. Their contemporaries Banco and Area got away much more successfully with such wild experimentations. Still this piece has some lovely sections, like the instrumental bit between minute 2 and 4 and also the piano near the end. The album ends as great as it began. Geranio is a strong composition, featuring lovely soft vocals and a fine dramatic ending.

Depending on your background this might indeed be a recommended start, but it might also be the exact opposite as it turned out for me. Anyway, if all songs had been on the same level as the opening and closing tracks, I would probably have opted for 4 or even 5 stars. Maybe I might have loved this album more if I had come into RPI earlier. 3.5 stars for now.

PFM's 'Per Un Amico' is an Italian Prog delicacy of varied time sig changes and virtuoso musicianship.

PFM were the first of many Italian prog groups I have become attached to over the years. I was a little wary of listening to an Italian band due to not knowing the language but I needed have worried. The Italian prog genre showcases an incredible range of talented groups that have stood the test of time and their albums have become legendary.

PFM are masters of prog and each album offers something totally new and unexpected. This album 'Per Un Amico' is certainly one of the best alongside 'Photos of Ghosts' and 'Storia Di Un Minuto'. I can't pick out a favourite track in particular because it blends so well as a total experience. 'Il Banchetto' is the first track I heard from the group and still remains my favourite. So check that to give you an idea of the style of music. This album is one I urge you to listen to at your nearest opportunity. ****

A truely beautiful album, 'Per Un Amico' pretty much stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of the British prog albums, rivalling the likes of 'Close To The Edge' by Yes, King Crimson's debut and Genesis's 'Nursery Cryme' for sheer scope and innovation. Premiata Forneria Marconi(a.k.a. PFM) were one of Italy's top progressive acts during the early seventies. The nation of pasta and Roberto Baggio produced a number of exciting groups back then, and the country had a strong prog-rock scene, with PFM probably the most internationally recognised thanks to a deal with Emerson, Lake & Palmer's management company Manticore Records. The deal gave the group the exposure they needed, they stopped Singing in Italian and success followed across the globe. PFM were a bit hit in Japan, enjoyed several successful US tours and had a strong-and-loyal fambase throughout Western Europe Released in 1972 - a golden year for Prog - 'Per Un Amico' remains PFM's defining musical statement and their finest to album to date, coming as it does from the clutch of three-or-four beautifully-wrought Italian language albums that makes up the beginning of their 35-year-plus long discography. Many critics agree that PFM are as valuable to the history of prog as their British cousins despite their relative anonimity amongst the rest of the classic rock spectrum. For some, the idea of Italian lyrics is a turn-off, with the argument for this some being that music without the weight of the meaning of the words is surely no way to understand the artistic statement being made. For others, the actual sounds and melodies are what it's really all about, and the words are an extra, the cherry on top of the cake. The strength of PFM's music transcends this argument. The music is precise, symphonic and highly-organic, a flowing plethora of deliberately lush sounds that flows and then peaks into moments of spine-tingling sonic wonder. There is no way to know what the lyrics mean if you don't speak the language, but in actual fact it doesn't matter. The style and language of the vocals fits perfectly with the music, and the idea of forcing the words into English feels like a wrong move somehow. As for the musicagain, 'Per Un Amico' starts slowly and blooms carefully and delicately into moments of lush beauty. Occasionally the serene harmonics are interrupted by a stirring gallup, as in the jazz-rock of 'Generale!', which features thundering bass and clattering drums, but the bulk of the rather brief 35-minute running time is taken up by more mellow sounds. The album does hint towards an almost neo-Genesis sound, with folk-and-classical trimmings adorning the group's bucolic candour and warm acoustic glow, but PFM do very much have a uniquely warm style of their own. Once you, the listener, is past the language barrier, the superb Progressive Rock of PFM's 'Per Un Amico' will hit you just like Pink Floyd or Van Der Graaf Generator did when you first realised you loved them. The music rarely repeats itself, sticking to the idea of experimenting with shape and - first true ideology of prog-rock - yet is also hummable and catchy. However, what is most striking about PFM is just how beautiful the music is. Lush and ethereal, 'Per Un Amico' is the perfect introduction to both this great band and the extraordinary sounds of European Progressive Rock. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010

Post this deal, the group sang in English, and produced a couple of excellent albums, including the majestic 'Chocolate Kings'. However, 'Per Un Amico' was written-and-produced when the four-strong group were still a national act, with all the lyrics sung in beautiful Italian; it proved to be their breakthrough.

Per Un Amico has become the breakthrough album for Premiata Forneria Marconi and a centerpiece of their career for years to come. It's difficult to explain what makes this release so much better than what this Italian band has or will achieve with any simple answer, but I will try my best.

I consider the material here only slightly better than the other albums although there is a definite improvement in the sound recording department compared to Storia Di Un Minuto. I guess that the success of this record has to do with a combination of solid material, its early release date and the sound quality. At the same time this description implies that if you enjoy the music featured here then you still have quite a few other great Premiata Forneria Marconi albums just waiting to be discovered. And you'll probably be fine picking any of them as long as you stay away from their '80s and '90s material!

