ABBA -ABBA
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ABBA — ABBA | DeRank™: 3,01

This album features what is perhaps my favorite chart-busting single by ABBA ("SOS") on one side, and on the other, the song that is my personal winner for the greatest #diteloallozioiside of all time and space since the dawn of the World and even 3000 years from now, and I won’t even say which one it is; I’ll just say it’s the song that deserves the fastest skip in the west. For the rest, however, I definitely like it a lot less compared to "Waterloo" or their other later albums (especially the last one, which is the best), even though the instrumental interlude by Andersson and Ulvaeus is nice, the sound is always meticulously crafted, the musicians are all well-prepared and talented, but still, meh. more
Comus -First Utterance
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Comus — First Utterance | DeRank™: 9,20

Indescribable. One of my absolute favorite albums, that's all I can say because for everything else I would never find the right words to convey what is in "First Utterance." more
Giuni Russo -Voce Prigioniera Live
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Giuni Russo — Voce Prigioniera Live | DeRank™: 2,07

Finally, in 1998, a stunning live performance that captures all the greatness of Giuni Russo and represents the second true masterpiece of her career, 17 years after "Energie." Following that, there were several very valid albums (especially "A casa di Ida Rubinstein," almost entirely represented in the live performance) and some that were a bit less impactful, but none had reached the same heights of excellence. Seventeen years spent finding a thousand loopholes to manage to record and publish the music she truly wanted to create or compromising with record labels (hence, obviously, the title of this live album), often forced to limit her ideas and her enormous vocal and expressive potential. "Voce prigioniera" gathers a selection of concerts by Russo in the '90s and shines as a crowning achievement in the career of an extraordinary artist, one of the greatest voices of the second half of the 20th century—there's little room for debate here—captured at the peak of her splendor and in the years of her artistic maturity. The highlight is "Nomadi" by Camisasca, which was originally written and conceived for her, then given to Alice after the usual obstructionism of the record label, but here it returns, at least in a live setting, indeed arriving in the hands of its intended original interpreter. more
Tom Waits -Closing Time
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Tom Waits — Closing Time | DeRank™: 2,95

First album, 23 years old and a string of songs that come to be immediate classics of American songwriting, with various colleagues (Tim Buckley in the same 1973, Eagles the year after) ready as lightning to give their interpretation of some of them; atmospheres of a smoky nightclub, the style of a seasoned crooner and the melancholy of perpetually broken hearts, lonely souls, incredible melodies that shake and move you, songs already old and already eternal, a piano as the center of gravity and a beautiful voice not yet hoarse from the abuse of alcohol, smoke, and that brilliant theatricality of an old fox, sometimes with songs arranged for guitar, all enriched by a trumpet that often becomes a fundamental second voice and a spine-tingling instrumental piece at the end ("Closing Time," indeed) just to highlight the talent as a musician and pure composer, beyond singing and (beautiful) lyrics and, if it happens, also an irresistible burst of the exuberance of a crafty ice cream vendor. A classic album, the beauty lies entirely in the enormous quality of the songs, all of them, some even more than others, of course. The masterpiece of the very early Tom Waits ('73-'75) for me is this one. more
Emerson, Lake & Palmer -Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends - Ladies And Gentlemen
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For me, the peak of the trio lies in their live performances and albums, where, in my view, the excesses, virtuosity, and exaggerations of the supergroup find their greatest meaning, and where it can be exhilarating to listen to/see Emerson ravish his keyboards in an orgy of mystical/luciferian/fiendish ecstasy. So "Welcome Back..." along with a couple of their other live performances is what I appreciate most about ELP. The apex, even conceptually, of the live show is of course the sprawling version of "Karn Evil 9" (35 minutes), a bacchanalian circus of excesses and a symbol of the Emerson/keyboard instruments symbiosis. However, for me, even in this live performance, the most thrilling moment is when Lake takes the stage. The highlight of the album is indeed the medley of songs entirely composed by Lake: "Take a Pebble/Still... You Turn Me On/Lucky Man," all performed in a completely acoustic version. Lake is spine-chilling. more
Emerson, Lake & Palmer -Emerson Lake & Palmer
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In the studio, for me this debut remains the trio's best work. Fresher compared to what will come later, with the Isle of Wight performance just a few months prior still presenting them as a rock band; different in proposing the language of "rock", but still a rock band. The rock power also emerges here, fortunately concise in 5 minutes, in the splendid "Knife-Edge," which, moving between Janacek and Bach, gives us a fiery and beautiful performance from the trio. The other two masterpieces of the album are original tracks, and, coincidentally, both bear the signature of Lake. The rest (like especially "The Three Fates") instead confirms my scarce feeling with Keith Emerson in the role of composer. more
The Blasters -Hard LIne
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The Blasters — Hard LIne | DeRank™: 1,10

