Afterhours
Siam Tre Piccoli Porcellin

THE REVIEW

Manuel Agnelli's band presents themselves in this album as many (myself included) love to hear them, that is, live, with their remarkable explosiveness and energy that few in Italy can express. The live tracks included in the first disc were recorded during the 1997 tour and some in the 2000 tour, while the second disc exclusively contains tracks performed in a semi-acoustic style.

The first disc opens with highly engaging and adrenaline-rich tracks like "Germi" and "Siete proprio dei pulcini" (both featured in "Germi", perhaps their best album). As you go along, you encounter classics from Manuel's repertoire, such as "Male di miele" (one of the most rock'n'roll tracks in the Afterhours repertoire), "Non si esce vivi dagli anni '80", a rather intense song followed by the ballad "Simbiosi", recorded in Milan in 2000, executed at the top with background strings that make this one of the most moving moments of the album (lasting nearly 13 minutes)!
The historic "Dentro Marilyn" (version recorded in Florence in '97) couldn't be missed, sung at the top of their lungs by all present, followed by "Cose semplici e banali" and "La sinfonia dei topi".

The second disc (truly a gem) is a 15-track acoustic live recorded entirely in Civitanova Marche on March 31, 2000. Here too there are memorable performances like "Strategie" (performed with a very on-form Manuel Agnelli), the spectacular "Non è per sempre", "Male di miele", "Simbiosi" (also quite long here - about 7 minutes), "Tutto fa un pò male" (in a rather unpublished and different version compared to the original, very relaxing), "1.9.9.6" (another very calm episode, with occasional electric guitar strumming). The closing is reserved for "Voglio una pelle splendida" (among the best episodes in "Hai paura del buio?") with the use of sweet violins that accompany the drum intro and close a truly remarkable acoustic set in the best way.

For those who know Afterhours, this album adds absolutely nothing to what the band has already written and recorded, but it is an album where the band showcases themselves in two different keys from the usual, that is an electric live and an acoustic live, highlighting the merits of a band that is not widely commercialized but rightly appreciated by critics, not just in Italy but worldwide (given that their early albums, from the early '90s, were entirely recorded in English and published by foreign labels!).