Customer Reviews

Cook

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Cook" is a live recording of P.F.M. touring Canda and the United States. This album consists of six songs, five of which are from the English albums "Photos of Ghosts," and "The World Became the World." The sixth song, "Alta Loma Five Till Nine," is an exclusive live cut. The music contained on this album is absolutely beautiful; even the English vocals are better represented here than the studio albums. The arrangements and the types of instruments used for the five songs are altered slighty, which makes listening to this album a new adventure for long-time P.F.M. fans; "Just Look Away" features a stunning three and half minute guitar solo by Franco Mussida. After the solo, Flavio Premoli starts making some mournful sounds with the Moog synthesizer and the song begins. How this song differs from the studio album, besides the three and half minute guitar introduction, is the keyboard instruments are more prominent than in the studio version. Premoli plays a Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer simultaneously, producing a nicely layered sound. Near the end of the song, Mauro Pagani's flute replaces the Mellotron used in the studio version. There are many more arrangement and instrumental variations contained on this album. However, discussing them all would ruin the suprise of purchasing this fantastic album.

This limited-edition Japanese pressing of "Cook" features superior sound quality compared to the Italian import "Live in the USA," which is essentially the same album as "Cook" only with a banal cover. The disc is re-mastered using the excellent 20bit K2 Super Coding process, giving the listner the illusion of actually being at the concerts contained on this disc. The contents of this nicely put together pacakage are: a lyric book featuring lyrics in English and Japanese, a CD with a minature-jacket much like the original LP, and a colorful album cover in a see-through plastic bag-like jacket for safekeeping.

The steep price may scare people away from purchasing this disc, however, paying the extra cash is well worth it. These limited-edition Japanese mini-albums go out of print fast and quickly become expensive collectibles. The excellent sound quality is antother reason for paying the extra money; the sound quality on the Italian import "Live in the USA" is extremely poor and sounds muffled.

"Cook" is an excellent live representation of the English albums by P.F.M. With excellent sound quality and great music, this is surely to keep the pot boiling for re-mastering other progressive rock albums with poor sound quality; whether the recording is live or studio produced.

If it was not for the quality of the sound,which can be rated as good, not excellent, this CD could or should stand at the top of any list of PFM albums. In terms of performance, inspiration, virtuosity, and fun, this one is an absolute gem.

Moreover, it contains the first live rendition of PFM's classic Alta Loma, which is worth the price of the CD alone. Well,for someone willing to pay the extra bucks for this Japanese high quality pressing of the original Cook, of course. Thanks to the 20 bit K2 Super Coding process, the quality of the sound is somewhat better here than that of the original recording, with the music rendition less laid back and more dynamic.

All of the tracks (4 holes in the ground; Dove... Quando...; Just look away; Celebration (best version ever recorded); Mr Nine till Five; Alta Loma 5 till 9), are PFM classics.

Except for Piazza, replaced by Djivas, all of the original members of the band were there (Mussida on guitar; Pagani on violin and flute; Premoli on keyboards; Di Cioccio on drums) and the synergy is nothing less than fabulous.

In spite of the quality of the sound, which could still be a bit better, - I strongly recommend this album to whoever wants to find out what PFM was capable of during its prime, and believe me PFM's live performances were really outstanding : inspired, and generous.

I am ASHAMED I (almost) forgot about these guys!! Had this album back in High school (late 70s) and a buddy had this and 2 others (recognize the cover for We Became the World, not sure what the other one was, don't recognize any of the other covers.)

Haven't listened to it in 20+ years!! Got it last week, have listened to it 3 times so far and it's every bit as good as I remember!!

My favorite track is, without a doubt, the 15 minute closer, Altaloma Nine Till Five, but it is a prog rock masterpiece that should be in the collection of every lover of prog, or even fusion for that matter.

Gonna get "We Became the World" next, then maybe something else!!

...yes, it may well be this one.

This set has not been widely available for some time, and this obsessive-compulsive 3-CD reissue comes as a highly welcomed indulgence. For PFM at its peak, one can do no better than get this album.

Premiata Forneria Marconi earned a rare and precious spot in progressive history. Like many of their contemporaries, past and present, their playing was imaginative and virtuosic. But unlike many other prog acts, PFM had the rare distinction of bringing a unique cheerfulness to their sound which was simply not realized by many prog rock bands too busy with sheer compositional density. Concentrated jams like "Alta Loma" were balanced out by the beautiful "Just Look Away" and the sublime "Four Holes in the Ground." The gorgeous refrain melody from "The World Became the World" (perhaps more properly referred to as "Impressioni di Septiembre") was a perfectly prefaced concert closer that must have brought the house down on that late summer day in 1974.

From the perspective of a non-audiophile, the sound quality of this live album is very good. All of the instruments can be heard and the mix is appropriate. There's some feedback and monitor noise, the bass sounds a bit thin at times and the drums sound flat here and there. On the plus side, the crowd noise on this recording was well handled; the concert feel is there without audience intrusion. Overall, this is a good sounding live recording with a measured rawness that adds authenticity, and per the liner notes there are no overdubs. The song intros spoken in tentative English are endearing and essential parts of this album, wisely left fully intact in all their brokenness on this remaster.

PFM was more than a talented Italian band bringing Italian sound and culture to world ears. It was a creative engine that rose above its influences to be something wholly individual. "Cook" is the best corroboration of this fact, finally made available in expanded CD format. And a complete concert spanning discs two and three in original song order is a godsend for older, esoteric recordings such as this.

This package really is about all I would really need on that desert isle. Okay, also include speakers, receiver, and CD player (made out of coconuts, I guess).

And a hammock.

PFM is a progressive Italian group that formed in the seventies. They released 3 Italian language albums when they were discovered by Pete Sinfield, writer for King Crinsom. He wrote English lyrics for some of their songs and released two reworked albums.

They went on a tour of Canada and US and released this album from this tour. The album was release in Europe as "PFM Live in USA". In the US, it was released as "Cook" with this cheeszy cartoon drawing of a devil.

This is an excellent live album, with some terrific jamming on guitar, keyboards and violin. The final 14 minute track is a powerful, driving instrumental.

Note, that a bette live PFM album to get would either be the 2 CD set called Cellebration, or the 4 CD 10 Anni Live series. They are just as good, but each CD is around 70 minutes long.

This is excellent live Italian progressive music. There is great jamming and fantastic guitar, keyboard and violin solos.

But, instead of this CD, you might want to consider Celebration or 10 Anni Live. Either collection has most of the music here, plus lots more that is just as good.

If you want Cook, is it worth buying the Japanese special edition? Probably not. The original masters of this album are not that good to begin with. No matter how much work is done in "remastering" the original, it is still a vintage seventies live recording and the sound is never going to be perfect. But, there are some bad versions of this CD out there.

I thought it was better then any of their studio albums. These guys are hot.

This CD is amazing!!! The production and the musicianship are great!! Everything a prog CD should be.
I think anyone that likes progressive rock should own this CD and others in their catalog.

I have the LP version of this concert but is already to noisy and doesn't have good dynamics. The Japanese CD, which I bought, sounds much better. To me PFM COOK is the best record that came out from PFM. Excellent music, highly recommended.

The original tapes do not sound great, so do not expect miracles, but this edition from Japan sounds much better than any other one I've heard so far.