With Understanding Comes Appreciation
The reason why Banco del Mutuo Soccorso so much deserves their status as an epitome of the best Italian prog of all times is the fact that its first three efforts are highly remarkable masterpieces in which complexity and beauty are taken to their maximum levels. All three together follow a coherent line of artistic ambition and consistent recreation of sonic potential.
Along with PFM and Le Orme, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (Banco), make up the "Big Three" in Italian progressive rock history. With the exception of one long break from the mid-'80s to the early '90s, they have been together since 1969 and weathered many changes: shifting personnel, the fickleness of the music industry, tragedy, and economics. They went 25 years without releasing a studio record but continued to perform. They have influenced countless bands in their home country as well as in Germany (Sylvan), England (Ozric Tentacles, Flower Kings), and the U.S. (Mars Volta). Their sound is harmonically advanced, borrowing liberally from classical tradition, jazz, folk, and theatrical rock. Early recordings, such as their 1972 self-titled debut and 1976's Come in Un'ultima Cena, offered acclaimed portraits of their particular musical strengths —operatic vocals, fleet, sophisticated dual keyboard work, syncopated rhythms, and complex harmonics in long tunes that more often than not sounded like suites. During the '80s, their sound shifted radically: Banco embraced progressive pop, wrote shorter tunes, and sounded like a cross between AOR and new wave.
Darwin! will remain Banco del Mutuo Soccorso's masterpiece. This album, the band's second, is the proud equal of Premiata Forneria Marconi's "Per Un Amico" and Le Orme's "Felona e Sorona" in the Italian progressive rock hall of fame. In Darwin!, every promise made by Banco's eponymous debut was realized. Vittorio Nocenzi's writing has flourished into complex songs blending Italian songwriting, bel canto, and progressive rock. Guitarist Marcello Todaro crystallized the band's luxurious sound, all topped by Francesco Di Giacomo's operatic vocals.
Darwin! is a full blown concept album that centers on the Darwinist belief system or theories of life on the planet, how we came to be here, disregarding creationism, and wholly encompassing ideologies of evolution. Banco thankfully (for some) do not attack God as such but take on this evolutionary ideology as a theory of how the earth and the universe were created. Charles Darwin refuted these ideas on his death bed, nevertheless it is an enticing idea, and I guess an irresistible one that many bands hold to for content. In the case of Banco they feature some interesting lyrical notions on the idea. Today the theory of evolution has been naturalized and accepted, but that was not the context in a religious Italy in 1972, where it was a counter-hegemonic concept. What could be more brilliant and "progressive" than making a conceptual work around evolution? You just need to listen to the first lines of the opening track to figure out Banco's daring approach to the topic at the time:
“Prova, prova a pensare un po' diverso / Niente da grandi dei fu fabbricato / Ma il creato s'è creato da se / Cellule fibre energia e calore” —“Try, try to think a little differently / Nothing was created by great gods / but creation was created by itself / Cells, fibers, energy and heat"