If I may use the previous proclamation of this album being the centerpiece of Premiata Forneria Marconi's career then it would make Appena Un Po' the centerpiece of this album! The song features an acoustic build up of the highest RPI-caliber which then goes into a completely unexpected hard rock territory. (Un)Fortunately this section doesn't stay around for too long and the rest of the album doesn't feature another trace of this direction. This type of surprises are rare and it's definitely something that I would have loved to hear more often on studio albums!

Il Banchetto is this album's second highlight and it starts with a very familiar-sounding guitar intro from that same year. The middle section will also probably ring a bell with most ELP fans and especially their album Trilogy but I'm not mentioning all this in order to bash the band for any lack of creativity. On contrary, I believe that there are just not enough albums with this distinct 1972 flavor out there and I cherish everyone I can find. Instead I use these comparisons as mere points of reference for anyone not familiar with Premiata Forneria Marconi and their music. This 9 minute composition goes in many different directions but ultimately maintained an excellent flow throughout all of the section.

The rest of the album has its share of highlights but these two compositions are the ones that I immediately think about whenever Per Un Amico is mentioned. It would have been nice to give this album the highest possible rating but I feel that the excellent material overweights the essential pieces and therefore I'll settle for a strong excellent addition recommendation.

***** star songs: Appena Un Po' (7:44) Il Banchetto (8:39)

**** star songs: Generale (4:18) Per Un Amico (5:24) Geranio (8:04)

It's pretty obvious that 1972 was the peak of the band with 2 masterpieces made in this running year. Well, masterpiece according to many followers that is because that's actually not what I am myself. I'm even a bit of a non fan of RPI so I decided to take the plunge into the really greatest releases of this subgenre. And what better choice could there be than no.11 of our top 100 of all times and probably the best RPI-album of all times or at least one of them.

And I have to say this is a very interesting album indeed. The opener Appena un Po' was a favorite song of mine from first listening really. Very enchanting and varied as well, no doubt a song to fall in love with. Next up is the energetic Generale, much more up tempo and even when I have no problem with that on itself, I feel this song is far less captivating. Still pretty good though. Third is the title track and with this one we return to the style of the opening track. Again a lovely and dreamy tune, for sure one of the songs people fell in love with and decided to call this a masterpiece. Il Banchetto is my personal winner of this album and this is mainly thanks to the brilliant first half of the song with a shining Flavio Premoli. Sheer magic what he does here on his keys. After this the weird part makes the song even more special. A wonderful classical piano piece makes this track indeed of masterpiece level before a collective performance rounds things off in great style. Truly wonderful stuff ! Last track Geranio is again laid back in the starting moments with for instance pretty flute. After 2,5 minutes the song gets more swinging and rocky but in nice style, halfway followed by great alternation in styles.

A worthy closer of indeed a great album. Probably a masterpiece objectively and I'm glad I gave it a shot. Just a bit too far away from my personal taste preventing me from giving the full score but an admirable achievement and a must for just about any progger to explore. Four big stars for Per un Amico and a great album to start with for newbies in the Italian prog scene.

Let me first say that I enjoy this album immensely. The technical abilities and creativity of the band are exceptional. But at the same time, I get a feeling that many here get when listening to albums by The Flower Kings. There appears to be a little too much emphasis on sounding like the British prog bands of the era (this album was released in 1972). It sounds like the members of PFM were listing intensely to King Crimson (Appena un Po' ), Genesis (Generale), Gentle Giant (Per un Amico) and Emerson Lake & Palmer (Il Banchetto). This isn't to say that the songs are clones of the above mentioned bands, just that there appears to be a conscious effort to capture the spirit of the bands in in compositions.

Otherwise, the album is spectacular. And the group does manage to add enough of it's own style to make the album it's own.

PFM may be the most popular Italian prog group, but I don't think they are one of the best. This was my first experience with Italian prog a few years ago; it made me ignore Italian prog for awhile. Eventually, I got into Banco and Le Orme and liked them a lot more than PFM. Later on I discovered Goblin and Area, two bands who I really enjoyed. So, in general, I'm not much for the more popular symphonic stuff from Italy. I still have not bothered to hear another PFM album, but I am interested to see if they do have anything else I would like.

On this album, at least, there is a strong influence from the British prog bands of the time. Of course, there is a purely Italian element as well. "Appena un Po'" fades in with some gorgeous Mellotron and some harp plucking. After some acoustic guitar, flute and harpsichord. Full band comes in sounding like Gentle Giant. Then a folky part with early Crimson style drumming. Later an almost medieval sounding section. Goes back to the previous section. "Generale" starts with great jazzy drumming. Then goes into fusion territory with some violin. Love the guitar sound here. The music stops and then you hear marching drums and flute. It's like the American revolution or something! Later some church organ before it goes back to the fusion part. Probably my favourite song on the album.

The title track almost sounds like early '70s pop/rock till it gets halfway. Then it's a nice instrumental section that's both jazzy and symphonic. The violin playing here is good. Great drumming and Moog playing near the end. It finishes with the melody from the start of the song. "Il Banchetto" starts as a poppy folk song. Good flute playing. Later goes into a more classical sounding section with good Moog playing. Halfway changes to a bunch of different sections, all of them with the Moog prominent. Later just piano, eventually going back to the folky part. The harmony vocals at the end are nice.

