Banco del Mutuo Succorso's "Io Sono Nato Libero" is a Sound Investment: Prog Review #35

Banco: Io Sono Nato Libero

Based on my limited experience, all Italian prog bands name themselves after places of business.

B​anco del Mutuo Succorso translates to Bank of Mutual Relief; not as whimsical as Premiata Forneria Marconi, (Award-winning Marconi Bakery) and the same can be said for the music.

PFM's bakery is full of sundry delights, while Banco's staid offerings are all money.

Io Sono Nato Libero ("I Was Born Free," 1973), starts slowly on its 15-minute opener, "Canto Nomade per un Prigionero Politico," ("Nomadic Song for a Political Prisoner") with a plaintive synth-horn that soon cedes the spotlight to a rapid yet austere piano lead that dominates the album as a whole. There's plenty of percussive accents, synthesizers, and electric guitar, and these take the track from light chamber music to full-on prog epic. Bouncy drums, slide guitar, and bloopy accents fit comfortably alongside Francesco di Giacamo's lightly operatic vocals and Gianni Nocenzi's piano melodies. At times working in sync, at times placed in juxtaposition — I suppose you'd call it counterpoint? — the classical piano and guitar work against the synths, trading traditional and modern sounds regularly.

“I Was Born Free,” so “Don’t Bother Me.”

Midway through the first track, storm effects set up a bridge that alternates between sections of aggressively struck piano chords and ELP/Yes-level synth virtuosity before doing both simultaneously, then taking a complete left turn into frenetic percussion under acoustic chords, followed by a long stretch of light classical guitar. Then there's some weird synth effects that lead right back to the beginning of the bridge. This meandering, genre-defying thing with no fixed identity could have been the soundtrack for Deleuze and Guattari's Nomadology.

After this long introduction to the controlled chaos that makes up the album, the second track presents as both relief and outlier. A pleasant acoustic guitar romp, "Non Mi Rompete" ("Don't Bother Me") is the standout track with an immediate and lingering charm.

T​he next two tracks, "La Citta Sottile" ("The Subtle Town") and "Dopo...Niente e Pio lo Stesso" ("Then...Nothing is Still the Same") tend to run together for me as I listen. The first is built on those hammering piano chords and has a dreamlike spoken word section near the end. The other has more of the dynamism of "Canto Nomade" and more of that heavy piano. This one slips in and out of driving hard rock and more proggy, classical-informed instrumentals, much like Yes's "South Side of the Sky." The album reminds us of those classical roots with the short closer, "Traccia II" ("Track II"), an instrumental piece that begins as a light chamber piece with piano and synthesized oboe that gradually builds into a triumphant and grandiose march.

O​n the one hand, I don't find much about this album that is new or different from the kinds of things similar bands were doing, especially ELP, but Banco does it with such grace and harmony, expressing a sound that seems more continental in its reference to classical music than ELP and Yes were perhaps aiming for in their work. Between Giacomo's milder voice and the band's overall sense of melody and drama, Io Sono Nato Libero is a much more accessible version of the rock/classical fusion than some of Banco's contemporaries.

A​lso, it bears repeating that "Non Mi Rompete" is really really good.

Rolling Stone Rankings

1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

2. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

3. Rush - Moving Pictures

4. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

5. Yes – Close to the Edge

6. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

7. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

8. Can - Future Days

9. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

10. Yes - Fragile

11. Rush - Hemispheres

12. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery

13. Pink Floyd - Animals

14. Genesis - Foxtrot

15. King Crimson - Red

16. Gentle Giant - Octopus

17. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

18. Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All

19. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico

20. King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic

21. Camel - Mirage

22. Rush - 2112

23. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra

24. Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh

25. The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

26. Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts

27. Supertramp - Crime of the Century

28. Opeth - Blackwater Park

29. Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory

30. U.K. - U.K.

31. Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning

32. Kansas - Leftoverture

33. TOOL - Lateralus

34. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink

35. Banco - Io Sono Nato Libero

ASK Rankings

1. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

2. Supertramp - Crime of the Century

3. Genesis - Foxtrot

4. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink

5. Camel - Mirage

6. Yes – Close to the Edge

7. Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning

8. King Crimson - Red

9. Gentle Giant - Octopus

10. Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory

11. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

12. Rush - 2112

13. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

14. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery

15. U.K. - U.K

16. Rush - Moving Pictures

17. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

18. Kansas - Leftoverture

19. Banco - Io Sono Nato Libero

20. The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

21. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico

22. King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic

23. Pink Floyd - Animals

24. TOOL - Lateralus

25. Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All

26. Yes - Fragile

27. Rush - Hemispheres

28. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra

29. Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh

30. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

31. Can - Future Days

32. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

33. Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts

34. Opeth - Blackwater Park

35. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here