coolermaster

"EVE" in English has the same semantic root as EVIL (Male), represented by the Syphilitic Women (from syphilis, evil as a DISEASE) and by LUCIFER, the antichrist, the total evil. It can also be said that EVE means event, recurrence... and the women on the cover are clearly dressed in mourning (the veils and black mourning clothes). What recurrence (what funeral) are those pustulous women celebrating (awaiting)? The fall of the Prince? Sex, evil, satanism, punishment... For fetishists, there's really a lot to strip over this record!!

An album that undoubtedly has the great merit of showcasing the more "intellectual" side of the '80s and of continuing the discourse of "symphonic rock" or "Barock," adapting it to the technology of that era, which was profoundly different from the late '60s... It's not the best of the Projects... I think of "The Raven," "I Robot," "The Gold Bug" (one of the quintessential satanic anthems... more than Stones and Maiden!!) "Lucifer" (incredible)... Here are 2 gems: "Old And Wise" and "Silence & I," which more than any others continue the discourse of certain symphonic progressive (much more Moody Blues and Procol Harum than Floyd or Yes)... adapting with a soundtrack of some "fantasy" film... like Willow or Ladyhawke, which were from those years... The rest of the tracks are in limbo between AOR and electronic music (of Germanic origin).... A strange band, those APP... a group that started off brilliantly with a suggestive synthesis of symphonic rock, progressive, and Teutonic kosmische rock... However, with this work, one can already sense the shadows of aridity, cleverly masked by spectacular arrangements and production: as someone said, the sound is a bit ASEPTIC, laboratory-like, too pristine, precise... And let’s not even dare to compare the Project's drummer to Jeff Porcaro! Two metronomes, undoubtedly, but the latter had soul, the dirty, sweaty soul of Jazz, not the icy coldness of an atomic base.... Cheers

Isis, no offense, but I think you have a vague concept of what Italian singer-songwriter tradition is. I mean, let me understand, do you really think "Tutti morimmo a stento" is less dated than, say, "Io tu noi tutti" or "Anima latina," or that blues and r'n'b gem "Nero a Metà" by Daniele??? And let's stop with the usual phrase "I can't listen to them anymore."... I also find it really hard to listen to the Beatles and Pink Floyd... but that’s because I’ve probably done it a billion times, because I grew up with their music as a child and then rediscovered it as an adult after the ElectroPop orgy of the '80s... Of course, it’s obvious that I’m also on the lookout for new sounds, new contemporary artists, some of which really disturb me... But... here we are making criticism, not playing the game of what we listen to today... I can tell you that when I "click" (my entire collection is on my hard drives) on "Non siamo mica gli americani" or "Il mio canto libero" or "I lupi," I don’t say: "What crap!!” I say, “Well, let’s listen to some classics.” Then maybe after an hour I "switch" to Moby, Odawas, or Coldplay, among a thousand others... According to your reasoning, we shouldn't listen to Beethoven anymore... well, in fact, come on, he's a bit dated!!! Damn, he didn’t even use brass instruments (which only came with Wagner and Bruckner)... nah, what crap! Bah... I don't know what to think anymore.

My goodness, so many topics to cover!! We start with the Bacherozzi and move on to "Statement" figures like Robert Plant, the voice of rock! And what about Ian Gillian? Roger Daltrey? Mick Jagger? Ray Davis? David Crosby? Jim Morrison? Ozzy Osbourne? Bruce Dickinson? James Hetfield? Chuck Berry? Look, I could go on for quite a while in no particular order...
Then we dive into the analysis of Tulli (my father and I like to call them that)... mmm... For the record, my favorite Tull albums are "Stand Up," "Benefit," "Aqualung," "Too Old for Rock'n'Roll" (incredibly underrated with gems like "From a Dead Beat to an Old Greaser," the Title Track, "Salamander," and "The Checkered Flag"), and then the pastoral bliss of "Songs from the Wood"... Then we touch on Floyd, Santana, Zeppelin, Who.... All this to say what? That the Beatles of Abbey Road weren't that ahead of their time... in fact, they were behind.... Well, I hear that Frank Sinatra continued to perform the genre he had been doing for 50 years until his death a few years ago, apparently without any scandal... The same goes for Chet Baker, Jerry Mulligan, Stan Getz... I don't know... what's the point? There are people who want to experiment (from Beethoven to Miles Davis) and others who prefer to do what they know how to do.... and the Beatles did it well... I guess the Scaruffi syndrome is now more pestilent than AIDS... You can't compare the Beatles to the Stones, let alone to the Zeppelins, Colosseum, or even Crimson.... So why don't we say that the Beatles are crap because, hell, Metallica did actually say something new in rock.... Can you even put Lars Ulrich next to that little brat Starkey, more adorned than a suburban queen?? Do we want to compare Steve Vai or Malmsteen to that Ricotta guy Harrison?
Do we want to compare Nick Drake to that spaced-out Lennon who imagined all the people living for today, without wars, religion, and peace & love, man, how freaky is that :-))
C'mon
To each their own

