Banco del Mutuo Soccorso

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso's third LP, Io Sono Nato Libero, was released only a few months after the impressive Darwin!, and featured the same lineup (brothers Vittorio and Gianni Nocenzi on keyboards, Rodolfo Maltese on guitar, Pierluigi Calderoni on drums, Renato d'Angelo on bass, and Francesco Di Giacomo on vocals). It yielded one classic track, "Non Mi Rompete," a beautiful Italian ballad that would be part of the band's set list for the rest of its life. Another important track is "Traccia II," which develops the musical idea found at the end of the 1971 LP Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. Music history may have preserved these two pieces, but the real point of interest on Io Sono Nato Libero is the 15-minute opus "Canto Nomade per un Prigioniero Politico," a complex and very moving piece (the title translates to "Nomad Song for a Political Prisoner"). Di Giacomo feels so involved in the lyrics that his voice is always on the verge of breaking up. The song contains a strange section of percussion overdubs in the middle, which sadly alters its cohesion, but otherwise it remains one of the group's strong compositions from its early days. This album was eclipsed by the cult status Darwin! achieved, but it should not be overlooked. It possesses all the elements that made Banco del Mutuo Soccorso such a unique band, embodying everything Italian progressive rock could be. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide