Il Fiume marked a return to form for one of progressive rock's greatest, albeit unheralded, bands. Largely encouraged by the genre's resurgence during the '90s,
Le Orme managed to meld their long and strong history into this release and performed it live at Progfest '97 to critical acclaim. This concept recording features the dual keyboards of Francesco Sartori and Michele Bon, the vocals (in Italian) of
Aldo Tagliapietra, and versatile drumming of Michi Dei Rossi. The band projects a quiet confidence that demonstrates that their comfort level with each other and the direction that they have continued to pursue over their lengthy and impressive career. While they seemed to flounder a bit during the '80s,
Le Orme fans drew comfort from this release that their Italian prog rock heroes had made a triumphant return to form. For newcomers, this release is a fine representation of their brand of progressive rock, but their early- to mid-'70s work, namely
Felona e Serona and
Contrappunti, remain their most important and exciting contribution to the genre. ~ Robert Taylor