If I'm not mistaken, this album was conceived when the brothers Alvin were spending at least 15 hours a day spitting at each other, and yet, as has happened time and time again in music, the result is a work that approaches perfection, a masterpiece that, with the spirit of the revival living through its golden years at the time, traverses most of the spectrum of American popular music: pop, rock'n'roll, rockabilly, country, gospel, R&B, ballad—in short, "Hard Line" is the exhilarating summary of the "greatest American pop song" you can imagine listening to, the result of Dave Alvin's maturation as a songwriter, who seamlessly strings together a series of songs perfect in their essential nature, not underestimating the value of the lyrics, which often add significant "depth" to the musical simplicity (I think of "Little Honey"). And there’s also Phil, as a singer and arranger, always with the right touches, with the right rhythms; it's impossible to get the guitar solos of "Hey, Girl" or the killer riff of "Common Man" out of your head, or the grand interpretation of the traditional "Samson and Delilah." As a cherry on top, we receive the gift of Puma Mellencamp in the form of yet another great pop song, perhaps the true expressive gravitational center of the album alongside "Just Another Sunday," which symbolizes D. Alvin's writing matured to just the right point. Masterpiece. more
Cows -Taint Pluribus Taint Unum
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Cows — Taint Pluribus Taint Unum | DeRank™: 3,81

A band of crazy cows from Minneapolis. The Cows proudly belong to that strand of bands that, starting from garage and raw rock'n'roll, plunged into the maelstrom of the most violent noise distortions, with the inevitable lesson of punk and, now and then, some slowdown of a blues matrix so deformed as to be unrecognizable or entirely new, nonetheless. And they didn’t forget an iconoclastic amateurish pride, a fury expressed amidst the shit, the provocative passion for playing music badly, ostensibly, ugly. And annoying. I say ostensibly because, amid the noise, with guitars that are pure dissonant and senseless background, there are rock'n'roll/garage/punk tracks that are excellent rock'n'roll/garage/punk tunes like "Sieve," "Yellowbelly," and "Mother (I Love That Bitch)," to name a few. There’s the fun of playing songs that seem like a joke for being so crooked and poorly made, and they truly are entertaining (and that little trumpet that pops up every now and then, all wrong, how great; and the genius cover of Philip Glass? Beautiful, I mean, hideous). Of course, if someone said to me, "What is this crap?" they would have every reason, and probably one has to be crazy to appreciate them, but so it goes... This debut album of theirs, one of the most twisted and mad in their discography, is the best possible business card for the music of the Cows from Minneapolis. more
Lydia Lunch -Queen Of Siam
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Lydia Lunch — Queen Of Siam | DeRank™: 1,19