"Geranio" begins very mellow with flute, acoustic guitar and vocals. Later a repeated piano figure leads to the group going into Beach Boys mode, with some Jethro Tull-like interludes. The music changes to different sections before reprising the beginning section. A long, repetative section with bells to end it. That part goes on too long, methinks.

Don't understand the popularity of this album. I've heard a lot more interesting and enjoyable RPI. Not bad music at all, just not very original or memorable. The later association with ELP and Pete Sinfield must have something to do with this band's popularity. This almost scared me off of Italian prog, but thankfully I found other artists more to my liking. I give this 3 stars.

'Per Un Amico' - Premiata Forneria Marconi (8/10)

Here it is; the template for Italian symphonic rock, Premiata Forneria Marconi's 'Per Un Amico'. Although it has been forty years since the album was released, the popularity of this legendary Italian progressive band's second album still rides high. This was the album that got Premiata Forneria Marconi out into the world, and for good reason too; it is a thirty five minute journey of warm and charming music. While I may not be able to agree that 'Per Un Amico' is the masterpiece it was brought to my attention as, I can testify to its beauty and strength. Simply put, PFM's 'Per Un Amico' is an excellent album.

With a handful of other Italian progressive rock bands from the early '70s, Premiata Forneria Marconi laid down much of the groundwork for the world famous progressive music scene that was to grow there. Many of the sub-genre's staples are here in full; the Italian lyrics, theatrical flair, and ties with symphonic prog rock are represented here in full. Musically, a close comparison I could draw would be to some of Genesis' earlier work, for it's heavy focus on keyboard textures, as well as its generally playful mood. However, while much of PFM's music here is generally kept fairly optimistic in mood, some of the album's best moments come when they decide to take a more melancholic voice to their music. This is best demonstrated by the climax of the opener (and highlight of the album) 'Appena Un Po', where the song shifts from being rather light, to an incredibly dramatic build that could have easily been the soundtrack to some intense film.

The music here is mellow for the grand majority, only gaining momentum and real energy for the few climaxes over the course of the album. This could have made 'Per Un Amico' a very difficult listen to get through, but PFM pulls through simply based on how well they are able to work with the quieter end of dynamic. Like virtually everything else in 'Per Un Amico', the vocals are also quite laid back and subtle; not an approach that much coincides with the bombastic Italian prog rock I'm used to hearing. I do wish that there had been more dramatic pay-offs here, but PFM do get their flair for theatrics across magically when it comes time for it.

An excellent album, and while I may have wished for some greater consistency and excitement along this journey, Premiata Forneria Marconi's 'Per Un Amico' does not disappoint.

Fully embracing the pastoral, acoustic guitar-led sound that Genesis had, by this point, gone a long way towards abandoning, PFM's second album is a tour de force of gentle, tranquil progressive rock. With the occasional keyboard interjection to prevent things getting too placid, the album's standout performer has to be Franco Mussida, who must on the basis of this album be a strong contender with Anthony Phillips for the best acoustic guitar player in prog. I hardly need to delve any deeper into the album's virtues - everyone else has done a great job already - but I did want to submit this review both to echo the general support for this album and to highlight Mussida's guitar playing specifically - I think the album owes most of its success to it. The fact that he's also a great singer is just the icing on the cake.

Within just a matter of months after their stunning debut, Premiata Forneria Marconi had already released another progressive rock classic in the form of Per Un Amico. This album took the unique sound and beautiful songwriting of Storia Di Un Minuto and turned the level of quality up yet another notch - Per Un Amico is a one of the most lovely albums I've ever heard, and it still stands today as one of the finest progressive rock albums ever to come from Italy. The strength of the compositions alone is enough to consider Per Un Amico a masterpiece, but the way they are perfectly arranged with diverse instrumentation and masterfully executed is still arguably one of the album's greatest assets. It's difficult to find any faults in Per Un Amico, and I'd recommend this in a heartbeat to anybody with even a slight curiosity in early seventies' Italian symphonic prog. As a matter of fact, I've yet to find an Italian prog album that betters this one. Labeling Per Un Amico as 'essential' wouldn't at all be out of the question.

Per Un Amico is, stylistically, a very similar album to Storia Di Un Minuto. This is best described as very emotional and pastoral progressive rock somewhere inbetween Genesis, King Crimson, and ELP. Premiata Forneria Marconi has always had a more classically-influenced edge, though, and in addition to bold grand piano sections, you should also expect an abundance of instruments like violin, flute, piccolo, and mellotron. Although the complexity of the music and arrangements may seem a bit inaccessible, I found myself loving Per Un Amico after my first listen; and, fortunately, my appreciation only grew with each succeeding spin. Even though the album is just thirty four minutes, there's so much to discover with each new listen. Every time I hear Per Un Amico I find myself discovering something I hadn't noticed before - that's extremely indicative of a masterpiece in my book.

