L' Isola Di Niente [Import]

1. Isola Di Niente

2. Is My Face on Straight

3. Luna Nuova

4. Dolcissima Maria

5. Via Lumiere

Tracks:

Isola Di Niente
Is My Face on Straight
Luna Nuova
Dolcissima Maria
Via Lumiere

Album Description

Import exclusive, standard jewel case edition of the Italian prog-rock act's 1974 album. RCA.

Customer Reviews:

Is their face on straight?.......2006-06-15

The most "nervous" and last of the initial PFM triad, "L'isola di Niente" (Isle of Nothing) lives on terrific guitar playing (if anything, this was Patrick Djivas' and his bass guitar's first entry with the band) fused with Premoli's wise keyboard fillings and the rapid changes of Di Cioccio's majestic drums. All titles have something very intriguing to listen to, but we are obviously far from the level of the first two majestic albums. Get it if you like PFM, but this is not a must. Yet, it's far better than most available progressive rock. "Dolcissima Maria" is perhaps the best piece here, but Via Lumiere will impress for its novel sounds and pace. All in all, an isle filled with nice sounds, including the choir of Milan madrigalists, an apparently odd but welcome feature of an interesting album.

Third and last of PFM's classic studio albums.......2003-08-23

As you probably already know, PFM is an Italian progressive rock band. This is their third album. It is their last studio album to feature their classic progressive sound. Their next studio album, Chocolate Kings, veered slightly from this sound, adding a new lead singer and going after a slightly more jazzy, popish sound. After that, they went true Italian pop, except for their live shows and CD's.

This album is not quite as good as the first two, only in that it is not as consistently brilliant throughout. At only 36 minutes long, there shouldn't be any low spots. If the album were longer, then you could tolerate the slow spots without feeling there is something missing.

The CD starts out with an Italian choir. This would be a nice addition, if it were only an addition. But, it cuts into the overall length of the album, so that you end up with only 31 minutes of quality rock music.

The second song (Is My Face On Straight) is PFM's first song with English lyrics. It was co-written by Pete Sinfield (who wrote the lyrics for early King Crimson albums). It sounds more like a Pete Sinfield song than a PFM song, especially in the beginning. It reminds me of Sinfield's Under the Sky. While it is a good song, it is not up the great standards of PFM. So, once you subtract the intro to this CD and Is My Face on Straight, you end up with only 25 minutes of great PFM music. That is why I only give this 4 stars.

The rest of the material is extremely good, switching between lush progressive art rock and hard metal.

There is a different version of this album, called The World Became the World. It is the same music, but with English lyrics, and additional song, and a blue cover instead of green. The additional song is the title track. It is an English version of Impressioni di Settembre from PFM's first album, Storia de la Minuto.

I prefer the original Italian versions of these albums, compared to the rewritten English versions. Sinfeild's lyrics are not translations of the Italian, but completely different themes. And like Yes's lyrics, they are written for how they sound and not to be meaningful. Also, PFM did not know how to speak English at the time, so the vocals have wierd sound to them. So, I would rather hear the original, melodic Italian that I don't understand, than the new stinted English that doesn't have any meaning.

PFM has been in existence for over 30 years. After playing progressive music, they became a back up band for an Italian pop singer. The group went pop throughtout the eighties and most of the nineties. They made a return to their roots with a number two live albums (pfmpfm.com and LIve in Japan). They also put out a studio album (Serendipity) that some claim goes back to their classic roots. I haven't heard the whole thing, but the songs I have heard were not that good.

Very good album,.......2003-02-02

comparable with Per un Amico. The title track has the most unusual two-minute choral, but it is followed by a heavy-metal-like piece (accompanied by nice guitar work) and it's a bit too heavy, even the good instrumental can't soften it. Is My Face on Straight first sounds out of place with its English verses, but it has a good flute (as well as in La Luna Nuova and Via Lumiere) and is pretty good overall. Dolcissima Maria is a nice tune. The rating is more like 4.8.

