luca reed

Congratulations on the review: I think you captured what R.E.M. represented in our collective imagination (a vague post-grunge recognition given the collaborations with Seattle artists). R.E.M. were unique; it’s a shame that the last two albums left me rather cold... I found myself thinking of a magnificent side project of experimental jazz, I don't remember the title, it’s part of my 2000 CDs and... I’d like to spend a word in defense of "Monster": a completely misunderstood album and, in my opinion, a small masterpiece. If nothing else - alongside the Hüsker Dü-esque "Fables of the Reconstruction" - it’s their most courageous album. Luca Reed.

It might be that it’s been a rough day, but I get a bit worked up when someone arrogantly claims that "vespertine" (in my opinion, her masterpiece) was a decline: are we crazy? Where do you find an album that perfect? With "medullà," however, I paused; for the first time, I felt some doubts about Bjork: it’s a courageous and evolved album (the minimal vocalizations seem to set the tone, see Cocorosie), an extraordinary track with Robert Wyatt, but ultimately it leans too much towards avant-garde. It seems like she wants to become the Nordic Yoko Ono, and that’s fine, but this time her talent even tests the patience of the most loyal listener. 6 politico

I'm trying to look around, and at this moment the indie market is providing absolute certainties. In my opinion, the one by Piano Magic is one of the best albums of the year.

in what sense? you might be right. But a fan can't expect anything. Speaking positively about today's U2 means expecting very little or nothing from your idols. And I wrote that thing above because I don't like the laziness of record buyers, who always end up buying the same things. The very idea of a sold-out album due to too many pre-orders makes me feel sick. And how many once-great artists are now releasing any crap just because the public buys it? What about Elton John, Mina, Celentano, even the Stones whom I adore, etc.? The attitude of the adoring fan is the worst possible; they make those blunders... There's even someone who considers "masterpieces" the last abominations of Michael Jackson, come on... you know what I'll tell you? Before Achtung Baby (which wasn’t bad at all, actually), I thought that U2 were the only band in the world that could never disappoint me... and instead, I was dead wrong. The admiration I had for them prevented me from thinking differently... If your username is from Puglia, congratulations, it’s really a beautiful place... definitely the most unusual region of Italy (it looks like Texas). You need to go back there soon... Luca Reed

But is this album really that good? A mix of complacency and pure delusions of grandeur. I may be nostalgic, but cccp and Zamboni are untouchable: they were too immense. Here, I would only save "S'ostina2... and I'm tired of the messengers of truth. P.S. it’s undeniable that PGR is the weak link in Ferretti's story - by the way, Codex is a small masterpiece... misunderstood. This is especially true for the lyrics; this delirious attracting arrows of antipathy (attitude?) in favor of war is pure reactionary playacting as a poet.

From your review, I gather that you weren't familiar with "la mia vita violenta" and other works. I agree with you that compared to the two (actually three, since the EP "melodie citronique" is a gem) previous ones, it’s a bit uniform, but I still find it a beautiful album.

It seems to me that your review is a bit too "partisan," but that's a typical flaw of metal fans. Still, I really think that AC/DC with Bon Scott were truly something else compared to the ones today... It wouldn't hurt if they went back to writing blues, like "Ride On." Did you know that this is Paul Young's favorite album??? I swear... He said in an interview that he listened to it two or three times a day for an entire summer. Anyway, even today these tracks hit as hard as a Norman horse... And there are no grandkids of Young & co. who measure up: well, the Nordic Gluecifer are decent, but "Highway to Hell" is really something else. Luca Reed

There are Wilco and Smog, Sparklehorse and Ikara Colt, Le Tigre and !!!, Q and not U, Sophia and Giant Sand, Kasabian and Iron & Wine, or - metal, oops - System of a Down, Type O Negative and Dream Theater, astonishing Italian bands (One Dimensional Man), foreign revelations that are not easy to find but are delightful (Godspeed..., Piano Magic, Hunches). Brian Wilson makes a killer album at sixty, and Dr. John does the same at seventy... is it still worth dedicating time to U2, who at forty (but even the beloved Replacements aren’t joking) have nothing left to say?

What can I say? For a while now, Bono Vox hasn't been on my mind. It's pure media globalization, this anointed one of the Lord, as if one weren't enough in Italy - who wants to solve world hunger between a limousine and a party at the Hilton hotel. Unbearable, and music has suffered greatly from it. They had a logic even in pieces like "Lemon" (Bowie meets Kraftwerk) or "Discoteque" (if U2 had called themselves the Pet Shop Boys), but now... now there's this booming rock that makes you truly long for - yes, really - the sometimes rhetorical lyricism of past glories. The only way to make me buy something of theirs again would be a solo album by The Edge, but I doubt that will happen: it's now some sort of media fortress that unnerves, a monolithic grandeur living off the disastrous influence of that annoying leader (please, step down from your ambitions, or I'm forced to reevaluate even Freddy Mercury, bless his soul). Then one day at a friend's house I discover "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and I have nothing more to say: simply one of the most horrendous abortions in rock history. This, too, was surely calculated, but it's not as bad. I do wonder, though, if it was necessary to so blatantly copy "You Can't Keep Hanging On," a classic from the sixties by Dozier-Holland (I hope I've spelled those right). Because in the end, "Vertigo" is - in its bland omnipotence - a blatant plagiarism. What a shame: the band from "War" forced to steal like children with their hands in the jam... Go to Pavarotti, go. Go screw yourself, Luca Reed.