lux

In hindsight, I must admit it's a lengthy brick with all the flaws of prog and pathetic melodies that ooze honey from every pore.

Well, dear, my last post is indeed offensive, and it couldn't be otherwise if you call me a caricature and tell me that "I need to grow up." Oh, because you've already achieved the highest intellectual development and have nothing more to learn from life? Just think about it; perhaps you were the more entertaining of the two. What do you want me to mean by "rock results," perhaps (simply) the greatest albums released in recent decades? Yes, I think that’s exactly what I mean. Nothing so obscure, therefore. My crappy narrative was merely a simple (but I believe illustrative) pretext to clarify how the context, in itself, proves absolutely nothing about the value of an album. Otherwise, every work created on the face of the Earth could be considered beautiful simply because it physically and culturally exists somewhere. Which doesn’t seem very reasonable to me, does it? Thus, the context explains the birth and unveils the why of a work but says almost nothing about its intrinsic value. The context has a historical and cultural aspect but lacks value judgments, and what you call "critical objectivity" basically employs criteria that should be more objective and universal. The moment you assert "Bollicine is beautiful/ugly," you’ve already surpassed the contextual phase of the work, assigning an absolute value to the album. Everyone has their own criteria of beauty (more or less dignified, to be honest), but to charge ahead as you have, as if everyone who doesn't like Vasco Rossi is simply lacking "musical intelligence"... that just can't be tolerated, primarily because it’s an act of arrogance. Secondly, because you ignore the noteworthy fact that those who don’t love Vasco simply have a slightly different concept of beauty than yours, involving different listens from yours, which over time have created philosophical thoughts distinct from yours. Finally, those who get bogged down in context fall into relativism, and those who fall into relativism are unable to infer anything (much less to say whether an album is beautiful or not). They never reach a synthesis; they block the dialectic.

Blackdog, I’m counting on the Beast... but we always have to be alert for the bullsh*t here in Rome... Soros docet :-( Regarding the work of Secco and Blanc, I agree, they’ve created a working-class Juve, where there isn’t a SINGLE midfielder capable of dribbling, let alone of crafting plays with any creativity :-) Poor Ranieri, what is he thinking? :-P

Ah gbrunoro, with your latest (sterile) post you would like to counter my ideas (which at least I've argued?). Come on, go back to listening to Hardcore Superstar and Miguel Bosé… you know, maybe I should realize what's happening in the world (I'll try, count on it!) but you should, more humbly, recognize the achievements that have been made in Rock over the last 50 years (especially in America), results that far exceed any little record of Vasco Rossi. And above all, you should learn to be quiet when you don't know how to engage in a discussion, rather than trying blandly and clumsily to ridicule the next person (showing yourself, besides being ignorant and lacking sensitivity on the matter, also rude and pompous... just reread your post no. 46 on this review, where you claimed a "critical objectivity" and a "musical intelligence" that only you think you possess…). Ridiculous is, I think, the most fitting attribute to describe your attitude, and probably your whole being :-)

In my opinion, a lot depends on the team's playing style, which makes a role more or less relevant. Take Aquilani's performance in the Euros: many clueless individuals labeled him as useless, failing to realize that "maybe" Donadoni completely distorted his game in the non-football of Italy, preventing him from supporting the team's attacking plays and pushing forward (as he does with Roma). Hence, Aquilani ended up playing cautiously like a corpse, maintaining a sterile position with elementary ground passes. And for the same reason, specifically regarding Roma's playing style, a physical full-back (finally someone over 1.75 meters) who attacks, shoots from distance (Amen!), and can defend aggressively is more important than the classic stationary striker waiting like an amoeba to receive the ball. If the full-back makes a mistake, you have to pray to always have a Mexes, a Chivu, a Cannavaro, or a Nesta at their best to cover for them; otherwise, the full-back's mistake could turn into something really annoying :-P

gbrunoro, I don't understand the core of your periphrasis; I merely highlighted that the so-called professional criterion disgusts me when it comes to discussing music. That there are despicable paradigms of "professionism" in English/American music, such as Slash, I can see that too. I would sincerely like to see the faces of those who appreciate a Gigi D'Alessio "because he makes a very specific type of music, geographically and culturally defined." Even the diarrhea that hits me when my stomach is upset is "geographically and culturally defined," but it’s still diarrhea, and you wouldn’t believe how bad it smells. "99% of the musicians out there are, first and foremost, professionals; only a few, very few can be considered artists"—a typical self-justifying generalization lacking practical evidence, but okay. I could easily change your percentage. The professional attitude is the tumor of much popular music, and the tenor of your comments leads me to deduce that you are not familiar with artists who transcend it (but I wouldn’t want to offend, so maybe I’m mistaken). Unfortunately, it is not the simple social context that legitimizes the value of a work; otherwise, all the records on the planet would be of quality simply because they can be contextually located. The context explains why you’re hit with diarrhea, what factors cause it, why your stomach hurts, why your rectum burns as you expel it (what did you eat before?), and all the variables involved, but the context cannot bestow artistic value to crap. So, even poor records are geographically and culturally defined (simply because they exist), but they are still poor. For the artistic aspect, other parameters would be used, ones much more universal and systematic.

The full-back is a role that doesn't matter at all?? For a team like Roma then??

"and to finish I add that with Mancini and Lampard we win the fourth consecutive scudetto" --- just don’t steal it, we’ll offer you our best compliments even from the capital :-) PS: Mancini? Mhhhm...if you were looking for continuity in performance, you really messed up the signing, but who knows, maybe with the fog of Milan he’ll discover that he has that among his qualities. Anything is possible :-)

Pixies77, Riise is well-known internationally as a left-back, and he's almost a guarantee in that regard... Carrizo and Zarate are still to be discovered, Foggia (likely a missed promise) and Matusalem are known quantities and have never been geniuses of the pelota. Still, a 7 for Roma's transfer market, for now, cannot be heard, and I'm speaking as a Romanista.

"so you just pay and they play. Which means that if one day Gigi D'Alessio wants Colaiuta or Slash on his record, it’s just a matter of agreeing on the fee."-----And where is Art in all this? What does it mean to be "professional" musicians? The mechanic, the craftsman, the taxi driver fall within the realm of professions. If we consider the artist a "professional" (or worse, if we think that they MUST be a professional), we might as well stop discussing music.