Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, the debut album by the great Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso, illustrious interpreters of Italian Progressive Rock, released in 1972.
What a debut and what a band!
- Vocals: Francesco Di Giacomo, who was approached in 1971 by Vittorio Nocenzi during the 2nd Caracalla Pop Festival, who was looking for a singer.
- Marcello Todaro, also contacted by Vittorio Nocenzi during the 2nd Caracalla Pop Festival. Never has a festival been more prodigious.
- Vittorio Nocenzi founded the group with his brother Gianni. The former had classical studies in piano, but also in clarinet, church organ, harmony, and ethnomusicology. He studied literature and philosophy, began his career as a musician performing on the organ, and before joining BMS, he wrote the music for seven songs for Gabriella Ferri.
- Gianni Nocenzi, along with his brother Vittorio, founded the band.
- Renato D'Angelo, the band's first bassist and longtime bassist until 1978.
- Pier Luigi Calderoni, began playing drums at a young age and began his career with the group I Dannati, which later changed to Esperienze and, from 1971 to 1991, to the group itself.
An album that I personally consider one of the 50 best progressive albums of all time and undoubtedly one of the top 10 of Italian progressive rock. It's classic progressive rock, highly expressive and written and sung with soul, a refined, melodic, and romantic prog.
The opening track, "R.I.P. (Requiescant In Pace)" is still one of my favorites by the band, but the album also contains the fantastic "Il Giardino del Mago" and "Metamorfosi," true classics, gems of the 1970s Italian progressive rock scene.
Overall, the album features beautiful, prominent keyboard and piano parts, and in addition to the melodic sections, it also offers moments of pure progressive rock that are very strong and incisive, with an extraordinary use of sound for the time.
The immense Francesco Di Giacomo was later described, quite rightly in my opinion, as "the great voice of Italian progressive rock, the symbol of a golden age of Italian rock."
The cover, designed by Mimmo Mellino, is one of the most famous ever. The original edition was shaped like a piggy bank, and a strip of cardboard with the faces of the band members could be pulled out from the slit.
An album that is easy to love and listen to, a must-have for any collection, along with two must-haves, "Darwin!" and "Io Sono Nato Libero."
The Tracks
1. In Volo (2:13)
2. R.I.P. (Requiescant In Pace) (6:40)
3. Passage (1:19)
4. Metamorphosis (10:52)
5. The Magician's Garden (18:26):
- a) ... Step by Step ...
- b) ... Some Laugh and Some Moan...
- c) ... With Hair Loose in the Wind ...
- d) Interpenetration
6. Track (2:10)
Duration 41:40
Line-Up
- Francesco Di Giacomo - lead vocals
- Marcello Todaro - electric and acoustic guitars, vocals
- Vittorio Nocenzi - organ, harpsichord, clarinet (?), recorder, vocals
- Gianni Nocenzi - piano, E-flat clarinet, vocals
- Renato D'Angelo - bass
- Pier Luigi Calderoni - drums, timpani
