Short Reviews [Massimo Pieretti - 2022 - "A New Beginning"]

‘A New Beginning’ is the debut solo album from keyboard player and composer Massimo Pieretti (Shaman’s Soldiers, Noage etc). Many musicians used the isolation caused by the Covid pandemic to look closely at themselves, their works and what they wanted to achieve, and in the case of Massimo it was to get his musical ideas out in front of the world, and what better way to do that than with an autobiographical concept album? This consists of 15 tracks through which Massimo demonstrates his point of view on society by reflecting back on his own personal problems and life experiences. Although he worked with others throughout the crafting of this album, he ensured he was involved in everything from writing of the material through the choice of musicians to work with and was even involved in the mastering. There are 12 singers involved, including Ray Weston from Echolyn, and a total headcount of no less than 30 to bring to life Massimo’s vision. The album itself can be broken into three different areas, but the songs are mixed throughout so this may not be immediately apparent. These areas are songs which are personal and autobiographical, those which are experimental and related to his passion for cinema and film music songs, and then there is a trilogy. What makes this album such a success is not the number of singers involved, nor the quality of the songs themselves, but rather the emotion and passion which is palpable throughout. The layering and complexity are wonderful, with the songs being incredibly diverse and different, so one never knows what is going to happen next. There may be female leads, or male, lush harmonies, or shouted texts which are delivered with incredible dramatic import. This is an incredibly deep album, and it takes time to fully investigate and plumb the hidden depths as there is just so much here to take in. I have seen it mentioned that this is a very Italian album, but I must confess I don’t hear that as this is far removed from RPI and to my ears is actually an album with no country of origin as it straddles geographic boundaries and is a fine example of music following where it needs to go as opposed to being forced into artificial constraints to meet the definition or style of one sub-genre or another. Yes, this is prog, but it feels more like a river taking its own course as opposed to being constrained by the walls of a canal. It is certainly not attempting to pander to any current fashion and could have been released any time in the last 40 years yet does not recognisably align itself with any particular influence but instead has very much its own identity. Majestic without ever being overbearing, this is a classic album which will be enjoyed by many.