![]() Once you accept it on its own merits you can appreciate the artistry, musicianship and imagination which has gone into this album. If I have any reservations it is that it took me a while to associate the rich vibrant musicality of this album with the story and atmosphere I mentally associate with Bladerunner… but I eventually decided I just had to re-imagine that world with a different soundtrack than the one I’ve known so well for nearly 40 years. It is a fascinating concept upon which to base an album, but does it work? Well, one important thing to do is dispel the memory of Bladerunner’s wonderful and mournful electronic soundtrack by Vangelis – this is a very different vision, and actually may be more evocative of the strange atmosphere that permeates Dick’s frankly rather peculiar original novel, much of the plot of which was not used in the movie. Holden: “Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about… your mother.” ![]() Obviously, being a machine, it could not have such a memory or personal experience on who its family was and where it came from.” This reminded us of one of Blade Runner’s main scenes when an android was asked about his mother. The leading principle was avoiding social contact. Each one of us was kind of locked in himself and could not interact with others. With people staying and working from home and kids taking virtual classes, not being able to go to school, it seems like everyone is rapidly becoming an android. Covid did a lot to accelerate this process. ![]() “The world has been changing around us computers are taking over every aspect of our lives. The band explain their thinking behind this new album: Charismatic drummer and lead vocalist Franz Di Cioccio (the only remaining original member) has a lovely warm voice and handles the English vocals with aplomb, but he is clearly more at home with his native Italian. Upon listening, I found that after a few initial listens to the English version to get a grasp of the lyrics and concept, I turned more to the Italian version as I felt the flow of the music and singing worked better there. It is interesting to note that like Emotional Tattoos, this latest album is released in a 2-disc set, with versions in English and Italian ( Ho Sognato Pecore Elettriche). The more informed progressive rock followers will be aware that Premiata Forneria Marconi (named after a bakery in Chiari in Brescia) have been creating music – with the odd prolonged interlude – since 1970, achieving significant success, firstly in Italy and then abroad in the early 1970s with a series of albums, some of which were released in English translation versions through Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s Manticore label. Dick’s futuristic 1968 sci-fi novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the original source for Ridley Scott’s classic 1982 Bladerunner movie. Strangely, that sense of detachment and isolation in which computers and screens dominated our lives was a perfect environment in which to create an album to convey the dislocation and nightmarish visions of Philip K. These Italian veterans certainly had a challenge with this new album – could they match the excellence of the Prog Magazine International Award winning 2017 album Emotional Tattoos? In addition, they faced the challenge of being isolated from each other during lockdown periods and having to write and record remotely for most of the process, although they were finally able to gather at the White Studios to complete the album. ![]() PFM return for the first time in over four years with Blade Runner inspired album I Dream of Electric Sheep, which was also influenced by the Covid pandemic. ![]()
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