883
Nord sud ovest est

THE REVIEW

There are bands that are snubbed by many yet adored by many. Bands that in the end have marked everyone, at least those from a certain era: punk, metalheads, those who eventually stopped listening to music, skinheads, alt's... Well, 883 is one of those.

The fact is that a person can listen to Fabri Fibra and Dream Theater, Bull Brigade or Baglioni, but 883 is almost a common denominator. And it's not insignificant, because when you start to analyze them properly, you realize that the reason they've been so deep in the groove they've left in a generation of listeners is that perhaps they themselves were deeper than they seemed, and seemed to want to. You realize that their lyrics often talk about a dimension we're used to, that we take for granted, but... maybe we take it too much for granted: there are reflections, memories, that mix of carefree and melancholy feeling, if you want to call it that, which you only experience when you're young. It might be hidden, and maybe you don't pay attention to the themes discussed, but you can't deny they are addressed. Because then it's true, they didn't make the great socially committed protest anthem, but - to give an example - for me, to make a song that can give you a lump in your throat for those provincial evenings where you realized you were wasting your life, but maybe not, doesn't seem like nothing. Okay, there are also songs where "a cigar is just a cigar," but in the end, we are not talking about a sociology treatise, it's a pop-rock album, right?

With a, in my opinion, significant maturation compared to the first songs composed, you then approach this album. An album that actually starts quietly, with a nice opener but nothing more. A completely different matter is "Sei un mito": here, the lyrics talk about a boy and a girl who are well together "without paranoia." And one might say "who cares?" Well, how many songs talk about fake loves, and sugary dreams? This one doesn’t, this one is a real dream, a sign of a real relationship with a certain youthful dimension. It's not at all a trivial theme. And the musical part? Kiko Loureiro said that "it's much easier to create a complicated suite than a great pop song." Mind you, a great pop song, not the nonsense of Sfera Ebbasta. "Non ci spezziamo" turns towards more rap shores, with unoriginal lyrics but that you can listen to. "Come mai" is a good piece made with skill and good melodies; not my favorite, but I understand it can be very appreciated. Phenomenal "Rotta x casa di Dio": the portrait of an adolescence not spent at fashionable parties, but in atypical, fun, crazy evenings yet always coated with the oppressiveness of provincialism (in this sense, the best song is "Con un deca"). A textbook chorus. The title-track is the crown jewel. It's the crown jewel because you realize it's the same theme that Virgin Steele addresses in "Blood and Gasoline." More or less. A boy who loses his beloved but faces life head-on, without fuss, goes on, like a cowboy who doesn't care about the shaman's prediction. Who perhaps, in the end, isn’t looking for a woman, but for himself. The subsequent "Ma perché" is not unforgettable but makes a great comeback with "Weekend," a melancholic and "dark" song, telling of boring weekends full of the awareness of doing nothing. Call me romantic, call me stupid, but a song like this really gives me the vibes it intends to give. How can you deny the naive intuition of talking about something like this? They could have talked about many topics that seemed just as trivial, but no: those evenings left a deep mark in 883 and they put them to music. Still high levels with "Cumuli": perhaps not exceptional musically, but with a raw text that talks about drugs, about how it destroys groups of friends. A solid and sly finale entrusted to the very famous "Nella notte."

What else to say? The arrangements are done by people who know how to do them, it seems undeniable, and the lyrics, well, we've talked about them enough.

883 will not be repeated at these levels again, just as the previous work was not at these levels. Rating: 90/100.