zaireeka

Great review that complements and powerfully expands my unpublished review. Well done.

Guys, please show some originality in these reviews... If the album is trivial, you are much more so...

I want to give my two cents on this thread as well. So, let's get started:
1) I can’t stand the hedonism of 80s music (and Morgan, who has been, and in part still is, its prophet)
2) I can’t stand MTV and all those who came out of MTV (including Morgan)
3) I can't stand mobile phones and those who use them recklessly (including Morgan, who used it to advertise his album)
4) I’m not a particular admirer of Bowie or those inspired by him (including Morgan)
but, damn, for the sake of intellectual honesty, I’m forced to admit:
1) That the ex-partner of Aria Argento (that's her real name, not Asia, as stated in some preconceived review elsewhere that claimed Morgan calls her that because he’s a "poet," with not so subtle irony) is, for me, in many of his songs, 3/4 genius (I've been listening to Acidi e Basi these days, but damn he was just a kid when he did it, but you know how many ideas are in Decadenza)
2) That he is a great musician
3) He is still an intelligent person.
Anyone who considers this album (and I imagine the others as well) devoid of value and ideas deserves to be condemned to endure for life the great poetry and musical ideas contained, I don't know, in the fabulous latest album by Le Vibrazioni.....Sorry for the harshness.
In short, he really gets on my nerves, but damn, what he can pull off at times.

Bogusman, you know what I’m telling you. After carefully analyzing what you say, I completely agree with you regarding the fact that behind this operation there isn't, fundamentally (or certainly not primarily), an educational intent. I was actually thinking about how many albums I would "redo" for love and pleasure in themselves, if I had the resources that Morgan usually has at his disposal. Then again, we all have our weaknesses; I wouldn't mind if someone else listened to it all, forgive me, Suonatore Jones...

Bogusman, it seems to me that you expressed a very important concept by saying "a character I despise like few others" while simultaneously stating that you don't find the album as despicable as you previously claimed. One must always distinguish the work from the author and not let oneself be influenced. Perhaps you are one of the few for whom a saying by Nietzsche I recently read in a hypermarket doesn’t apply (I think it was from Beyond Good and Evil). It went more or less like this: "there is no one we attack more than someone who has forced us to change our minds about them." The phrase seems appropriate to justify certain disdainful attitudes. As for you, Hal, congratulations on your preparation and balance. As a true fan of Faber, not like others who until yesterday considered him just one of many and have only recently discovered themselves as ultra-fans offended.

Well, Hal, if you’re referring to Morgan, he really is unpleasant. But in this world where to get ahead you mainly have to flatter, please, and cater to people’s tastes, I personally find the unpleasant ones to be braver and, after all, worthy of respect. Finally, I’d like to respond to Ezekiele. Dear Ezekiele, knowing (having heard of) an artist is one thing, knowing their works truly and even coming to love them is another. Well, everyone knows De Andrè (that’s debatable), but are you really sure that everyone knows this album? Lastly, I'd like to say one thing. Can you imagine Bowie making a cover album of Leonard Cohen? Would the effect be the same or better, in your opinion?

As with that scathing review of the latest Afterhours album, I ask: What the hell has Marco Castoldi done to you, besides not being a charming person and not doing anything to prove otherwise and to be liked (could it be that his highest aspiration is to reincarnate Suonatore Jones??)? The peculiar thing is that based on this review, the only good thing about him is his voice. Maybe, but personally, it seems to me one of his negative traits. In return, I think (it's evident from the release of and how it sounds in this album):
- he is an excellent arranger, keyboardist, and a great bassist (please listen to the harpsichord piece in Un Blasfemo)
- he possesses a great intellectual curiosity that the release of this album confirms
- he has a broad "transversal" vision of music (let's say in the style of Battiato)
Regarding this album, he at least deserves credit for helping to introduce De André to a wider audience. After all, despite what some consider to be a monster of arrogance, he has proven to be extremely humble in remaking this album.
In conclusion, the album deserves more than one listen, if only for the theremin solo at the end of Suonatore Jones (those who know what it is and how to play it will understand..)
PS However, he really is quite unpleasant. And then sending out the ad for videophones!!!

Guys, what the hell did Manuel Agnelli do to you? OK, the album isn't particularly innovative, but tearing it apart like this doesn't seem appropriate to me. Also, I don't know if it's just me, but there are plenty of references to the much-loved Hai Paura Del Buio (not just in ballads like Ci Sono Molti Modi or Male in Polvere); in some ways, it feels like a return to the roots after the pop shift of Non è Per sempre and the extreme introspective melancholy, sometimes unbearable, of Quello Che Non c'è. There are much more unworthy things out there, musically speaking.

I bought the CD, risking a lot of falling into the mistake I made with the last one from Mercury Rev. I immediately listened to it at 48 X. Honestly, I find it remarkably dark and very similar in style to the previous one, making it not very easy to digest, although it is quite evocative. Defining it as the end of Afterhours seems excessive to me. I will give my rating after some more listens.