Massimo Pieretti is a keyboard player, piano teacher and composer from Rome, Italy. He played in many tribute bands in the past. His first steps into the progressive rock scene was in 2022 when he released his first solo album A New Beginning. Followed by the Creature Of The Night EP in 2024. And now he comes with his next release. Titled The Next Dream. As the previous album, The Next Dream is a concept album, a fantasy tale dealing with a dreamlike world and the creatures that inhabit it and accompany us at night while, at times, almost echoing the society we live in. According to Pieretti the album builds on a proper story, a dark musical with its own fantasy character -himself or any of us human beings- functioning as a guide much in the same way of Dante's Virgil along with a whole range of scenes and characters featuring in the unfolding of the events. He also mentioned that this album is a rather different work compared to A New Beginning. He finds it somehow more extreme, and jazz-oriented, hard and pop at once, richer in sound contrasts but also less orchestral. Everything is -as usual- marked by a deep care for musical arrangements and for harmonies that are unusual as well as representative of my own sound. Massimo tells that he was for this album inspired -among others- by Germana Noage (in the role of Virgil?), Dante Alighieri, Miles Davis, Peter Gabriel and his Genesis, Pink Floyd and Rush. I will tell you a bit about the songs separately so you know what to expect. Songs for which he wrote most of the music himself. Songs on which he played most of the keyboards parts as well. Many guest musicians contribute on the album. I will mention the most important of them. Finally I can tell you that most of the lyrics are by himself and Gianluca Del Torto. Let's start: Come Heavy Sleep. This is a rather short song which starts hauntingly before you get the idea you are in a church where beautiful keyboard parts are played. It includes John Hackett on flutes, Rob Townsend on Soprano Sax and Marco Lo Muscio on Church Organ. The wordless vocals of Maria Chiara Rocchegiani really lifts the song to a higher level. Massimo tells me that is an old song dating back to 1600 by the British musician John Dowland which he rediscovered rearranged and renewed in order to fit with our times and as part of a wider attempt of him to start a small social revolution as well as a continuation of his research and musical experimentation started with Out of this world Creatures Of The Night - Part 1.It has strong Pink Floyd kind of guitar parts done by Simone Cozzetto. But it is female singer Germana Noage from the band with the same name who steals the show with her excellent vocals. Massimo tells me that Creatures Of The Night - Part 1and Part 2 are the very focus of his work, they are the songs from which he conceived the whole story and the unrolling of the events. They're both inspired-as it is his passion- from the sounds of electric rock-jazz which distinguishes several harmonies and most of my songs. "Who are they? What do they want from us? Are they our friends or do they want to harm us? Do they represent the characters we encounter every day in society and with whom we clash or are they an extension of our multiple personalities? Don't be afraid, we come in peace...we are here for your safe, your rest. We are here to warn you about your role in society, to open your eyes. No! Be careful, these beings don't want the best for you. They don't care about your well-being in the slightest. They are only here to capture your energy, which they feed on. They are selfish creatures and you must send them away!". Get In Line. This a song with duo vocals like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush did on Don't Give Up. Again Germana Noage shines but now together with Marco Ragni. John Hackett plays here on the flutes once again and Mark Cook does some excellent fretless bass parts. But it is the guitar solo done by Fabio Lanciotti which is the icing on the cake here. According to Massimo Get In Line is inspired by an event that actually happened and which concerns him personally. By virtue of his role as a teacher "outside" the canons of the current and obsolete school system, he found myself cornered several times for my "alternative" methods. Today we hear terms such as "resilience" and "inclusion" mentioned more and more often, but are we sure that the path traced is the right one? How can we involve 12/13 year old by forcing them to study the recorder and the history of classical music, who is interested in them? The Chinese Witch (Including Mo Li Hua). Again excellent female vocals. This time around done by Kate Nord. Extra mentioning