"Appena Un Po'" opens up the album with one of Premiata Forneria Marconi's finest efforts - the sheer emotion contained within this song is breathtaking, with its precise arrangements and chilling melodies remaining absolutely unforgettable even after literally dozens of listens. "Generale" is a more complex instrumental tune, with lots of great time signature changes and complex portions keeping the listener on their toes. On the title track, the band plays a slightly more upbeat style complete with a fascinating instrumental portion about halfway through. I especially love the lush piano parts in this song. "Il Banchetto" is the longest track on Per Un Amico, and the pastoral acoustic guitars matched with haunting synthesizer melodies build fantastically into a bombastic symphonic prog climax. This is one of the album's highlights for sure. "Geranio" opens with a soft, pastoral acoustic guitar and flute passage, and continues in this mellow style before building into deeply emotional symphonic prog. The song ends with a dark, repetitive melody that closes up the album on a rather bombastic note.

Just like on Storia Di Un Minuto, the musicianship is absolutely impeccable on Per Un Amico. The arrangements feel a bit more detailed this time, though, and that's perfectly alright by me. The production is also very warm, organic, and pleasing. Everything is clearly audible, and I especially love the way the mix is perfectly balanced - this is one of the best seventies' productions out there.

Per Un Amico is a virtually flawless album in my eyes, and it's also one of my all-time favorites. Italian prog simply doesn't get any better than this, and anybody curious about the scene should make sure that this is one of the first albums you investigate. This essential masterpiece deserves no less than 5 stars from me. Premiata Forneria Marconi are often regarded as the 'definitive' Italian symphonic prog band; Per Un Amico is pretty good evidence why.

One Gem in a Fine Jewelry Store

PFM's Per Un Amico currently sits atop the RPI charts, and it is only in my recent return to the genre that I finally sunk my teeth into this classic. To be sure, this is a monumental album deserving of careful listening. The band jams so much wonderful music into 34 minutes that it's almost too much. Actually, it is too much. With the exception of the superb title tune, the pieces on this album try too hard, jump around too often, and suffer from "kitchen sink syndrome." Individual sections are often beautifully conceived and marvelously executed. However, they don't always cohere.

Adding to the ELP / KC influenced sound of the debut, PFM has clearly listened to some Gentle Giant in the meantime. An already eclectic mix of styles now has complex contrapuntal ideas thrown in. When it works, it's great. (Says this GG devotee). But juxtaposed with soaring mellotron and almost discoish vocals at parts, this new twist is an expression of a band still finding its identity. The opening and closing songs are the strongest examples of this. With breathtaking passages that don't quite relate, both "Appena un Po" and "Geranio" give us wonderful flavors but not a full conceived dish.

"Per Un Amico" the song is an exception. Here we have some melodic motifs that tie the song together throughout a slowing building and emotionally evocative contour. Despite the simple acoustic guitar following monumental synths, time changes, and wide dynamic range, the song is just that. A song. In fact, I might place it as my favorite in RPI, the most memorable. No matter how grand your ambitions in music, the human mind will grab onto a melodic theme. It can be harsh, wierd, complex, or beautifully simple. But that's what remains when the instruments quiet. "Per Un Amico" has this while the other tracks don't.

In contrast, "Il Banchetto" starts beautifully in a very Genesis-like pastoral manner but then midway turns into an ELP key fest that certainly isn't as indulgent as the famous trio, but still diverges from the musical point. Fun, to be sure. Again, I return to the term "ear candy." One part has an almost video-game like quality (long before they existed).

Overall, I think the band has certainly pushed themselves after their debut and have produced an album that has something new to say. It's certainly an excellent part of any prog collection. Just not a masterpiece to this pair of ears.

This was my second foray into the exciting world of Rock Progressivo Italiano after Le Orme's "Felona E Sorona" and I have to say that I was impressed with this classic album by Premiata Forneria Marconi. It contains just about everything you could want or expect from an early seventies full-on prog album only with the Mediterranean flair that separates RPI from English prog.

These five tracks here present a good range of sounds and music thanks to a variety of instruments and the free crossing of rock, classical and folk music. PFM wisely stay within certain limits, however, and the music never gets too heavy or weird, though there is some playful fuzz-toned guitar on "Generale!" and some synthesizer experimentation on "Il banchetto" which really sounds like what some musicians were toying with back in the day.

I noticed a formula that is true for four of the five tracks. There is a main theme at the beginning, a different theme carried out over the instrumental section in the middle, and a brief return to the main theme before the piece wraps up. "Generale!" is an instrumental but follows this pattern. The final track, "Geranio" deviates from this formula as it spends over a minute slowly fading with a dark musical motif played out on piano, synthesizer, and bass to a steady thumping of the drums. It's an unanticipated ending to an album that mostly played out with gentle acoustic guitar, violin, and piano or shifted gears into more lively and active music with more electric sounds.

One thing I found though was that for every track there will be some abrupt change in the music and each track has some pleasant surprises. My favourites are the title track for its mandolin-like strummed guitar and synthesizer solo part and "Appena un Po'" which is a great introduction to this beautiful album.

The only part that doesn't appeal to me is the synthesizer experimentation part in "Il banchetto". The song itself is a beautiful piece of work; however, the synthesizer sounds seem harsh and intrusive. They get replaced by a piano solo before the song returns but it doesn't make up for it. Still, you can't blame them for trying out the equipment. I just wish they had done it without interrupting the fine flow of music that had come thus far.

