''L'isola di niente'' ("The Isle of Nothing") is the third studio album by Italian progressive rock band Premiata Forneria Marconi, released in 1974. Like the group's previous albums, it is sung in Italian and performed well in Italy. An English version of the album, '' The World Became the World'', was recorded in the same session. It features the same track list along with an English version of the band's first single "Impressioni di Settembre". English lyrics were written by Peter Sinfield. ''L'isola di niente'' is a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

album which has been described as being more complex than their previous records, additionally incorporating elements of jazz rock. In a retrospective

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review, the album was given a positive review, being deemed PFM's last masterpiece, yet was rated slightly lower than their previous records. Tracks such as "La Luna Nuova" and "Dolcissima Maria" continue to be performed in their live set.

Composition and critical reception

''L'isola di niente'' is a

album at its core, yet shows greater influences from jazz fusion music. Described as more complex and confusing than their previous records, it ranges from

symphonic rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the ...

-oriented progressive songs ("La Luna Nuova") to jazz rock-influenced pieces ("Via Lumiere"). The lyrics are also sung in Italian, with the exception of the second track, "Is My Face on Straight?". The album continues the presence of long tracks, especially "L'isola di niente" which is 10:48 minutes long, and makes use of a synthesized

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. In an

review, François Couture wrote positively on the album, giving it a four out of five star rating, and labelling it a "masterpiece" and "one of the first Italian progressive rock wave's finest records", despite deeming it more "confusing" than its predecessors and "more of an acquired taste".

Track listing

Personnel

* Franco Mussida –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s, lead vocals * Flavio Premoli – keyboards, lead vocals *

Mauro Pagani Mauro Pagani (born 5 February 1946) is an Italian people, Italian musician and singer. Pagani was born in Chiari, Lombardy, Chiari, Lombardy. A multi-instrumentalist, he made his debut in the music world in 1970 in music, 1970 as violinist and f ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, vocals * Patrick Djivas – bass, vocals * Franz Di Cioccio –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, vocals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isola Di Niente Premiata Forneria Marconi albums 1974 albums RCA Records albums