Adriano Celentano
Dormi Amore - La Situazione Non E' Buona

It's been a long time since I was humming "She loved me, hated me, loved me, hated me, she was against me..." on the street, always being very fascinated by Celentano's vocal timbre, with that voice so hoarse and warm that on some occasions truly managed to convey some emotion to me. And so the other day, surprised by the news of a new album (not so much because of the CD but because I thought he was already dead), I said to myself: "And this idiot thinks I would give him 21 euros and 50 cents for his damn new album that will have, being positive, 2 decent songs?????". Within ten minutes, I had the album in my stereo.

It starts with a simple and catchy introduction by Ludovico Einaudi (personally, I like him a lot) in "Hai Bucato La Mia Vita" (Mogol; Bella), a very beautiful song whose value emerges after a few listens. Off to a good start. There comes Jovanotti's signature on "Aria...Non Sei Più Tu" which really won me over for the vocal lines and Celentano's truly excellent interpretation, even when he quotes himself with a bit of the self-assurance that has always distinguished our "Lo Celentan sempre lo disse...". It's impossible not to be struck by the beauty of "Dormi Amore" (Mogol; Bella), where Adriano really manages to pluck the heartstrings with an applause-worthy performance in a song simply stunning. Making the work more interesting is "La Situazione Non E' Buona", characterized by lyrics that oscillate between polemic, irony, and remission, all exploding in a pretty original psychedelic interlude. Mogol and Bella also sign "Vorrei Sapere", perhaps one of the less successful episodes, "Fascino", beautiful in its simplicity and its truly splendid lyrics, and "I Tuoi Artigli", a very particular song that personally didn't impress me much. The other tracks were written by Neffa in the case of "Fiori", where the author's pop hand is quite evident, creating, nonetheless, an excellent track, and by Carmen Consoli in "Anna Magnani", a very noteworthy song but not indispensable. A separate note deserves "Ragazzo Del Sud", written by Modugno in '70, which deals with a theme always dear to Celentano that seems like twenty years ago.

In conclusion, I can only offer my heartfelt congratulations to the "Molleggiato," who may make us sleep during his TV shows, is as constructed as you want, but is still capable of making beautiful music.

PS. If it were up to me, I'd give it 4 stars, but I'm still in the first days of listening. I give it 3 stars but would like to underline again, if needed, the beauty of this album that only falls short in one or two episodes at most.

Bede