This is a wonderful work of classic prog and a great album to hear as an intro to Italian prog. The lyrics are all in Italian and I like it that way. The vocals are soft and smooth and go well with the acoustic parts of the music. Recommended!

After only ten months in 1972 after the January release of their debut "Storia Di Un Minuto," Italy's most revered progressive rock band PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI (or PFM for us multisyllabic slackers) released their second outstanding release PER UN AMICO (For A Friend). While the big bang of progressive rock was only a few years old, it is astonishing how so many bands diversified their sounds and perfected them in such a short span of time. While King Crimson went more in the direction of jazz influenced rock with avant-garde composing techniques, Pink Floyd went the space rock direction, Jethro Tull into the progressive arenas of folk and others like Genesis opting for a more vocally led theatrical style, PFM whole heartedly went into the classical music direction and i have to say that although other bands like Yes and Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso would also incorporate a lot of classical ideas, no other band seemed quite as dedicated to a historical classical feel that married the best aspects of early 70s progressive rock so perfectly including rocking percussion, bass and guitars, gossamer flute and piccolo and even a touch of jazz-fusion with the violins and of course the huge palette of themes, complex arrangements and bursts of the energetic avant-garde with swaths of tempos and torrents of musical tones.

This masterpiece begins with a beautiful and instantly addictive Bach-esque Baroque melody on flute and piccolo by the master of his game Mauro Pagani. Once this little ear worm is properly lodged in your ear drums, the progressive rock kicks in with aggressive guitars, energetic percussion and spastic time signatures that obfuscates the leading melody but is clearly buried under the mix as the layers of complexity that build and evolve can suddenly drop reverting back to the recognizable piano melody. Whereas Italian prog artists rarely became popular outside of their homeland mostly due to their recalcitrance of adopting English for their lyrics, PFM found success around the whole continent of Europe with PER UN AMICO which attracted the attention of Greg Lake of ELP who would not only arrange PFM to be signed onto their label Manticore Records but were invited to go on tour with them. The result is that PFM were one of the few Rock Progressive Italiano bands to actually become known worldwide and universally revered as one of the most intricately complex and interesting bands to emerge from that scene.

PER UN AMICO is simply a perfect album. It has an uncanny balance of ingredients where every progressive idea under the early 70s sun is represented in perfect doses. The melodies develop but never become too sickening sweet, the avant-garde elements present themselves likewise and never outstay their welcome. Everything added to the worktable is careful sorted out as how to perfectly fit into the giant progressive puzzle and the respective members of this band are so utterly brilliant on their chosen instruments that they pull of the most jaw dropping musical acrobatics with ease not ever losing the pace of a sophisticated graceful poetic dance of sounds. Flavio Premoli's keyboard playing is amongst the best ever to grace any album that is in the rock world. His playing is every bit as sophisticated and complex as Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman and effortlessly changes styles, tempos, chromatic complexities and shades of sonic colors.

As with many Italian prog bands, PFM was very adept at mastering the pastural acoustic parts with the harder rocking segments and the passionate vocals of Franco Mussida perfectly fit in with the music at hand. Mauro Pagani's ethereal flutes and piccolo runs are the perfect contradicting sound effect for the heavy distorted guitars, steady rock percussion and spastic organ runs often soaked with layers of Mellotron, tubular bells and also with the occasional unfretted fingerboard abuse of the violin. The rhythm section that incorporates Franz Di Cioccio's outstanding drumming abilities with Girogio Piazza's bass skills alternates daring musical twists and turns that are perfectly pulled off. Just listen to the second track "Generale" and be floored by how tight this band is creating simultaneously some of the most chaotic- while-being-mathematical and gentle-in-the-midst-of-turbulence music i've ever heard. PFM took the ideas of their debut and just went to town! PER UN AMICO is a testament to some of the most bold and adventurous early 70s prog that has ever been laid down to tape all the while being highly addictively accessible. This is one of those albums that i never tire of and has deservingly become one of the most beloved examples of progressive rock's early years. Mega-masterpiece to the max.

Contrary to most reviewers, I wouldn't say that this second classic PFM album is an improvement over their brilliant debut, "Storia Di Un Minuto". On the other hand, I actually consider it a slight dip in quality. That said, it's still a pretty darn phenomenal collection of music, and when you're sitting head and shoulders above most other bands of the era, a slight dip doesn't mean an awful lot.

