Vision's Fugitives

The only American release from the Italian progressive band Sensation Fix is an interesting but flawed work. Guitarist and composer Franco Falsini had some good ideas about mixing rock, jazz, and avant-garde classical music, and his band was tight and highly skilled. The instrumental cuts on Vision's Fugitives have energy and intelligence to spare, and Falsini's agile guitar work and mastery of instrumental tones are often reminiscent of Robert Fripp. Unfortunately, when he sings Falsini's accented English is distracting; the lyrics are generally nonsense, and his voice isn't good enough that the listener can ignore the content and regard the vocals as an instrument. The one exception is the "Vision's Fugitives: The Crowd," a complex suite in which the lyrics actually help move the piece forward. They're still not particularly meaningful, and probably not just because they are in translation. (It's hard to consider that they might mean more in Italian, except as surrealist poetry.) If this band had added a decent lyricist and singer, then Sensation Fix might have had some success as a garage-progressive powerhouse. As it is, Vision's Fugitives has its moments and is worth an occasional listen, but falls a bit short of consistent brilliance.