World Became the World [Import]

PFM (Premiata Forneria Marconi) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 20, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bmg Int'l
• ASIN: B000009FUF
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,619 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Just Look Away

2. The World Became The World

3. Four Holes In The Ground

4. Is My Face On Straight

5. Have Your Cake And Beat It (Instrumental)

6. The Mountain

Editorial Reviews

CD debut for the English version of this 1974 albumpreviously released only in England & featuring a bonustrack not on the Italian edition, 'Have Your Cake And BeatIt' (Instrumental)!. Six tracks total. 1997 BMG Ricordirelease. The original album was released on BMG Ricordi/Numero Uno.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars English remake of L'Isola di Niente, August 26, 2003

By 

kireviewer (Sunnyvale, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: World Became the World (Audio CD)

PFM is an Italian band that had very limited English skills. Their first three albums were in Italian. This is an English remake of PFM's third album, L'Isola di Niente. It has an added track and the cover background color was changed from green to blue. The original LP cover had a cut out in the center and the island mountain was printed on the inner sleeve.

Original Italian album had 5 tracks. One track, Is My Face On Straight has always been in English. It was cowritten by Pete Sinfield, best known for writing the lyrics on the early King Crimson albums. It sounds more like a Pete Sinfield song than a PFM song.

The additional song is the title track, The World Became the World. It is an English version of Impressioni di Settembre from PFM's first album, Storia un di Minuto.

When these songs get reworked, the music remains the same. Pete Sinfield just comes up with new lyrics in English. They are not direct interpretations of the original Italian. Sinfield (like Yes) just writes lyrics that sound good and nothing that has any deep meaning. In addition, PFM does not understand what they are singing, so it becomes mechanical.

If you are starting from the beginning, I suggest buying the first three original Italian albums, and skipping the English versions. You end up with all of the tracks. You get Italian that you don't understand instead of English that doesn't make any real sense.

PFM is sort of mellow in the studio. In concert, they are a jamming band. Their live albums are fantastic. Seek out Live in the USA (also called Cook), the boxset 10 Anni Live, or the recent Live In Japan.

There is a French band, called Mona Lisa, that is very similar to PFM in structure and sound. But like almost all things French, it is inferior to the Italian.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the Best Progressive Rock Albums Ever Made, December 3, 2001

By 

woburnmusicfan (Woburn, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World Became the World (Audio CD)

"The World Became the World" is not only PFM's finest record, but one of the handful of top progressive rock albums ever made. It captures this Italian band at the apex of its career. Bassist Patrick Djivas had just joined the band, and joined with drummer Franz Di Cioccio to give it a more propulsive sound than on "Photos of Ghosts". The band's music, arrangements, and production were at an all-time high, resulting in classics like "Four Holes in the Ground", with its complex yet hummable melody leading to a blazing unison passage the Dixie Dregs would envy, and the title song, a ballad with a memorable synthesizer instrumental as its chorus. (The title cut is an English version of "Impressioni di Settembre" from the earlier "Storia di un Minuto" album, and is not available on the Italian version of the album, "L'Isola di Niente".) A flute processed through a wah-wah pedal leads into the stunning final chorus of "Is My Face on Straight?", one of prog-rock's greatest moments. "The Mountain", the album's first track, overcomes an unfocused choral intro to take the listener on several twists and turns. While the album was released in America by ELP's Manticore label and ELP lyricist Pete Sinfield wrote the English lyrics, the sound is closer to early Genesis, and keyboardist Flavio Premoli shares the mix with guitarist Franco Mussida and Mauro Pagani on flute and violin. As with every progressive rock album ever released, the lyrics are not a strong point.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better Than '74, April 3, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: World Became the World (Audio CD)

It's hard, it's soft, it's melodic, it's symphonic. It's hypnotic. A masterpiece which flows from start to finish. Sounds better now than in 1974.