Nonsense lullabies, divided between boredom and existential malaise, sometimes pushing the limits of irritation ("Tied and Twist"), with that little voice of a twelve-year-old in the throes of sexual longing, which around the middle of the album fades into smoky and nocturnal swing-jazz-blues from a seedy joint, like an old song by a less-than-reputable crooner, where the girl becomes ironic, flirtatious, in her spoken-sung style ("Lady Scarface") or in grotesque cabarets filled with distortions ("Carnival Fat Man"). The contribution of the Billy Ver Plank Orchestra is crucial, just as Pat Irwin's contribution is essential for the entire album, in tracks that often feature instrumental outros when Lydia's lullaby fades away ("Cruise to the Moon" is even entirely instrumental, and it's one of the best). There’s also a nod to pop music, that '60s pop which the "Queen of Siam" has often shown a preference for; in this case, it's her personal version of "Spooky," one of the most catchy and fun moments on the album. The other cover, "Gloomy Sunday," which is not lively to begin with, is completely absorbed into the comatose lullaby mood of the first part of the album, a style that suits this song perfectly. This is surely a debut solo album that leaves a mark, and quite a significant one. A very beautiful record, especially considering that there are things in it that I appreciated even more. more
Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch -Don't Fear the Reaper
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Here, I like this even more than "Stinkfist," more accessible but still beautifully twisted. There's still "sonic terrorism" (Clinch) but here Ruin and the Lunch also have fun with covers of two pop songs like the title track and even the Beatles from the white album, two gorgeous covers (the one by BOC is a masterpiece, IMO). However, the masterpiece is "Serpentine" by Ruin, an elegant and dark duet between the two voices accompanied by trumpet. A delightful "divertissement" between the two but splendid. more
Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch -Stinkfist
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J.G. Thirlwell, in one of his 100 identities, alongside a perfect accomplice like Lydia Lunch, unleashes himself in three tracks of pure sonic terrorism, at times devastating. "Meltdown Oratorio," featuring Lunch's declamations, is sublime. In the fourth track, Thurston Moore joins in, co-authoring the piece with Lunch, and the three of them create a hell of a racket. The duo has done better separately, but for fans of these guys, this is a must-have. Beautiful cover :D more
Steve Hackett -Wolflight
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Steve Hackett — Wolflight | DeRank™: 3,00

Hackett's misstep in the last decade, one of his less beautiful albums which, by the way, is placed between two much more inspired ones. There are a couple of decent songs (the title track is nice, for example, as is "The Wheel's Turning") but overall I find it weak, flat, and very disappointing, with few ideas and even some messy parts. There are melodies, arrangements, and solutions in several tracks that aim to be epic but flirt with the cheesy; sometimes they hit the mark and give it a high five. It's a heavy album to listen to, boring, even if here and there in almost every song there's that piece or that passage of guitar that, okay, is nice, but it's not enough. The cover is also terribly cheesy... Sure, the wolf cubs are nice, but the overall effect, my goodness, no. For me, while waiting to listen to the latest release, the decade 2010-2020 has been fruitful for Hackett from a qualitative perspective, "Wolflight" being the only half misstep. more
Steve Hackett -Tribute
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Steve Hackett — Tribute | DeRank™: 1,00

Steve Hackett on classical guitar is always the best, in my opinion (maybe it's because I adore the sound of the instrument), even when he records an album under unfortunate conditions and in a complicated time, namely during a turbulent divorce from his now ex-wife Kim and also at war with the manager who had taken away his chance to record music in a studio (oh, to put it mildly). This album Hackett had to play and record in his own home, in an improvised studio, probably while Kim was busy ripping the carpet off the floor to take that with her too (guys, we’re lucky she didn’t come to our house asking for her husband’s record covers back, just kidding Kim, don’t sue DeBaser). Apart from his faithful friend King on production and mixing, here there’s only Hackett and his guitar. That’s it. Not even his brother on flute. Just him. Him and the classical composers he pays homage to, because here Hackett relies on the safe harbor of performing other people's pieces. The most represented is Bach, of course, since he was the one who originally opened new "Horizons" in guitar playing for Steve many years ago. And well, it might be an album made out of necessity (it was the only type of album he could afford to make at that moment, in fact), but it's still Hackett playing Bach and company with a classical touch. A gem. Hats off. more
Steve Hackett -Defector
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Steve Hackett — Defector | DeRank™: 0,00

