Antonello Venditti
In questo mondo di ladri

THE REVIEW

1988, a year of grace for the Roman songwriter. Two years after the last "Venditti e segreti", here comes "In questo mondo di ladri" to the stores, the best-selling album of his entire discography (no less than 1,500,000 copies: only the subsequent "Benvenuti in paradiso" managed to replicate such a record). Venditti is an artist now on a downward trend, but (still) hasn't completely run out of ideas.

The most well-known tracks are the opening "Ricordati di me", a poignant dedication to his lifelong ex-love, reminiscent of "Dimmelo tu cos'è" (from "Sotto la pioggia", 1982) and "Ci vorrebbe un amico" (from "Cuore", 1984), and the rhythmic title track. However, it doesn’t seem appropriate to dwell too much on two tracks that, although excellent, are now known by heart by everyone.

I prefer to focus on the lesser-known Venditti of "Ma che bella giornata di sole", a wonderful ballad that recalls Liberation Day and its historical significance ("E la chiamano liberazione / Questa giornata senza morti / Questo profumo di limoni / Dalle finestre aperte": how better to describe April 25th in a song?). Undoubtedly, the most beautiful and inspired song not only of the album but of the entire second half of his discography (1986 - Today), with a great final electric guitar solo by Marco Rinalduzzi. Another sadly forgotten gem is "Correndo correndo" (whose musical refrain vaguely recalls that of "Ci vorrebbe un amico" from 1984), dedicated to the footballer Sebino Nela after a serious injury; certainly another of the album's most inspired pieces. The powerful "21 modi per dirti ti amo", another very famous track of the album, is a piece that never was fully understood: despite what the title might suggest, it is not a love song. It was written during the 21 days Antonello spent in Eritrea, and it indeed talks about the conflicts in Eritrea. The music video takes on a universal significance about war, and the content lies in the fact that the soldier fights, fascinated by war to the point of sacrificing his own love. "Mitico amore", on the other hand, is a somewhat more ambiguous song, perhaps the most "poetic" of the album, also featuring a final electric guitar solo by Rinalduzzi. On a lesser level, but still decent, we find "Miraggi", with a quite intriguing musical riff, and "Il compleanno di cristina", whose opening lines echo those of "Sotto il segno dei pesci" (from the homonymous album, 1978): "Do you remember that street / It was just you and me / And the people running [...] And the rock went by slowly / Over our discussions".

Despite arrangements that might be considered slightly too electro-pop might cause some slight displeasure, "In questo mondo di ladri" is undoubtedly the last entirely inspired album of his, and also manages to be a bit more interesting than the still decent "Venditti e segreti". After this, barring the (slight) improvement with the albums from 2003 and 2007, a continuous decline that, alas, seems even today to have no end.

On a scale from 1 to 10, my rating is 7.