luca reed

stunning and beautiful album, even if here and there a bit pretentious, I wholeheartedly recommend it to all those who hope to nurture certain sonic habits (there's something for everyone here)

It's an album that left me puzzled... although there are great tracks like "Milano Circonvallazione Esterna" (beautiful), "Le Verità Che Ricordavo," "Oceano di Gomma"... while "Estate," well... a small group could have written that à la Vibrazioni. Agnelli, then, attempts a pop journey opposite to that of English bands like Blur, who followed the opposite path -- more or less -- but the result is decent and nothing more. I still think that "Germi" is a masterpiece of Italian rock of all time...

A question keeps coming to my mind: what have AC/DC been since Bon Scott? Great live performances, and just one truly wonderful album, namely "Back in Black" ("For Those About to Rock," the following one I sold and I could have also thrown it in the trash). Maybe it's just me, but Johnson as a singer has never convinced me... he particularly lacks Scott's extraordinary bluesy style... aside from that, the best AC/DC album, in my opinion, is Highway to Hell, followed by the live If You Want Blood... but Back in Black is formidable; just the song Hell’s Bells alone would be enough to show how great they are (or were?).

Nice review, although the whole viking-metal thing is a bunch of Nordic racial supremacy nonsense. Anyway, I haven't been listening to much metal lately and I didn't even know that Quorton had died (I'm not very familiar with his music). I do have a certain respect for Chuck Schuldiner. Can you tell me how he's doing? He hasn't died too, has he? I knew he wasn't in very good health (Death is an extraordinary band).

I may be unpopular, but it's the Zeppelin album I prefer, the one that’s less pretentious, more free from embellishments and excessive virtuosity. That said, I do love Zeppelin; my comment was merely a critique aimed at a certain type of 70s rock attitude.

I think the record is pretty terrible, I can't stand Moby anymore, but does anyone remember the production from the early years? When he rocked it good? Well, I wish he'd go back to doing that, it would be for the best (I agree, Play was delightful anyway).

Well, Sanremo should be analyzed differently, as a disturbing phenomenon of Italian bad manners. And then... is copying from Incognito a bad thing? I think Pacifico and Venuti fully deserve a passing grade, even Neffa (don't forget he makes quality pop but played in the legendary Negazione). In short, these people don't write crap, but for those against Sanremo, everything is the same, everything is flat, everything is crap because Sanremo is unfortunately always Sanremo. What a sadness. If you think I'm talking nonsense, keep in mind that Pacifico has been positively reviewed by some indie rock magazines. A little more open-mindedness, for goodness' sake.

I wanted to write this review myself... but the album deserves more than your somewhat silly digressions, sorry... besides, Subsonica don’t exactly sell millions of copies, quite the opposite. But I want to say that, in my opinion, it is the best album by Marlene since "ho ucciso paranoia" and one of their absolute peaks. I believe one hundred percent in the beauty of certain songs (God, "il solitario" seems written just for me), in the beauty of the arrangements (am I mistaken or does something by Silver Mount Zion not go unnoticed?) to slogans like "it's easy to think that the good are here and the bad are there," to a wonderful song like "la bellezza," or to the energy of "la cognizione del dolore" with a tribute to Gadda. In short, Marlene needed an album like this, even surpassing the excellent Berlin album, which at times feels a bit too trendy and recognizable for my taste. A lot of water has flowed under the bridges since Catartica, and it’s right that it should be this way: but how many are still capable in Italy of writing songs like "a chi succhia"? A stunning album, to say the least.

Well, what should I say now after I’ve mentioned that “something” made me want to vomit... and that the rest was just shy of sublime? Think about how much the first listens can betray you... It’s quite overloaded, and yet I can’t help but find it irresistible, damn it... Maybe “The Widow” has something of Queen (respectable for those who love them), but I would say the secret of this album lies in aiming for a completely free experiment, just like the thirty minutes of Cassandra Geminni. I didn’t say that progressive makes me nauseous (or did I? Who knows), even though I prefer Van Der Graaf Generator or Soft Machine to Yes or Genesis... But just yesterday I was desperately trying to listen to a Marillion album without Fish and couldn’t manage: the triumph of rhetoric (and anachronism). Dream Theater are brilliant, even if they sometimes lose their way due to excessive pomposity; still, they will never make a crap record like Uli John Roth’s (Aquila Suite) on the notes of melodrama... Yes were not bad at all in the beginning (I still really like The Yes Album), but then Rick Wakeman came in with his nonsense and annoyed everyone with his concepts (this crap is precisely what punk was born to counter). Coming back to La Volta, “L'via l'viaquez” is out of context, but that’s exactly what makes it irresistible... The curious thing is that after so many long tracks, the album concludes quickly with the last one: it leaves you feeling a bit unsatisfied, doesn’t it?

No, I'm not afraid of the shifts towards rock, even if at times this kind of sound is quite frequent (I'm also thinking of Jim O'Rourke's supergroup with Wilco, Loose Fur, who use a lot of feedback, some distortion, etc.) Maybe I'm too attached to the vocalist who is (is) missing here. Anyway, Low are really a great band, don't you think?