From the get-go, it's clear that PFM has changed their sound on this follow-up album. While "Storia Di Un Minuto" plays off of an eclectic combination of pastoral charm, jazz and rock energy, and classical romanticism, which makes it a sort of well-rounded, quintessential RPI album, "Per Un Amico" is more focused, refined, and precise. This is made clear right in the opener, "Appena Un Po", which is an absolutely gorgeous, moving ballad that truly lives and breathes like many pieces of music strive to, but never quite manage. Layered mellotrons create a dim, cloudy haze that gives way to very classically-arranged harpsichord before evolving further into a wild and chaotic instrumental palette. Then, once the vocals enter, the song truly ascends into a higher emotional realm. The song's finale, with its ever-so-simple melody, played with an air of dignity and sophistication, is a truly haunting musical moment and is exactly the kind of thing that makes prog so awesome in the first place. In fact, I may go so far as to say that "Appena Un Po" is the single best song in the entire PFM catalog, if not just for the last minute alone. "Generale" follows the opener with an abrupt change of pace, presenting a wild and jazzy feel and a scrambled mix of ideas. While very strange, it's a very exciting piece. The album's first side is then rounded out by the title track, which expands on the sort of elegant, overtly classical, and tastefully embellished, approach to composition that defines this album. In all, "Per Un Amico" boasts an all-too-rare perfect first side that's exciting, invigorating, and uniquely Italian.

The album's "dip" (and the reason why I gave it only 3 stars in my original review) comes in the form of its second side, which lies firmly in the realm of symphonic RPI. Unfortunately, when writing music with more delicate and careful arrangements, the ever-present danger of feeling lifeless and sterile can find itself creeping in. "Il Banchetto" avoids this quite well, but the more repetitive coda of "Geranio" can feel as though it drags on quite a bit, which is quite noticeable on an album so short in the first place. In general these two tracks are growers, but even though their subtleties become more apparent with multiple listens, they never quite match the sheer beauty of the musical triptych on side one. So, although not quite as good as "Storia Di Un Minuto", I'll still give "Per Un Amico" 5 stars, if not for "Appena Un Po" alone, which is a piece of music I cannot recommend strongly enough.

What maturity!

What hasn't been said about this band, evenmore this record? Yep, everything's been said. You can digest multitudes of reviews, over-analysing their style and describing songs or musical textures. It takes a certain amount of imagination and comprehension to transcribe art into comprehensible linguo.

In the end, the best is just to listen to it. So do it!

I have to admit: this album shows how 'complete' and mature they are. Violin use à la Curved Air? Check. ELP loudness? Check. Gentle Giant complexity and keyboard palette? Check. Genesis flute and delicate touch? Check. They dabble in almost everything and still hitting high marks in every song: atmospheric, joyous, grandeur, complexity, technical pyrothecnics, you name it. Rarely I heard a blend so many genres flowing effortlessly BUT still feeling original, this has to be a feat in itself.

This short album is one heck of a curiculum vitae making « The Award Winning Marconi Bakery » one monumental band not only in RPI but in Rock History.

After seeing the extreme amount of 4 and 5 star reviews of this album, I really feel like I've missed something major with this album, as it's another one of those that even after many listens, I still cannot fully enjoy. I definitely believe that PFM are capable of doing some amazing things, as their debut album is a very high quality, beautiful album, but with Per Un Amico, I really struggle with a lot of it. I find that the band definitely works best when trying to create soft, beautiful melodies in their music, rather than during their energetic or experimental moments, both of which the album has a lot more of than Storia di un Minuto, unfortunately having the majority of them either carry on too long for me, add little to the overall feel f the song, or are just somewhat clunky in execution. Whatever the exact reason is, all I know is that I just seem unable to connect with this album properly.

I feel like the most confusing part of this all to me is thatI find the opening track, Appena un po' to be a near perfect song in every way. The classical inspired opening is absolutely incredible, being soft, incredibly catchy, and evoking a feeling of royalty, as if this could be played in a movie scene of a king walking down his halls, with layers upon layers of guitars and flutes building on top of one another until the song kicks into more proggy territory. The accompaniment of the violins to this more complex, heavy section works incredibly, and displays the highly symphonic sound of the band. The layered vocals that come in after this are soft and very pleasant, carrying a lovely melody along with them, while the warm mellotron lines are nothing short of majestic, all in all making this an absolutely stunning song in basically every way, and an easy to choose highlight of the entire band. I then get very quickly taken out of this awe inspiring beauty by the opening section of the following song, Generale. To be fair, this opening section is very fun, reminding me of a more rock oriented take on Emerson Lake and Palmer's Karn Evil 9's second moevement. The song unfortunately has the same issues as it however, as it feels like more of an unstructured jam rather than a cohesive song, and doesn't really do much for me beyond the opening riff, which admittedly is extremely enjoyable. On the whole, the song does jump around far too much, trying out a range of different tones and styles, such as one quite sinilar to that of a marching band, and another making heavy use of an organ, but none of them really sounding particularly good.

The last 3 songs all have a similar issue to them, that being that they're simply quite boring, albeit with some decent moments. The title track has the issue of the main, mellow aspects of the song aren't anything particularly special to me, which is a shame considering this is usually where I find the band finds their stride the most, but at least the faster instrumental section manages to be much better, especially with the drums that progressively get faster as it goes on, all without ever losing the tightness at hand. It's unfortunate that the song eventually goes back to this quieter verse later in the song, as it causes my mind to start wandering again. Il Banchetto shows much better grasp on great melody, being the other song on the album that I can find some enjoyment in. Everything about it just feels very well crafted, oh, except for that dreadful middle section reminding me of King Crimson's Moonchild, but with worse production and borderline unlistenable instruments. This section derails the entire rest of the song, which had a beautiful ebb and flow, going between pleasant verses and intrumental sections, making this much more experimental, sparse section just ruins the song for me, which is a massive shame, given the fact that the rest of it is so nice. Geranio is what I consider to be a fairly mediocre song, having some decent elements throughout, but shifting gears far too often in ways that simply don't quite work out properly, such as the fun, but ultimately average upbeat pop section. I do however, like the way the song crescendos as it approaches its end, and do find it to be am excellent way to end the album, even if the rest of the song is very hit or miss.

