Thursday, 25 November 2021

FIREFLIES FOREVER

 Lucciole per sempre, along with The Missing Fireflies from 2012, is a good complement to the band’s 1977 masterpiece Forse le lucciole non si amano più and could be considered a celebration of their career. In fact, this CD plus DVD features two brand new tracks recorded in studio by the last line up, five tracks taken from a 1977 live show recorded in the studios of the Italian National TV and four tracks taken from a 1974 concert (the DVD includes only the videos shot for the two unreleased pieces and the complete video from the TV show). The album was released on the independent label AMS Records in three different versions: the first option is the standard edition, consisting of a tri-panel gate-fold support containing a CD, a DVD and a 64-page booklet full of vintage pictures and excerpts from Luciano Boero’s book Prati di lucciole per sempre (with an English translation); the second option is a super-limited deluxe edition that, in a vinyl-size box, contains the standard CD plus DVD and booklet set, a white-coloured gatefold cover LP, a certificate of authenticity and an exclusive signed copy of the original promotional 1977 poster with the photograph here used on the cover and originally appeared in the 1977 LP sleeve; the third option consists in a simple gate-fold cover LP edition, on black 180gr. vinyl.



The album opens with the new compositions. The first one, “Mediterraneo”, is a beautiful track with some ethnic flavours inspired by the Mediterranean sea and by the efforts that men have to endure to overcome the raging force of the waves when the weather is bad and by the peace that its beauty could give when the weather is calm. The second one, “Intro - Lettera di un viaggiatore” (Letter from a traveller) is another excellent track, this time inspired by the character of Cristoforo Colombo. Here the band imagined a love letter sent by the famous explorer to the Queen of Spain...
 

Then it’s the turn of the historic pieces taken from the 1977 TV broadcast. The sound quality is good enough and we have the chance to watch and listen to the heartfelt live versions of “Forse le lucciole non si amano più”, “Profumo di colla bianca”, “Sogno di Estunno”, “Non chiudere a chiave le stelle” and “La giostra” (the last one not included in the 1977 album and officially released only in 2012 on the album The Missing Fireflies)

 

The last four tracks were poorly recorded in 1974 and, in my opinion, can be appreciated only for their historical relevance. The first one, “Ti penserò con tenerezza” is a cover of Gentle Giant’s “Think Of Me With Kindness” but with Italian lyrics. Then other three covers follow, “Nothing At All” (Gentle Giant), “Appena un po’” (PFM) and “Bambina sbagliata” (Formula Tre).

On the whole, a perfect item for Italianprog collectors with a wonderful packaging and a lot of great music.

 
You can listen to the complete album HERE
 
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