Massimo Pieretti - 2025 - The Next Dream

(54:11; Cromosoma M)

Track list:
1. Come Heavy Sleep 1:54
2. Creatures of the Night Part 1 4:32
3. Get in Line 4:58
4. The Chinese Witch 7:10
5. I Dreamed of Flying 3:47
6. Creatures of the Night Part 2 4:52
7. Alone 4:57
8. The First Time We Met 5:15
9. The Next Dream 7:45
10. I Dreamed of Flying [Acoustic] 3:45
11. The First Time 5:16

Line-up:
Massimo Pieretti - keyboards
with:
Amy Breathe - vocals
Germana Noage - vocals
Kate Nord - vocals
Laura Piazzai - vocals
Maria Chiara Rocchegiani - vocals
Lorenzo Cortoni - vocals
Claudio Milano - vocals
Marco Ragni - vocals
Dominic Sanderson - vocals
Michael Trew - vocals
John Hackett - flutes
Rob Townsend - saxophone
Lauren Trew - clarinets
Lisa Green - violin
Mauro Cipriani - cello
Gianni Pieri - cello
Simone Cozzetto - guitars
Roberto Falcinelli - guitars
Francesco Mattei - guitars
Nick Fletcher - guitars
Fabio Lanciotti - guitars
Peter Matuchniak - guitars
Jean Luc Payssan - guitars
Luigi Pistillo - guitars
Attilio Virgilio - guitars
Vincenzo Zappatore - guitars
Mark Cook - Warr guitar
Gabriele Pala - Chapman Stick
Fabrizio Russo - bass
Billy Allen - bass
Gianluca Del Torto - bass
Tom Hyatt - bass
Michele Raspanti - bass
Andrea Amici - synths
Roberto Ballerini - piano
Marco Lo Muscio - organ
Mattias Olsson - drums, percussion
Mirko Rovina - percussion


Prolusion.
Italian artist Massimo Pieretti has been active in the Italian music scene for a number of years, playing in tribute bandas as well as in bands creating their own material, and have been playing music in a variety of different styles and genres over the years. In 2022 he launched his career as a solo artrist with the album "A New Beginning", and now in 2025 he appeared with his second solo album "The Next Dream". Both of these productions are self released by the artist.

Analysis.
From what I can recall of Pieretti's debut album, this second solo effort of his continues to explore musical landscapes and traditions of a similar kind and nature as on the first album. Widely appealing compositions with a liberal amount of pop music sensibilities is the order of the day here, and the songs revolve around moods, atmospheres and melodies to a greater extent than sheer technical virtuous skills.

It is clear that there are some key sources of inspiration for the material here. Classical music is called upon as at least an indirect reference on a fairly regular interval, but in a manner where I get the impression that film music and score music may be more important sources of inspiration than the works of the great and well known composers that are household names in music.

Other vital sources of inspiration are the 80s era neo-progressive rock bands in general and a band like Marillion in particular, alongside the later Gilmour-era of Pink Floyd. With various details referencing both of those bands in a direct or indirect manner being a recurring element throughout. I'll also add Camel to the list of likely sources of inspiration here, albeit more in terms of approach and execution rather than a direct link to the musical landscapes themselves, and while perhaps more of an incidental feature I also do get associations towards a few dream pop bands along the way here.

The end result here are songs that can be careful and atmospheric laden affairs as well as more busy and at times subtly chaotic excursions, but where mood, atmosphere and melody are in the limelight all along. Elegant, wandering piano motifs is a bit of a mainstay element, alongside layered keyboard motifs. and careful delicate guitar solo runs and overlays play an important part on many occasions too, although we do get a few displays of that kind with a little bit of a sharper edge to them as well.

There is a bit of diversity at hand throughout this album experience too, and I suspect a part of this comes down to the sheer number of people that have contributed to the different songs. This also adds a variation in the experienced quality of some of the songs, and for my sake something I primarily notice in terms of the lead vocals. Some are stellar, with one of the female vocalists delivering vocals in very much of a Durga McBroom kind of manner, while other vocals are more on the passable scale as far as I'm concerned. With some of these also having a bit of an accent that for some listeners may be regarded as a little bit detrimental to the total experience.

Otherwise I notice that those who have been around the progressive rock universe for a bit will encounter familiar names among the numerous contributors here, many of which will be known to always be a safe bet in terms of delivering high to stellar quality performances.

Conclusion.
Those who have a general fancy for the more accessible side of the progressive rock tradition will find a lot to enjoy on this second album by Massimo Pieretti, and while this album doesn't really explore landscapes with strikingly similar features to either of these, I do suspect that fans of Fish-era Marillion and Gilmour-era Pink Floyd will make up a demographic that will get the moods, atmospheres and melodies explored on this production easier than many others. And while vastly different on most levels, I wouldn't be surprised if the same description can be applied to fans of good, old Electric Light Orchestra.


Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, July 2025

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/Massimo.Pieretti.Anewbeginning