PER UN AMICO

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+)