Decibel
Decibel

After two brief reviews on Ruggeri, I decide to backtrack and start reviewing Ruggeri right from the beginning, that is, when he was still part of the "Decibel".

The band was founded in 1972 under the name I Trifogli, then later renamed Champagne Molotov and finally Decibel. Six years after the band's formation, the Decibel release their first album, known by many as "Punk" due to the writing on the cover, but which is actually called "Decibel".

The cover was simply a commercial gimmick by Spaghetti, which, trying to ride the wave of the Punk movement's success (1977), finds our new Decibel and attempts to launch them under a punk disguise. However, we can say that not everything is fake, considering that most of the lyrics deal with typical punk themes, like criticizing Television and Mass Media.

The album opens with a bang with the song "Figli di...", which from a paternal perspective talks about the "life" of the youth at that time. Then we continue with "Paparock", a song that arrives recorded on the disc heavily censored, practically, with no lyrics (which were rudimentarily "flattened" with the systems of the time); In fact, on the sheet inserted in the vinyl sleeve, which contained all the song lyrics, under "Paparock" appears a large inscription: Censored; the only proof of the text's actual existence can be found in an old live recording of the Decibel in 1978, where strangely the lyrics are not censored. Nevertheless, talking about the version present on the vinyl, the instrumental is not bad. "Lsd Flash", an original song that veers from classic drug themes, like shooting up, and chooses to talk about acids; The musical theme is not bad, the lyrics are a bit repetitive but give the song a purpose. We then continue impressively with "Superstar", a beautiful song both in terms of lyrics and music, which seems like a great summary of a Concept Album. We then move on to "Il Leader", which turns out to be the most "homegrown" song on the entire album, with limited lyrics, and listenable music. We are then greeted with "New York", a very good song both musically and lyrically, but at first glance, it seems to be a theme very dear to Punks of that time, perhaps a bit predictable. We then hear "Col dito... col dito", which seems like a classic "macho" song, but not bad at all. We then arrive at the last track, "Il lavaggio del cervello" which is certainly among the most beautiful songs on the Album; The theme somewhat reflects that of "Figli di..." but in a different key, and has Television as the main theme.

 In short, a record (now difficult to find on vinyl, considering it was never reprinted, not even on CD) that is the history of an Era, with nine tracks more or less beautiful, rather well-paced both in terms of lyrics and music. A historical gem; Far too underrated. Worth a listen. 

3 and a half stars.