is Maria Chiara Rocchegiani who did great lead vocals on Mo Li Hua (Traditional Chinese folk song). It is also released as a single! Massimo told me that The Chinese Witch together with Creatures Of The Night is another central point of the concept. The nightmare of an unexpected nocturnal meeting becomes the pretext to talk about the vision that all of us Western people have of Chinese culture. The leitmotif of the song goes like this: "I'm not afraid of the Chinese witch, I'm afraid of myself". I dreamed of flying is a sort of Imagine 2.0, a song against war and violence worldwide. The lyrics were originally written by his sister Patrizia Pieretti, then translated and reviewed by himself and his well-trusted right-hand man, Gianluca Del Torto. I Dreamed Of Flying. Here the vocals Michael Trew (lead & backing Vocals) and Amy Breathe (backing vocals) shine. Andrea Amici joins in with excellent parts done on the Mellotron and doing a terrific synthesizer solo. Creatures Of The Night - Part 2. It has excellent guitar parts by Nick Fletcher which made me again think about Pink Floyd. Imaginaerium female vocalist Laura Piazzai has a strong vocal performance here which made me think about Tracy Hitchings. Alone. Again strong guitar parts. This time around by Peter Matuchniak (Kinetic Element, Gekko Projekt, Evolve IV) with again hints to Pink Floyd. Also strong lead vocals by Lorenzo Cortoni. Massimo tells that Alone is the song about the artist's loneliness. Each of us knows well that no one will help him in his time of need. Why would anyone do this? Unless...talent, mastery and skills are such as to allow a reversal of the trend. "No one will ever be able to do a job better than yourself, not even if you pay, ever! And I know this well". The First Time We Met. Also here strong guitar parts done by Vincenzo Zappatore and Francesco Mattei. Once again Michael Trew gets the chance to shine on vocals which he grabs with both hands and does a great job! Massimo says that The First Time We Met is a modern-day love story, a possible screenplay on the theme of romantic relationships. Partly reality, partly dream and partly novel. It takes inspiration from personal experiences, his way of understanding the love story and, as often happens in his songs,his attempt to tell the life of each of us. The Next Dream. On the title track Dominic Sanderson and Kate Nord share here strong lead and backing vocals. Simone Cozzetto shows here one more time how great he is on lead and rhythm guitars. Bravo! According to Massimo title track represents perhaps the most ambitious song he conceived so far. An almost entirely instrumental mini "suite", divided into several movements with many tempo changes, solos, virtuoso passages and reprises of the main themes of the album in which he paid tribute to the great musicians of the golden age of progressive rock, his great passion and important source of inspiration. I Dreamed Of Flying (Acoustic).This is the official ending tune for the album according to the credits. It is a beautiful acoustic version of a song which could be enjoyed earlier on this release as a full band electric version. This time around with strong vocal contributions of the earlier mentioned Germana Noage. Lisa Green (violin) and Mauro Cipriani (cello) give the song an orchestral feeling. Andrea Amici once again strongly participates on the Mellotron and synths. The First Time. Officially not mentioned on the credits therefore indicated as a ghost track. This is a beautiful piano tune played by Massimo himself to end the album in style. Hopefully you now get an indication of what this album is all about music and lyric wise. Most of the songs are rather mellow and laidback. You can't call them up tempo compositions. The songs most of the time are a bit in between up tempo and laidback. But definitely of a high level. I could not spot any weak tracks. The music is not easy to define and to compare with other acts. Sometimes Pink Floyd comes to mind and there is certainly a kind of seventies feeling on the entire album. It doesn't mean retro, because modern influences are also notable throughout the entire album. Maybe Steven Wilson is an inspiration or influence just like the earlier mentioned Dominic Sanderson. I guess you just have to listen yourself to figure out what Massimo Pieretti on The Next Dream sounds like and if you might enjoy it. As for myself I loved the entire album whole heartedly and can only highly recommend it to each and every lover of progressive rock. Because he made with The Next Dream a very professional sounding album which I reckon as one of the best releases of 2025. **** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
