Live in U.S.A. (also known as Cook) was released in 1974 from Premiata Forneria Marconi’s tour of the USA and captures a defining moment in their career, when the combination of Italian symphonic style and Anglo-American progressive rock began to gain an international audience. It is not just a live album, it is a statement of identity.

It is considered by many to be one of the strongest live progressive rock albums of the 1970s. It stands out for its technical perfection, the band’s cohesion and the dynamic orchestrations.

Despite being a live recording, it sounds worked out but also full of energy, something that live releases of this kind rarely achieve with the skill of PFM is the album’s greatest asset:

• Intricate interplay between guitar, keyboards, violin and flute
• Smooth transitions between classical influences and jazz-rock improvisation
• Impressive precision even in the most complex pieces

Tracks like “Alta Loma Nine Till Five” (with a reference to Gioachino Rossini) highlight both the band’s skill and theatricality.

The album is based mainly on material from their early works, such as:

• Four Holes in the Ground
• Just Look Away
• Celebration
• Mr. Nine Till Five

In live performances, the songs are usually more extensive and adventurous compared to their studio versions, something typical of progressive rock, but here it works in favor of cohesion.

Album strengths

• Excellent technical training
• Balance between energy and precision
• Coherence, despite the long duration of the tracks
• International orientation, which helped the band establish itself outside of Italy

Live in U.S.A. is considered essential listening for fans of progressive rock and beyond, and is a representative sample of PFM’s peak period

If you like bands like Genesis or Emerson, Lake & Palmer, this album moves in the same context, but with a distinct Mediterranean identity.

Through this excellent live album I selrct the Medley “Alta Loma Five Till Nine”.

Tracklist

1. Four Holes In The Ground 7:26
2. Dove… Quando 4:43
3. Just Look Away 8:48
4. Celebration (Including The World Became The World) 8:33
5. Mr. 9 Till 5 4:32
6. Alta Loma 5 Till 9 (Including William Tell Overture) 15:50