Viva Lì

A certainly insidious commercial operation, which, however, has one merit: it doesn’t bore. The swing reimagining of some great hits from the Eighties is a crazy idea and, at the same time, quite brilliant: it’s impossible to resist listening to "Jump" by Van Halen in a crooner version. However, it all comes off a bit fake and cold, and Paul Anka, unfortunately, in the collective imagination, is still the shining young boy who sang "Diana." Praising him would be unfair, mistreating him would be foolish: you decide... Marco Poletti Dixit.

Greatest-hits very normal and a bit acid. In the scent of a shameless commercial operation, the unreleased "Menta e rosmarino," however, is nice. Marco Poletti Dixit.

A duet album. Does it mean anything? No, actually, very little. Because while Zucchero shines with Tom Jones and Miles Davis, he falls flat with Sting and Sheryl Crow. He’s now a powerful infernal war machine: alone, he wouldn’t accomplish much, but with friends, he’s a God. Some reinterpretations are nice, but the foul hit "Il grande baboomba" is one of the most pathetic things he’s done in the last fifteen years. Among the illustrious guests, curiously, the greatest aficionado of all time is missing: Joe Cocker. What happened to him? Marco Poletti Dixit.

Steal as usual from great artists, but he feels more listless and dull than usual. He hints at some intriguing riffs ("Sento le campane," "Baila"), but at this point, listening to him feels like hearing something you've already heard, a slightly disappointing flashback. His songs are played by radio stations a hundred times a day, and in the end, it almost makes you forget that there was once a more original and musically prepared Zucchero. Marco Poletti Dixit.

Well yes, after all this is one of his peaks. He’s in great shape, and don’t come telling me that you’ve never hummed (at least once in the shower) "Diavolo in me" and didn’t feel moved when listening to "Diamante"... He mixes rock with funk and knocks it out of the park: it’s overwhelming, full of passion and energy, with help from Francesco De Gregori and Eric Clapton. He borrows from Piero Ciampi, but he does it with style and grace. He will never be this on point again. What a shame... Marco Poletti Dixit.

The worst (or maybe this title belongs to "Blu" (1998)?), among Zucchero's albums. Now a full-fledged diva, he attempts the path of cheesy appeal, but he fails miserably: he pretends to mimic New Orleans with "L'urlo", mocks the romance with "Miserere," and tries to be playful with "Pene." A fake album, boring, arrogant, absolutely useless and trivial. It's not that I hate Zucchero, for heaven's sake, I gave "Blue's" a 5, and I really like some of his songs, but here, gentlemen, he has hit rock bottom (and not just any bottom, the bottom of the barrel). Marco Poletti Dixit.

Grasshopper is, as usual, exaggerating. A 5 for this album? But what do we give to "Dialogo tra un impegnato e un no so" (1972), an 18? "La mia generazione ha perso" is undoubtedly a great album full of beautiful songs (though we've heard them already), but it's also a bit disjointed and bombastic, too loud, and for someone like Gaber, it's also overhyped (first place in the charts), and the old songs, with a few exceptions (like "Destra sinistra"), don't reach great heights (see "Si può"). Nonetheless, the revival of a historic and very relevant song like "Il conformista" is excellent. To give scores, one must have judgment and criteria, not that everything deserves a 5 (just because it's Gaber, therefore it's classy), while Masini deserves 1 (at least two decent albums, I mean 3, he has made). But haven't I already had this discussion? Who knows…! Marco Poletti Dixit.

Well-known tracks and some unreleased ones. Once again, Gaber's gaze on the world is ruthless and clear-sighted, as he sings in the beautiful title track. The music is, as always, a bit subdued, but it still has great personality and a strong desire to never give up. When he sings, he is consistent, but marrying Ombretta Colli, a loyal ally of Silvio Berlusconi, has somewhat diminished his stature. Gaber will die just a few days before the album's release. Unfortunately... Marco Poletti Dixit.

Gaber and Luporini write beautiful lyrics, igniting memories of distant times: they seek to change the world, attempt to reason on topics of current relevance, and provide insights on what it means to create art and perform. Existential themes, social issues, criticisms of the ruling political class, and bold attacks on the powers that be. And the usual insatiable malaise of life. It’s a pity that the musical part is not very well crafted. This is not Gaber’s best album; that honor goes to the now hard-to-find "Io se fossi Dio" (1981), a lengthy twelve-minute ballad that has vanished from the national music market. And what about the excellent "Dialogo tra un impegnato e un non so" (1972)? Kudos, nonetheless, to the great and immense Giorgione Gaber. Marco Poletti Dixit.

This is not a review. It’s a nice (but somewhat macabre little story). Anyway... a shameless commercial operation, with some uninteresting new material. Marco Poletti Dixit.