This may be the ultimate of the so-called "pastoral" progressive rock albums. Acoustic guitar arpeggios, flute, mellow crooning vocals and piano with a brick left on the sustain pedal all permeate this album; and on top of it all, there's almost as much Mellotron as Genesis used in their entire career. The music is meandering and ethereal, with more musical complexity than the average New Age album, but very much the same mood. In short, it's the epitome of the seventies' pastoral-progressive style.
Comparisons come easily for this album. Recorded in 1974, two years before it was eventually released, this album was to a great extent a product of what had gone before it. Imagine a cross between Trespass (minus "The Knife") and Per un Amico, and you won't be far off. There are also traces of the accoustic sections of Yes' "All Good People" by, and the beginning of "Favole Antiche" is more than a little reminscent of the opening to "Court of the Crimson King".
Principe di Giorno is certainly progressive, but it's hard to classify it as rock. The climactic moments on this album are handled by either sax or an ARP synthesizer, but these are hardly blistering solos; instead, they're more akin to the climactic moments of classical music which rely on compositional skill as much as volume to create the mood.
There are many shortcomings people will find with this album. The pace is never anything other than sedate, there is hardly anything on here that is technically challenging for the musicians, the style is derivative, and surely the Mellotron could have been given a rest a little more often. The fact is, though, that the melodies and arrangements are truly gorgeous. The absence of a track like "The Knife" on Trespass means that the mood is never broken. In fact the only song that strays too far from the ethereal mood of the rest of the album is the last track "L'Imbroglio", but rather than being a piece to stir the blood and quicken the heartbeat, it's a silly throwaway piece that leaves anybody with a sense of fun in a good mood when they finish listening to the album.
There are many albums which I regard as pleasant listening and will happily pull out when the mood takes me. Camel's Snow Goose and Novalis' Sommerabend come to mind. However, none touch me as deeply as this truly beautiful album. Essential for anyone who likes the softer side of the Italian scene, or thinks that too much Mellotron is barely enough.