In my opinion the best album by PFM ..........2002-12-03

Well this amazing album contains the mysterious title track, this one being characterized by the monumental intro at the mellotron and the voice poliphony as well; the fantastic epic track "La luna nuova", characterized by a stunning Moog intro, followed by the best soloing at the guitar of F. Mussida, concerning his best stuff and long career too!! "Dolcissima Maria" is an awesome ballad, represented by an amazing melody, probably their best and sweetest as well, talking about their whole production !! "Via Lumiere" is the right conclusion for a memorable album (not bad also the english version of "L'isola di niente":"World became the world")

Highly recommended!!

What happened???.......2002-05-11

This was the 4th Italian prog cd I ever purchased. After buying the 1st two PFM cds and being blown away, I was disapointed with Le Orme's Contrappunti and this, and gave up on the Italian scene for a couple of years (I know, I gave up too soon). Looking back I would have to rate this as far inferior to PFM's first two, but not as bad as I originally thought. I think the biggest thing is that not understanding Italian it is harder to differentiate between the songs than on english language albums, and when every song on the album doesn't work, it is harder to appreciate what does. The best italian albums flow together as one linked work. This PFM release doesn't do that. As other have mentioned, the opening chorus, and the english sung Is My Face on Straight are throwaways, but the last two songs, the beautiful ballad Dolcissima Maria and the fusion influenced Via Lumiere are very good. So, this does have its moments, but is nowhere near as complete as Storia and Per un Amico

Average customer rating:

L' Isola Di Niente
PFM
Manufacturer: Numero Uno Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Per un Amico
Storia di un Minuto

ASIN: B0001ZX4M0
Release Date: 2004-07-05

Tracks:

Isola Di Niente
Is My Face on Straight
Luna Nuova
Dolcissima Maria
Via Lumiere

Average customer rating:

Great album, but with a key song missing
Third and last of the classic PFM albums.

L' Isola Di Niente
PFM
Manufacturer: Bmg Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Jet Lag
Per un Amico
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ASIN: B00005YVYD
Release Date: 2004-07-20

Tracks:

Isola Di Niente
Is My Face on Straight
Luna Nuova
Dolcissima Maria
Via Lumiere

Album Description

Import exclusive digitally remastered reissue of the Italian prog-rock act's 1974 album, pressed onto a gold CD & packaged in a digipak. 2001.

Customer Reviews:

Great album, but with a key song missing.......2003-11-30

This is the Italian version of PFM's best album, "The World Became the World," one of the greatest progressive rock albums ever. However, "The World Became the World" and "Four Holes in the Ground" ("La Luna Nuova") were the centerpieces of the English version. Because "The World..." had already appeared in Italy (as "Impressioni di Settembre") on PFM's first album, "Storia di un Minuto", it is not included here, and that lessens the overall impact of the album. However, the title cut, "La Luna Nuova", and "Is My Face On Straight?" are all excellent, innovative pieces. The album also includes the pleasant ballad "Dolcissima Maria" and an instrumental.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

Third and last of the classic PFM albums........2003-08-23

As you probably already know, PFM is an Italian progressive rock band. This is their third album. It is their last studio album to feature their classic progressive sound. Their next studio album, Jet Lag, veered slightly from this sound, adding a new lead singer and going after a slightly more jazzy, popish sound. After that, they went true Italian pop, except for their live shows and CD's.

The rest of the material is extremely good, switching between lush progressive art rock and hard metal.

PFM was a completely different sounding band in the studio and live. In concert they were a hard rocking band with incredible solos. Great live albums include 10 Anni Live boxset, Live in the USA (also called Cook) and the recent Live In Japan.

L' Isola Di Niente
Average customer rating:
L' Isola Di Niente
PFM
Manufacturer: Bmg Int'l
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music
Progressive Rock | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music
International | Imports | Stores | Music
Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004LMDG
Release Date: 1995-08-01

Tracks:

Isola Di Niente
Is My Face on Straight
Luna Nuova
Dolcissima Maria
Via Lumiere

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