"Defector" has always left me quite cold and disappointed; it's a decent work, at times even something more, but I can't shake the idea that it's the unlucky little brother of "Spectral Mornings," even Kim's artwork is less appealing than the previous one. Half of the album is instrumental, which isn't a big deal since the singers are rarely the strong point of his albums (unless he had hired Sally Campovecchio full time, just saying), the sung tracks are the calm "Leaving" and "The Toast," classic Hackett-style ballads, beautiful songs, and then there are the two tracks where Hackett awkwardly veers towards a more pop direction, perhaps in an attempt to create something chart-friendly. Like you find "The Show" with that slappy bass line making you think, "Is it Hackett or is it AnoderUanBaizddeDast?" which I really like... The bass, I mean, the song is a bit of a mess. Just like "Time to Get Out," which isn’t bad but bland. In 1980, his former companions were much more inspired in the pop realm. Then there's the cute retro finale, nice. The instrumentals are also hit or miss; the dull "The Steppes," and the sunny "Jacuzzi," which I won't even mention the classical guitar piece, not bad but nothing exceptional in the others. I don’t know, it’s a clear step back after Spectral; from here he would start a more "pop" phase for a couple of years with the poorly executed "Cured" and the definitely better "Highly Strung." more
Steve Hackett -Guitar Noir
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Steve Hackett — Guitar Noir | DeRank™: 6,09

"Guitar Noir" is a beautiful album by an artist who has reached full maturity, a refined, elegant work often set in soft atmospheres, delicate when not dark or melancholic. This is also one of the albums where Hackett manages to better blend the acoustic and electric parts of his music, in a constant exchange and dialogue between them in most of the songs, with the excellent help of Magnus' keyboards, following a well-defined path, still far from the furious eclecticism that will dominate his albums in the following decade. Then Hackett allows the acoustic "soul" and electric "soul" to take separate paths, resulting in two of the best pieces, two instrumentals, "Walking Away From Rainbows" for classical guitar and "Sierra Quemada," which is the most typically "his" electric piece in terms of guitar style—a piece that would have fit well on "Spectral Mornings," just to be clear. The other two standout tracks that elevate the album are "Vampyre With a Healthy Appetite" and then, of course, the splendid "There Are Many Sides of the Night," which traverses electric, acoustic, and even orchestral elements, encompassing all things Hackettian, the peak of the album. The low point is the nice yet isolated "Lost in Your Eyes," which feels out of place with the rest and, frankly, is cute but not much more. Other than that, there are beautiful (on average) refined songs that contribute to making "Guitar Noir" one of the most coherent and successful works of Hackett's electric phase post-'79. more
tony banks -a curious feeling
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tony banks — a curious feeling | DeRank™: 3,00

It was a good solo debut, a more than decent work that didn’t foreshadow the future scarcity of Totonno Banche’s solo albums (and not just his, eh...). Let’s say it follows a trail, in terms of sound and writing, very close to that of "And Then There Were Three," and after all, this was the stylistic hallmark of Banks' writing in the late '70s—an elegant and refined pop with prog hints, melodic, linear, romantic, and a bit melancholic, obviously centered around keyboards. Being a total bear, Totonno plays everything by himself, from the piano to the equilateral triangle, only bringing in Chester Thompson on drums and a singer, Kim Pancetta, with a clean, clear voice that for me is a bit anonymous, with certain songs that, focused on her vocality, tend to have semi-aor sounds that don’t excite me much. In reality, the only track that truly gives me real emotions is the inspired instrumental "Waters of Lethe," with beautiful Banksian melodies and Totuzzo also enjoying himself on electric guitar. The rest are more than pleasant songs or instrumentals, just a couple of little turds (the title track is quite bad) but the rest is enjoyable music. Sure, it’s not a particularly beautiful album or anything special, and if we think it’s his best, well, what a shame. I must say, among the solo debuts of various Genesis members, I find this one the least impressive. more
Queen -Sheer Heart Attack
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Queen — Sheer Heart Attack | DeRank™: 12,83

