have evaporated, to be replaced by dull jazz noodlings, and off key vocals. All the excitement of "Photos of ghosts" and "The world become the world" etc. Without wishing to appear harsh, it would appear "Jet lag" is exactly what the band were suffering when they recorded this.
"Jet Leg" is far from a classic in my book, and for PFM completists only. Supposedly "Chocolate Kings" is the better album, but I Tried, but to go for an album that consists little else than a lot of noodling around that goes That the band couldn't run the style they explored on "Storia di un Minuto" and "Per UnĪmico" in the dirt, realizing they wouldn't be able to top off those two albums even if they Not to mention Bernardo Lanzetti with his Peter GABRIEL/Roger Chapman-like voice.īut unfortunately this album, for the most part is very non-memorable. There is no getting around theįact that Patrick Djivas was quite a talented bassist, showing his abilities off his fretlessīass. Leg" was their final Los Angeles album, with PFM returning to Italy (and Bloch staying inĬalifornia), and concentrating on the Italian pop market. That David LaFlamme was quite a capable violinist himself in that BAY AREA band). Latter-day version of IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY (which is a bit strange, since everyone knows Niente", and for this album they brought in Gregory Bloch, apparently a violinist for some This was their second album with ex-ACQUA FRAGILE vocalistīernardo Lanzetti, bassist Jan Patrick Djivas had been with the band since "L'Isola di By this point, they were residing in Los Angeles (but no There is nothing bad to say about the technical performance, but of course I prefer the earlier stuff. The keyboardist can easily be compared to George Duke's in the 70's many song styles can be associated with the Zappa's work of the mid 70's. It is impressive to notice all the good synchronization involved here to produce dense tracks! Bernardo Lanzetti still sings here with his annoying voice. The long eponymous song "Jet lag" amazingly sounds like Ozric Tentacles! "Story in la" is a monumental Zappa-esque (circa "One size fits all") chef d'oeuvre. Mauro Pagani left the band here, so there are no more woodwind instruments he is replaced by Gregory Bloch, a very good violinist who does a very good job. There are some very fast and hard rock/bluesy electric guitar parts. WOW! This record is very loaded: the drums and bass and very fast and complex. Mostly this is purely fast and complex "hard to play" progressive rock without the earlier mellow & delicate moments, like on "Photos of ghost" and "World became the world". Though it represents a departure from the band's earlier sound, I liked this disc in '77, and I love it now! The final cut, "Traveller," is particularly good, and brings the set to a memorable close.
There are soaring violins, great guitars and keyboards (lots of electric piano) and solid bass and drums. The rest of the album doesn't quite measure up to "Jet Lag," but is still very good, and diverse in flavour. Alone worth the cost of the disc (then some!), this masterful and highly original 'suite' is one of the best blends of jazz and rock that I've ever had the pleasure to hear.
At over 9 minutes, "Jet Lag" is the longest track on the album, and it's also the finest: in the best traditions of classic Prog it changes musical direction more than once, offering both power and beauty. Poetry aside, the music is center-stage here, and it is superb music indeed! The opening track, "Peninsula," is a beautiful piece of classical guitar work (sort of like Genesis - "Horizons") that serves as a lovely prelude to the title track. If the words don't soar to Sinfield's poetic heights, however, they still do a serviceable job. Four of the five tracks with vocals are sung in English, but the Pete Sinfield (ex Crimson) lyrics of earlier English language releases (like "The World Became the World") are missing this time out. This excellent album saw PFM breaking new ground, with the inclusion of fretless bass (the first time I heard that instrument), and a jazzier feel overall.