Stoney

In fact, I didn’t take it out on the players, nor on those who enjoy kicking a ball around with friends; we are talking about two different things. Then, if you've made a similar example, you will agree with me in saying that football is a degenerate game taken a bit too seriously, where competitiveness transforms into a way of life based on honor, the suppression of the opponent, and other little rules worthy of a criminal code. If you say that there were even parents who wanted to beat up the referee in a regional match, also suggesting an issue with the club even at such a level, there really is no other comment to make.

In my opinion, it’s very hypocritical to insert the usual feel-good phrases against violence in stadiums into a discussion about football. Football, as it is spread, perceived, and narrated in the media, IMPLIES violence, and it couldn't be otherwise. That there are many people capable of giving the right importance to a football match and taking it for what it is is a discussion post-factum, and it stems from the simple intelligence of the individual, which is not always a given (instead, it’s pretended to be, only to be scandalized later when the facts consistently prove the opposite). We complain about youngsters who smoke pot, we want a welfare state to prevent people from using drugs or going to brothels because we start from the assumption that the individual is incapable of discerning right from wrong on their own, we treat everyone like idiots who need psychological and moral support to make the right choices in their lives, we blame the youth (social misfits, slackers, good-for-nothings) who can’t find their place in society to the point of wanting to straighten them out with a club, and then when it comes to football, we just shrug it off with the usual "oh, but no, it’s just a few extremists tarnishing the good name of football." But what good name, what tarnishing... if in front of the coffee machine at the office, two calm colleagues argue about Roma and Lazio every single day at 10 in the morning, just imagine what can happen among those who are already used to living a violent life (for social reasons related to their environment, for instance, or just sheer idiocy, or a repressed desire to play a role). Don’t try to give dignity or depth to what is merely a degenerate and dangerous game, steeped in populist slogans elevated to a school of life, or to conjure up ridiculous ethical issues with grandiose tones, justifying the violent behavior of ultras as a response to marginalization by the state (the usual discourse: we are not bad, it’s the state that doesn't understand us). Simply giving all this importance to the theme, even on a small page like this, is the key to understanding why there are people willing to kill for their team.

Yes, indeed I want to blame him for it...

"honoring the position that nature has reserved for her." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"But in Italy, who breaks through among singer-songwriters?" No one. The productions serve well the purpose of churn out tracks that provide a sound backdrop while driving, grocery shopping, or getting a haircut, and that’s it. Italian pop music is crafted in a way to be pleasant and easy to hum along to; the verses are all subdued, and the choruses are filled with the usual two or three tricks that catch the distracted attention of someone who happens to eavesdrop for a moment before returning to emptiness. Certainly, there are people who listen attentively, but it's also true that you hear plenty of folks saying "Wow, Vasco makes great songs, oh" for those three seconds of attention that have been forcibly captured without them even realizing it. And you know well that it’s THIS kind of audience that allows Vasco and his cronies to boast about their sales records. This isn’t being artists; it’s being experts in psychoacoustics and using it in a way that has nothing to do with art and poetry.

"What distinguishes a professional work from a work of art by a genius lies in passion." So even a child doodling is creating a work of art. Thus, writing your girlfriend's name on a wall is being artists. Writing a sentence like this in a review can mean two things: either being Vincenzo Mollica, needing to conclude a piece for a Sunday afternoon show, careful not to annoy the listener sprawled on the couch after lunch, unable to discern anything that strays far from the line between the unconscious and the dreamy state of a full belly, or truly having no idea what a work of art, genius, and passion really are. I join the chorus of those who have commented before me; I don’t give a 1 simply because I never vote as a matter of principle.

@Gustavo, you quoted the first sentence but forgot the second, which is a response to what you just wrote. I’ll paste it here: "I hate the sloppy and disengaged productions of Vasco's work, those mixes created specifically to please both the rock fan and the carefree listener of Italian pop, who would be shocked if a track 'broke through' the background radio noise and imposed itself on their attention." And especially, the final remark: "When I hear people say that certain tracks (even the ones you mentioned, n.d.A.) provoke 'emotions,' I wonder how spontaneous those emotions really are, and how much they are skillfully imposed by professional sound engineers and arrangers." Regards.

Just for the record, "Gli Angeli" isn't much better than any Tiziano Ferro piece in terms of the banality of the theme addressed, the choice of words, the evoked atmospheres, the sounds, the expressive, communicative, and recitative intention, and the emotional set so horrendously imposed upon the listener. I hate the sloppy and disengaged productions of Vasco's works, those mixes created ad hoc to please both the rocker and the carefree listener of Italian pop, who would be scandalized if a piece "broke through" the limits of background radio and demanded their attention. When I hear people say that certain pieces provoke "emotions," I wonder how spontaneous they really are, and how much is skillfully imposed on command by crafty sound engineers and arrangers. Bah...

"Vasco never sold out for the cursed character, but only because he is damn sincerely true to himself, like many would like to be." You've hit the nail on the head: many would want to be just like him, full of money, cocaine, and whores, and then go around preaching about the reasons behind a life lived.

"the Critique of spurious rock", HAHAHAHAHA... fantastic... :D