Elio e le Storie Tese
L'Album Biango

Reviewing an Elio e le storie tese album is no easy feat, especially for someone like me who adores them passionately and has never written a review in their life. However, since I haven't found any decent ones around, I thought it best to scribble down a couple of nonsense myself.

Upon first listening, the album didn't make my "underwear tremble," and perhaps it never will, but little by little, I'm becoming more convinced that I'm influenced by the lack of a surprise effect. Half of the tracks were already known as they were played at Sanremo, Primo Maggio, by Fiorello, or in live performances, so the pleasure of listening to a new album is somewhat diminished. That said, not knowing whether to do a track-by-track review or talk about the project as a whole, I think it's better to do a bit of both, as if I were telling a friend about it.

The album is pleasantly listenable, but for the first time since I've been listening to the Elii, there seems to be a lack of that genius in the songwriting that made them who they are. The Sanremo tracks "La canzone monotona" and "Dannati forever" amused me especially as they were absolutely out of context for that type of show. While the first is meant to be just an exercise in style full of quotations (the one about the Cuban anthem is magnificent), the second left me with a bit of a bitter taste; if Elio writes a religiously themed song, I expect him to be excommunicated the next day. Instead, the piece is charming but never truly biting (perhaps because otherwise, it could not have been performed at Sanremo?). Much more "enlightened" is the preface to the piece which, reviewing the various sins, talked about "same-sex marriage between people of the same sex (important gravity) and heterosexual marriage between homosexual people of different sex (reduced gravity)." Brilliant. The rest of the album unfolds with pieces that attempt to provide a glimpse of our society, according to a model already seen in the long career of the band. Indeed, it ranges from the WWW phenomenon (perhaps it's a bit late to write a piece about it) and the social mania of sharing everything on the web, passing through the never-stopping Milan or typical life stories. In short, it aims to be satire.

Everything is played as masterfully as always, but as I mentioned earlier, it's the lyrics that aren't outstanding. More than 10 years ago, the President of the RAI Oversight Commission ruled that satire must not "inform" but "deform," and someone (Luttazzi) replied that satire "informs, deforms, and does whatever the hell it wants." Right. For me, satire must also do something more: it must inform, deform, make you think, and make you laugh. In the last two points, the Elii's work is just about adequate. A few more words should be spent on two tracks that, for different reasons, have a special meaning for me: "Il complesso del primo maggio" and "come gli Area." "Il complesso del primo maggio" is worth buying the album even just for Eugenio Finardi's introduction, and the track itself is undeniably engaging and elicits quite a few smiles. Of course, even here, I would have preferred Elio, besides mocking the May Day institution in its form, to also target more acclaimed colleagues, people who really have become tiresome and could have perhaps genuinely been offended. It seems he held back a little. I miss the days when at the concertone, people shouted, "I love you, I love you Ciarrapico." After all, everyone laughed, and no one was offended. The track "come gli Area" instead is nothing more than a tribute to the fantastic Stratos group (which by the way performs the intro). The samples of Demetrio's voice are beautiful and the very idea of dedicating a piece to such an important group in the history of Italian music is admirable, and obviously, many of my peers have never even heard of them. If it manages to even spark curiosity in someone who doesn't know them, the track will have hit the mark.

In short, the album is a typical Elio e le storie tese album, just less inspired. Of course, there are no lack of hilarious moments, and musically, it's always pleasant to listen to. The surreal interludes that characterize every previous album are present, but everything is slightly below their usual standard. It's an album that fans absolutely must have, but those who don't know them, or have only heard them at Sanremo, must absolutely turn to previous works. The rating still remains good because, even if the album is not on par with the band's classics, it is an absolutely enjoyable work. The album Biango is an average album, but for me, when talking about Elio e le storie tese, the average is very high.