Overall, no matter how I've listened to this album, whether it's analysing it incredibly attentively, listening to it casually in the background while doing other things, or somewhere in between, little on this album has connected with me outside of the incredible opening track. Some songs feel thrown together, while others just feel like they simply were missing any particularly great ideas to begin with. It's great that on the next couple of albums after this, along with what came before, I can appreciate this band's work, but this one just doesn't work for me at all, mo matter how much I try.

Best tracks: Appena un po'

Weakest tracks: Generale, Geranio

Verdict: I personally find this album to be pretty ill conceived in quite a number of ways, but despite this, the love this album has received shows that it's likely that I'm just missing something here. I'd recommend starting of with PFM's first album in any case, due to the more conventional writing and the greater beauty it has, but if you want some symphonic prog with some quirkier touches to songwriting, than you may enjoy this album.

Per un Amico is an eclectic mix of styles, including a little bit of jazziness ("Geranio") and a bit of what today we'd call "crossover prog" in the form of the title track. Nonetheless, on their second album, Premiata Forneria Marconi sticks close to the combination of styles on their debut, Storia Di Un Minuto, released ten months earlier: prog- folk and classically-oriented rock music along the lines of Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Yes. But while the influences are similar, Per un Amico is not just a rehash of Storia Di Un Minuto.

To begin with, the balance of those influences has tipped in favor of the symphonic. Per un Amico is more energetic; while much of Storia Di Un Minuto was pastoral, subtle, and deliberate, the approach here is relatively forceful, dynamic, and spontaneous. While these qualities aren't superior per se, they seem to suit PFM better.

Secondly, the band seems slightly more confident. In retrospect, we can see an increase in risk-taking over their first three albums; for example, the near-camp of "Generale," which would've fit nicely on an early Steve Howe solo album, most certainly would not have fit on PFM's debut. While "Generale" isn't really successful, the band's next move is. "Per un Amico," which finds the band confidently mixing contrasting styles, is an early high point in the young band's discography. While the PFM of late 1972 isn't yet competitive with Focus for the Least Self-Conscious Prog Band Award, they're heading in that direction on Per un Amico.

Ultimately, Per un Amico is another good album from this Italian group. While it surpasses Storia Di Un Minuto, it's nonetheless a three-star album, albeit on the higher end of the three-star range. Of course, that's just my opinion: 88% of Prog Archives reviewers rate each album higher than I do! In fact, they are considered to be two of the top three Rock Progressivo Italiano albums of all time. I prefer to think of them as Symphonic Prog albums comparable in quality to Focus's Hamburger Concerto (1974) or Genesis's Nursery Cryme (1971) - - good, and worth listening to, but not essential. And very much like Genesis in 1971, Premiata Forneria Marconi would soon surpass itself again with its next album.

PFM churns out its second album in less than a year, that magical 1972, which will remains their best year. Flavio Premoli joins Franco Mussida and Mauro Pagani to the writing of the music and more elaborate and progressive arrangements will follow.

The first side of "For a Friend" follows the structure of "Storia di un Minuto". First piece: melodic but orchestral song; second extroverted piece, with gladness, almost an ethnic dance; an finally as third song a symphonic piece.

1. Appena un po' (Just a little (7:43)). Orchestral beginning in crescendo with synths (had PFM already heard Genesis' Watcher of the Skies?), more delicate than "Impressions of September" of the debut album, and in fact the classical guitar of Mussida arrives immediately, then accompanied by the flute by Pagani, who finally traces a beautiful melody (it took almost two minutes), and by Premoli's harpsichord, which gives an incentive to the sophistication and pomposity of the arrangements. The sound redesigns the melody with the electric instruments (it is all a continuous orchestral refinement) and around 3 minutes the singing arrives, with some sweet, unexcelled choirs. Around 4 and a half minutes comes a classic, baroque piece, a minuet worthy of the Gentle Giant, almost math-rock, a typical prog digression, nice, but too long. Until the voice returns and brings back the melody. Around 6 and a half minutes the grand finale starts, in crescendo, with Premoli's synths to draw again the main melody with a very nice solemn mood. Very pretentious track, which shows that PFM has become the most proggy Italian group, with all the positive (creativity) and negative (research of sophistication and technicality at the expense of emotion) sides of the case. Rating 8.

2. "Generale". (General (4:18)). Instrumental piece with continuous changes of rhythm, and solos of the instrumentalists. Beautiful the initial piece with Pagani on the violin and beautiful the solo of Mussica electric's guitar. It looks like an ethnic dance, we are definitely in the field of folk-rock, then the music stops and an acoustic march begins: it is the usual prog digression, now we have a syncopated acoustic blues, followed by the folk-rock piece that this time is played electric. It is a real tour de force, a music with a sustained rhythm, a display of virtuosity... in my opinion excessive, too similar to the exercise of style, although always of the highest quality. Rating 7,5 / 8.