An album that I really like, just slightly below the previous one and absolutely on par with the next. The usual, incredibly entertaining queenly circus at its maximum splendor and inspiration; here more than ever, ideas that would later be presented on "A Night at the Opera" the following year are anticipated. "Sheer Heart Attack" is a lively, varied, colorful, kitsch, glam, pop, hard-rock album, filled with cabaret interludes, over-the-top choruses, stunning melodies, and silly glitz, all recognizable in a quarter note. Another merit, much more evident than in "Queen II" and "Opera," is the compression of the many ideas, from exaggerated kitsch to the sweetest melodies, into very short songs, averaging a couple of minutes, two and a half tops, sometimes even less, like in the delicate minute-long sketch of "Dear Friends." These are shards of songs, fragments of pop-rock-glam pearls ("Killer Queen," "Flick of the Wrist"), delicate ballads ("Lily of the Valley"), lightning-fast rock moments ("Stone Cold Crazy"), and brief flashes of brilliant retro oddity ("Bring Back That Leroy Brown"). Then there's "In the Lap of the Gods," which is both a curse and a delight, the trash and beauty of the Queen, emblematic of their style, and the "Reprised" version, almost the first "rock-arena" song from Mercury. The few longer tracks also work great (especially "Brighton Rock," a showcase for a great May on guitar, and "She Makes Me," also by May). more
Queen -A Day At The Races
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Queen — A Day At The Races | DeRank™: 10,28

The last truly great album by Queen before "Innuendo," fifteen years later. I've also reassessed this A Day at the Races; it's inferior to the previous three albums, but only just a little. It's a lovely work that wraps up the theme of "maturation" or greater ambition that began splendidly with A Night at the Opera. A quartet of particularly successful songs for me: "Somebody to Love," of course, one of the best in the Mercury repertoire; the other 100% Queen track, "The Millionaire Waltz," which recalls the operetta/suite style of Zeman's Rhapsody with changes in tempo, rhythm, and style, and is almost equally successful, very beautiful; the usual old-fashioned playful track "Good Old-Fashioned (indeed) Lover Boy" and the concluding choral ballad "Teo Torriatte," a cheeky... erm, homage to the band's Japanese fans, featuring a polyglot vocal from Freddie Mercury, a stunning melody but also a "stadium" chorus that the following year will find its ultimate sublimation in the two most annoying songs in all of music history. On the hard rock side, I find "White Man" to be more beautiful than "Tie Your Mother Down" (catchy, nice, but nothing exceptional), and then there are a few small gems scattered among the lesser tracks, which are all quite nice actually; perhaps the most charming among these is Taylor's "Drowse." more
Ufo -Obsession
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Ufo — Obsession | DeRank™: 0,00

Well, this last studio album with Michelino on guitar is definitely the least beautiful of the UFOs from the '70s. For goodness' sake, it's a more than decent rock/hard rock album, but when it comes to songwriting, it's definitely of a lesser quality compared to the four previous albums, which consistently delivered songs ranging from good to excellent. Until that moment, UFO had always written simple, classic yet beautiful songs, indeed, great melodic ideas, solid rock anthems, nice solos, everything was nice—here, however, those horrible arena-AOR tear-jerkers start creeping in, and for heaven's sake, I'd rather cut my veins ("Looking out For N.1" is the one that I dislike the most). Overall, even though "Only You Can Rock Me" is a perfect opening for the album, there are few songs I could describe as more than "nice," 2-3 good rock pieces, nothing more than that. A passable album but far inferior to its predecessors and not the most brilliant closure for the best period of their career. more
UFO -PHENOMENON
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UFO — PHENOMENON | DeRank™: 0,28

A classic that has been chewed, savored, and digested for a while now, but it's always nice to put it back on the audio burners from time to time. I really like it, a perfect classic rock album from the '70s with peaks of excellent hard rock ("Rock Bottom" reaches the heights of the genre, and yes, in '74 that title was in fashion for albums and songs) inspired from beginning to end where all, but truly all, the tracks are great, from the more energetic rock pieces to the ballads (with the instrumental "Lipstick Traces" thrown in and let's also include a cover of Dixon just in case, see "Built for Comfort"), everything flows wonderfully. Three years had passed since the second studio album and the first live one, just enough time to chart a new artistic trajectory and acquire the German electric guitar star, the young flashy Michele, who immediately takes the reins of the band’s songwriting, along with Mogg. Three years well spent, because even in this 2.0 version, structurally simplified in the songs, the UFOs, who by now only have their name and the cover of this album as their spacey essence, are just as effective, if not more so, than at their beginnings, producing 4-5 solid albums until '79 of which this one, perhaps, remains the best, but it's hard to say. Truly an excellent album. Produced by Leone Leoni, bassist of that other underwhelming band, Ten Years After... more