Bob Dylan
Down In The Groove

THE REVIEW

"Hello? Hi Pippo, it's Gianni!"

"Ah, hi Gianni... what's up in Bremen?"

"Nothing much, the same old story, never a thrill."

"What's the matter? You sound quite down, what's happening?"

"To tell the truth, I just finished listening to 'Down in the Groove,' and I'm a bit disappointed."

"What? What kind of stuff is it? Gothic? Dark? Viking?"

"Haha, what are you saying, silly, it's a Bob Dylan album!"

"Who?????"

"Robert Zimmerman, that American with a guitar and harmonica like Bennato."

"Ah, the Mr. Tambourine man?"

"No, that's Battiato! Dylan is the guy from the first rock song in history, got it?"

"But rock doesn't have a birth date, even Scarrufi says so!"

"Don't listen to him, or you'll end up preferring Aqua over ABBA!"

"And who should I listen to? You, talking to me about this Zimmerman?"

"Of course! Still haven't figured out who he is, have you? Remember 'Hurricane'?"

"'Hurricane'? By the Pooh?"

"For god’s sake, you're more stubborn than Isicùr! Don't make me spend more money; these people from ArtikPhone will skin me from the Kola Peninsula to Bremen! I just wanted to warn you not to buy this album because it's rehashed stuff from a person who exhausted his creative vein a while ago and now is said to even do an Unplugged on TV."

"Wow, so it's best to avoid... but when did it come out?"

"I don't know, they say it never comes out, he didn't even go to Woodstock, yet he lived there at the time... what a damn fool, right?"

"But why should I care about him? This album, I mean, when did it come out?"

"Oh, the album! It came out in '88."

"Does he play everything himself, like Bennato?"

"No, actually. He's surrounded by artists of the caliber of Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, Jerry Garcia, Paul Simonon... "

"No one else?"

"Other less known ones, like Bob Weir, Bobby King, Ron Wood, Larry Klein, Danny Kortchmar."

"Did he happen to find them in the London underground?"

"So what if he did?"

"Okay, okay, don't get upset... then, what were you saying? All these musicians for an album that disappointed you?"

"But it's a weak album, the usual two chords, the usual hoarse voice, practically an aging rocker, and not aging well!"

"But there must be something good; otherwise, what were the 40 years of career for?"

"In fact, there is a decent little song, 'Death Is Not the End,' also mentioned by Dream Theater and sung by Nick Cave."

"Nothing apocalyptic like Nick Drake?"

"No, sorry if you were expecting something like that."

"What else can you tell me about this album?"

"Nothing more, even Bob himself set it aside, keeping only 'Silvio' for the replayed live shows he keeps giving us."

"So it's not worth buying?"

"No, I don't feel like wasting 13 dollars like that."

"But how much did this call cost you?"

"God, what an idiot I am!"

...and he hung up. For the record, I'm Gianni, Gianni Decano, and Pippo is someone I care about.

Robert Zimmerman, on the other hand, is Bob Dylan, in the '50s an ambitious young man, in the '60s the father of singer-songwriters, in the '70s a convinced turncoat, in the '80s searching for a lost identity, in the '90s a shadow of himself, in 2000... damn, how long is this guy going to live?