Look, I absolutely agree with the mentioned Graziani, Bennato, and Daniele, especially the latter who, out of nowhere, changed Neapolitan music forever with "Terra Mia"... also attracting a lot of criticism... Then I could also mention "Napoli Centrale," among whom Daniele, James Senese, and Tullio De Piscopo used to hang out... I’ve never been a big fan of Bennato... I don’t know... while Ivan was great... underrated... Well, what can I say about Battisti... words are unnecessary.
See how many TRUE artists there have been in the peninsula who are superior to De André? People who have musically chipped away at, eroded, and then rebuilt, reshaped...
To conclude, I'll tell you: I listened to De André a lot when I was a kid... around 13, 14 years old, thanks especially to two of my fanatic friends... and I’ll tell you I liked him a lot… I found his songs to be beautiful lullabies, a bit childish... then when I grew up, I could no longer listen to him, at least his early works... This should make one reflect.

"The cook of Salò" is one of the most beautiful songs written in the last 30 years....Listening to it feels like diving into the '70s (could it be the Moog peeking through?), a rare gem not only in the landscape of the Last De Gregori, but in Italian music: the lyrics are breathtaking, a poem like only the Prince can create when inspired.....The rest is (extra)ordinary Routine, but the Jewel is "the cook of Salò"... truly worth the purchase on its own.

Sure, no problem Senior, just don’t call me Collermaster... you know, it sounds so sticky :-))

For me too, "anime salve" is wonderful, but so are "Le nuvole" and the very same "Creuza de ma'...". You see, I criticize both the Lyrics (but I still save it), the music (which I do not save), and especially that interpretation, academic, rhetorical, and self-satisfied... Until a certain Mauro Pagani (who was a great musician as well as a great arranger... the violinist of PFM) advised him to change course... and that clever one musically reinvented himself, not with that masterpiece from 10 years earlier which was "Anima Latina" by Lucio Battisti: he handed it over to De André, and he made it his own... The trend is to say that Battisti was the greatest (only it's often said in a low voice, oh yes, there is still fear)... and to avoid saying Battisti, people say De André... Gino Paoli was, along with Tenco, the first modern Italian singer-songwriter... and speaking of subtle metaphors, "il cielo in una stanza" is certainly no less important than "Bocca di Rosa".... Then I could also mention (the '70s) Claudio Rocchi and his Stormy Six, who without him would give birth to at least 2 masterpieces, including "Un biglietto del Tram".... even there, certainly not inferior to a "Rimini" or "Volume 3"....

Great review indeed: without adding anything, I just want to remember that Antonello Venditti, unlike the "prince" who at the time was only a "baron," if he had been English would have been a baronet :-)) was already deeply involved in music and was one of the most promising "Italian folk singers." He was part of that lasting carousel of "ethnic" music known as "il canzoniere del Lazio," which started back in the '60s... A group that (like many others did, especially decades later) sought to recover the "specific" musical and linguistic tradition, in their case from Lazio...
And it was during one of Venditti's performances, one of the first in some obscure little place in Trastevere, that an old companion of struggles and cultured minstrel shows heard him sing "Roma Capoccia"... and in disbelief shouted at him: "antonè, che è 'sta monnezza? Che te stai a rincojonì?" (I apologize for my terrible Romanesco, being Milanese :-))
There you go, for some, for many, Antonello ended up right there with Theorius Campus and the pastoral portrait of a Rome that still seems to be that Papal one... from when the Roman Forum (re-romanized by Mussolini) was still called "Campo Vaccino"...
Regards

I agree with the tribute to the "Prince," but the other two... hmm... leave me a bit lukewarm.