Claudio Baglioni
Assolo

THE REVIEW

It was June 1986, and my friends were heading to the Franchi Stadium in Florence to see a certain Claudio Baglioni, a singer of whom I knew a few songs but little more.

I was 14 years old, and just to be with my friends, I had my parents buy me a ticket for 16,000 lire (which at the time was a very low price compared to the steep prices we pay for concerts now).

The stadium was packed with people where a pin wouldn't have fallen to the ground; in fact, some people couldn't even manage to get up the stands. I was happy to be next to my group of friends where we found some nice central seats.

In short, at the end we found ourselves watching this singer who played completely alone on a huge stage with two giant screens at the sides.

I was fascinated by the concert because, during the 3 continuous hours of performance, I watched this man constantly alternate between pianos, keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars.

In short, it was musical love at first sight... Baglioni can be loved or hated, but it cannot be denied that he pours his heart into what he does and doesn't just do the bare minimum like many of his colleagues.

In the end, a triple album on cassette and LP (2 on CD) was released, capturing what was more or less the incredibly successful tour that saw the singer perform in numerous fully packed stadiums every night.

To understand what this crazy man did during these concerts, I cite verbatim a part of what is written on Wikipedia about the tour in question:

"MIDI is used in a truly innovative way: while Howard Jones, the first to do a live MIDI in history, used pre-recorded data, Claudio was instead the first in the world to play everything live, splitting sounds even on each string of the guitar (midi-ed), producing everything from rhythmic backing to synthesizers all in one moment with just the up and down motion of his fingers. Covered in pads, he even manages to play drums using his elbows and chest. Of course, he also plays all the synthesizers, which are also dissected."

The album is easy listening for Baglioni purists. Perhaps those who aren't fans may find it difficult to digest because it’s more stripped of sounds compared to having all musicians accompanying him.

However, if you want to discover Baglioni the musician and singer (here in great form with really noteworthy vocal improvisations), I would gladly give it a thought.

I don't have a particular track to focus on (even if among my favorites here is "tutto il calcio minuto per minuto") because the records should be listened to in their entirety to give them a general evaluation.

The only flaw I have always found in this live album is in the aspect concerning the audience, which I would have made more involved in the listening experience.

The audience was deliberately integrated as if it were part of the general sound mix of the album and not as something apart, but this makes it "less participative" than we are used to hearing in various live albums.

However, it is a piece of live history to listen to, especially because it was a way of doing concerts that no one has dared to replicate anymore because it is not easy to carry around.