The album that carried the band to international attention has a rich reissue history and one genuinely important companion release, so which edition of Per un amico should you buy depends partly on whether you want the English music too. The 1972 original is the anchor.

Why this album is a special case

Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) made this its most celebrated early record, and it is the album the band reworked in full for the English-speaking market the following year, with newly written English lyrics rather than translations. That English release is a re-recording, not a remaster of this record’s tapes, so a buyer choosing an edition of the Italian album should treat it as a separate companion. With that distinction clear, the many Italian-language reissues are easy to work through, and the choice mostly turns on format and transfer.

The original release

The album was released in 1972 as a gatefold LP on Numero Uno, with the catalogue number DZSLN 55155. No UK chart entry is verified in the sources this guide relies on. An original Numero Uno gatefold in clean condition is the collector’s reference for this title, prized as one of the high points of the Italian scene.

The reissues that matter

The Italian album reached CD in 1989 on RCA, with a remastered digipak in 2001, a Japanese paper-sleeve edition in 2003, a limited gatefold CD in 2011 and a high-quality Japanese CD in 2014, plus a run of heavyweight vinyl reissues from the late 2010s. Separately, the band’s 1973 Manticore album reworks this record in full with English lyrics, and is the release to seek for the English-language music. The year and label on a CD tell you which transfer you are buying.

Remasters and remixes

No 5.1 surround, SACD or Dolby Atmos mix of this album is confirmed in the sources this guide relies on, so this page does not claim one. The modern CDs are stereo remasters, so the upgrade path is about the quality of the stereo transfer rather than multi-channel sound. As with the band’s debut, treat any advertised surround edition with caution until the disc itself lists a multi-channel mix.

Which one to buy

If you want the album simply, the 1989 RCA or 2001 BMG remastered CD is the dependable choice. If you want the English-language music, the band’s 1973 Manticore album is the release to seek, remembering it is a re-recording rather than an edition of this one. If you collect, an original 1972 Numero Uno DZSLN 55155 gatefold LP is the target. For most listeners, a good Italian-language remaster is the natural choice.

Go deeper

The same edition questions run through the rest of the catalogue, so this reads well beside my guides to Storia di un minuto. If the vocabulary of pressings is unfamiliar, see what a remaster, an original pressing or a reissue, a gatefold sleeve actually mean. The overview lives on the reissues and editions guide, and the record itself sits among the best progressive rock albums.

One note on how this guide is put together. Every year, label and format here is checked against English-language discographies rather than trusted to memory, because the surest way to waste your money is to chase an edition that does not exist as described. Where a mix or a pressing could not be confirmed, it is left out rather than guessed at, and where a chart placing belongs to a later reissue rather than the original run, that is said plainly. The point of a buying guide is that you can act on it, so the harder facts are the ones worth getting right. Two habits make buying any of these records easier. The first is to read the catalogue number and the pressing year off the disc or the sleeve, rather than trusting a listing’s title alone, since the same artwork was reused across editions that sound and contain quite different things. The second is to weigh condition against rarity: a common album in clean, complete shape is almost always a better buy than a scarce one that has been played hard, and a reissue you will actually enjoy beats an original you are afraid to handle.

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