PFM

The Manticore Studio Albums 1973-1977 EsotEric Celebrating Italy’s prog pioneers.

God bless Greg Lake for bringing PFM to the attention of an international audience through ELP’s Manticore label. PFM were already a hit act in their native Italy, and Lake was savvy enough to know that the abundantly talented quintet could make a quality addition to his fledgling roster of artists. With Lake’s ex-King Crimson bandmate Peter Sinfield producing and providing English lyrics, PFM’s 1973 ethereal debut Photos Of Ghosts contained a winning mixture of instrumental brio and a jaunty humour shining through their ingenious and uplifting arrangements.

Alongside Photos Of Ghosts, this clamshell box contains 1974’s The World Became The World, 1975’s Chocolate Kings and their final studio album for Manticore, 1977’s Jet Lag. There’s certainly plenty to dive into across these four albums. Very much a product of their times, PFM’s journey from a mid-60s pop combo to homegrown prog heavyweights resulted from their expert assimilation of what was trending in the British progressive scene. Franz Di Cioccio’s drumming echoes Michael Giles’ sprightly snare work with early King Crimson and there’s certainly more than a nod or two in the direction of Steve Howe found in Franco Mussida’s expansive playing on The World Became The World. While there are also flashes of Genesis and Jethro Tull from this cornucopia of broadbrush influences, they fashion something that is distinctly their own. Grand themes like the stately River Of Life from their Manticore debut ache with a melancholic splendour made all the more poignant through the painterly use of Mellotron in order to create exquisite, dramatic backdrops.

The addition of vocalist Bernardo Lanzetti for Chocolate Kings gave the band a vocalist with an enhanced command of English and a more pronounced ‘rawk’ vocal style reminiscent of Family’s Roger Chapman patented warble. This might have played better with the English-speaking audiences the band were chasing at the time, but it doesn’t always sit entirely comfortably within the more reflective and intricate settings, which were still very much a PFM staple. That kind of easy agility makes Jet Lag’s move into more fusion-orientated territories feel natural and convincing.

Lacking any of the bonus tracks that accompanied

Esoteric’s previous reissues in 2010 and with no new material, save for a poster from the period of band members assembled in a tree and awkwardly gazing down at the camera lens, there’s not a lot to tempt seasoned collectors here. That said, this box is surely ideal for curious newcomers wishing to find out why this act are so revered, and to immerse themselves into the symphonic soundworld PFM excelled at.

INSTRUMENTAL BRIO AND JAUNTY HUMOUR SHINING THROUGH.