Chocolate Fingers
Wild Men

This is my first review, and I won't say how much I would have loved to take the opportunity to talk about an early Genesis album or Led Zeppelin. Unfortunately for me, I don't think there's anything left unsaid about them and their albums, and if there is, I am not aware of it.

With this awareness, I went to choose the album to talk about, and the choice fell on "Wild Men" by the Chocolate Fingers. I checked and found no reviews about it, so I feel free to commit the deed serenely.

For those who don't know, the Chocolate Fingers are an Italian band that tries, or rather, attempts to make Rock Blues (or Blues Rock, as you prefer). I had never heard of them either until one day I noticed this album while absentmindedly browsing the "Italian Music" section in a large store.

The price justified a blind purchase, or rather, done out of simple curiosity to hear what music an album with this cover contained >>>>>>.

Let me explain: I found it strange that an Italian band didn't think of placing a photo of themselves in a photo book style on the album cover since almost all Italian artists always do.

I must clarify that I find nothing wrong with a photo book style cover; in fact, I consider it a very honest choice, clearly aimed at informing the potential buyer about the total lack of originality of the product: "BEWARE, there is nothing new here, we were so short on ideas that we didn't even know what to do with the cover and solved it this way."

Now, onto the music contained in this album. As I said, it's rock blues, not very original but fun. The style is in the direction taken by Free, without ever approaching them or even seeing them from a distance.

The tracks are all fast. The most captivating riffs, in my opinion, are those of "L'Eco della settima bolgia", "Noise n.7", and "Tomcat", although they don't shine for originality either.

The interesting aspect of the album, however, is the lyrics, all in Italian. The author (the bassist, I believe, a certain Mammut) likely did not care about the fact that a good part of the titles was in English. Most of the lyrics are nonsense. To give you an idea, in due proportion, they remind me of Lennon's style in "I Am The Walrus" or when he talks about the flat-headed Jesus shooting Coca-Cola in "Come Together". In this respect, the best lyric is in "Pastamatik Man". The only lyrics that do not use nonsense are those of the tracks: "L'uomo col baricentro spostato in avanti," "Motor city blues", and "L'uomo supersonico".

The first is a sort of nursery rhyme that talks about the nocturnal adventures of a daring scoundrel, with very little poetry "....and when the time comes, he slips away from certain situations, pride now satisfied that it sways, soaked with fresh emotions....". The track should be forgotten without regrets.

The second, a rock-blues with few pretensions, serves as the basis for an almost rap singing. The lyrics are a Lewis Carroll-style tale of a series of strange situations set in Turin. The protagonists are ghosts, prostitutes, scientists, the city’s mayor... and more.

The lyrics of the third song live up to the title and talk about a supersonic man, son of a cannon woman and a bullet man, whose only pleasure in life is flying as fast as possible. The track is fun but nothing more.

Ultimately, you could say the same about the whole album: fun, nothing more. These days, given the mediocre music that's played on the radio, such a level of quality can almost pass for an excellent result.