Banco - Da Qui Messere si Domina la Valle
Rerecording one’s classic work strikes me as a bad idea in just about every case I can think of (which isn’t many to be honest), so taking a look at a band like Banco, rerecording their first two, almost universally considered progressive rock classics, at least gives us a look at a very competent band doing such a thing.
Musically, the s/t Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Darwin are among some of the most elaborate, romantic and sophisticated albums on the planet, symphonic rock created by a dual keyboard line-up who like their closest contemporaries PFM were quite intricate in their arrangements, often showing a great deal of classical training in the writing, a lot of heavy depth in terms of harmonic structure and suite development. While my tastes at present have moved in a direction that finds a bit of difficulty with the incredibly heavy drama at work here, little bad could be said about either of these two albums, so at least what we’re starting with is at a high watermark.
The intricacy of the original albums is virtually intact and there are a few occasions where themes are developed a little further, with the occasional instrumental segment reaching into new territory. While I believe Banco were only left with one keyboard player by this point, the music usually has two lines going, retaining the depth of the albums.
Tonally, there’s a different story at work. There literally is no replacing a real drummer with a sense of swing and air with computer programming or triggered drumming and it’s actually a similar difference to my ears between what the Italian groups in the 70s did and what the second and third generations don’t do. Many of the great 70s Italian rock drummers could swing like jazzers, most of the 90s ones sound like they’re just listening to rock and thus missing so many of the nuances. Electronic drums just exacerbate the problem and, really, the modern keyboard tones, sometimes acting as bass lines in songs, are just as guilty of this. However, while these elements go to making the new rerecordings just a bit too stiff and thus inferior to the originals, the problem is probably not as grievous as the time I’ve spent writing about it and the remaining intricacy of the music is likely to more than make up for the tones for most people. But for my ears, while I have copies of the originals, they’ll always be the ones I reach for and while I might rate this a 9 or 10 overall, I don’t feel the need to hang onto this. Overall, these are probably as good rerecordings as exist, but I still wouldn’t say they transcend the limitations.