The first two songs are good, but they don't reach the heights of "Impressioni di Settembre" and "E 'Festa".

3. Per un Amico (For a Friend (5:23)). It is the masterpiece of the album. Delicate beginning with the flute, Genesis- style, choir voices alternating with the violin pendants. The voices are a little limp, too effeminate, but the instrumental part, very proggy, is fabulous, thanks to the interlude characterized by the violin solo, which takes place together with a fine work on the guitar and an odd rhythm played by Franz Di Cioccio. Then comes the acoustic guitar and the virtuosity of Di Piazza's bass. Maybe in the solo the electric guitar would have been better than the acoustic guitar. Finally the synthesizers arrive. The song is a show of solos, until finally the initial melody restarts but ends with a crescendo of synths without the singing. The end is not good. It is a small production and technical masterpiece, with a fascinating part thanks to Pagani's violin. But there is much more sophistication than inspiration. Rating 8+. This song is better than Dove... Quando part 1. But overall this side is a little inferior to the corrispondent on debut album.

End of A-side.

The second side does not repeat the structure of the three songs of the debut album and relies on an 8-minute mini-suites, focusing on more dilated compositions.

4. Il Banchetto (The Banquet (8:39)). Beginning as an acoustic ballad, voices with choirs again, pleasant music. Around two minutes there is Premoli's instrumental interlude, graceful, cute but around 4 minutes the music becomes fabulous music, with sounds similar to the Gentle Giant of Acquiring The Taste, really cloying. When it comes to 5 and a half minutes, a jazz piano replaces the synths, bringing a more serious and classic feeling. At the end the choirs return to conclude the narration. This song, of excessive length, in the second part described the quintessence of the flaws of prog and provided the weak point of the album. Fortunately, the first and the third movement are rather good. Rating 7.

5. Geranio (Geranium (8:03)). Bucolic, acoustic beginning, thanks to Pagani's flute, very present, then the choirs arrived, but they are always soft, neutral, almost asexual: they are the weak point of the album, it was much better when Mussida sang alone in the debut album . A syncopated, bluesy, very strange instrumental moment follows, in this second part Di Cioccio has a way to let off steam. An instrumental variation arrives, an interlude: it is a value, it seems to hear Richard Strauss, the violin noticed remarkable melodic peaks, and in the end a circus gong arrives. The choirs return, the rhythm increases more and more, in a paroxysmal way, we are listening to a very refined, melodic, high-class but somewhat cloying and pompous symphonic prog rock that then freezes, paralyzes itself within a repetitive phrase for over a minute, ending the record with this fading: we were witnessing all this wonder of creative arrangements and then the Lp ends repeating the musical phrase until the fading? But what came to mind at PFM? Remarkable track but missed masterpiece. Rating 8.

In this second album, more than in the first, there is a lack of a true singer, who could shows delicacy and determination, could expresses various emotions. The singing is in fact always managed with choirs, doubled voices very sweet and a little anemic, not very expressive: emotions do not convey, pathos is not present. It just whispering the words almost asexually. I am not saying that these choirs are ugly, on the contrary, they are very well balanced, and the voices are pleasant, but they lack depth and interpretation. On the contrary, the music is much more complex, layered and elaborated compared to the debut Lp, this album is definitely prog, according to the canons of symphonic prog. But the songs don't reach the quality, very high, of "Storia di un minuto", and one of them is rather weak. So, overall, for me this album is an almost masterpiece: rated 8.5/9, four and a half stars.

Less than a year passed after the successful debut album "Storia Di Un Minuto", for Premiata Forneria Marconi to give a second and accurate impact with "Per un Amico". Maintaining the formula that combines the traditional mood of their vernacular music with the undisguised influences of progressive genre icons such as Genesis and EL&P among others, the Italians elaborate their own proposal sustained by their excellent musical quality.

Although "Per Un Amico" shows more dynamics and elaboration than its predecessor "Storia Di Un Minuto", once again the melodious developments are the ones that set the pace of the album. As in the pastoral "Appena un Po'" and its restful acoustic landscapes lulled by Franco Mussida's vocals, Mauro Pagani's flutes and Flavio Premoli's genesian organs and melotrons, passing through the chromatic "Per Un Amico", an exercise of Mussida's rhythm guitars with Pagani's violins, fused in symbiosis with Premoli's all powerful moog, to the crystalline "Il Banchetto" where after an opening rhythm guitars, Premoli again shows off his arsenal of Keith Emerson-style keyboards. One of the best on the album.

And this generalised atmosphere, at times more introspective, at times more luminous, is momentarily contrasted by the combative "Generale". An instrumental maelstrom, where Mussida's electric guitars are unleashed in a compulsive screeching and Franz Di Cioccio's doubled percussion resembles a military march, to round off the album's most contrasting track.

The success of "Per Un Amico" crossed the Alpine borders to such an extent that Greg Lake became interested in PFM to the point that the Italians became one of the star bands represented by the "Manticore" label, founded by E,L&P.

Excellent.

4/4.5 stars