Elio E Le Storie Tese
Studentessi

After thoroughly listening to the album and reading the two DeReviews, I am about to write a third one. I hope this will be forgiven due to the fact that both existing ones seem incomplete to me.

Overture (Andante con Moto, but without the Myth):

"Praise to the 'Studentessi', bearers of Culture"

To begin with, I declare aprioristically "Studentessi" by Elio e Le Storie Tese

"best album of 2008 and I’m sorry for any other album that may eventually come out later: too bad for it"

with the following justification:

In 2008, making an album so shamelessly prog, yet at the same time fun, nourishing for minds thirsty for culture, not nostalgic nor self-referential but above all, SELLING IT IN PACKS is in itself good news. Even for those who hate progressive rock (I know some who are fans of Elio anyhow and this should not surprise, given the premises).

For this reason, I claim that Elio e le Storie Tese are the new Education School Department (Musical section), their work is commendable and should be set as a model. In this sense, they walk hand in hand with Daniele Luttazzi, whose work on civic education of the population of the battered Italian peninsula will be remembered as one of the few oases of civilization in two decades characterized by worsening and the return of illiteracy.

Act One (Allegro Pomposo a bit Tedious):

"But are EELST really prog?"

But let's get to a sore point that engages fierce discussions among the "eliologists" and "storie tesologists" since the remote times of the now distant "Live in Borgomanero" of 1987: are Elio really a prog band? And if so: is this a good, right thing, their duty and source of salvation?

We certainly cannot forget Elio’s statements about Zappa as the primary source of inspiration for EELST, obviously the Zappa from the period with the Mothers of Invention. But even if we made this mistake, the show that the mythical monocle took around this winter, along with an excellent modern music ensemble, would come to our aid: the parallelism with "The Yellow Shark", masterpiece of the last Zappa era was absolutely evident (and the pleasure of listening not much less, at least for me).

But in this album there is much more than this, besides the umpteenth proof of Elio’s ability to chew and digest everything listenable, there are some "cultural operations" —as Elio said live in Carmagnola— that cannot go unnoticed:

Plafone: the intro seems straight out of an PFM record, or from "Selling England by the Pound" by Genesis (those with Peter Gabriel, eh!). Of course, the voice of Ruggiero dispels any remaining doubts: the most incredible Italian voice after Demetrio Stratos.

Ignudi fra i nudisti: here I’ll pull it by the ears: have you heard of "Hair" or "Jesus Christ Superstar"? Okay, okay, also '70s funk and disco (another hint of the irreducibly Dadaist DNA, Zappa style more than Area). In the same way further on "Single" recalls certain parts of "Evita" by the same authors of JCS. All three of these "rock operas" go, in my opinion, into the big cauldron of "new music" of the 60s/70s.

Tristezza, Il congresso delle parti molli: uneven rhythmic structure, as always in Elio and as required for a good prog group in the '70s. On top of the rhythmic structure, everything happens. In perfect Elio style. The second also has the Floyd-style solo, which could not miss.

Heavy Samba: here we are in fantastic delirium. To really enjoy it like hedgehogs, it must be listened to after mixing "Communication Breakdown" and "Babe I'm gonna leave you" by Led Zeppelin (the second for the bebo-bebo) with the legendary Chico Buarque de Hollanda.

Indiani (a caval donando): here we have a master’s bravura piece. In the introduction, a coin spins on a table, in my opinion, a far from random citation to the beginning of "The Boys in the Band" by Gentle Giant, from the album "Octopus" (and here we are talking about the aristocracy of prog, almost at the level of Area). The lyrics are absolutely up to such a display of culture ;).

Parco Sempione: and here is the pearl. This is a prog piece of the highest quality, made and finished in the style of Gentle Giant (especially in the "lumbard" part it seems again out of Octopus, an album that at this point I promise to review), but there are elements that do not fit anywhere. But above all: it is the hit, the single! Can you realize it? A hard and pure prog piece transformed into a piece to climb the 2008 hit parade. This is Eliica Art at the highest level.

Act Two and last (Allegretto Short and Circumcised):

ma che che ce frega ma che ce 'mportaaaa

And so? There are excellent reasons to support both the thesis of proghicity and not. We can begin by saying one thing, however: whether EELST are prog or not, the effect of this album is certainly to "clear" prog once and for all in the "light" Italian music of 2008. And to do so with a firepower worthy of a musical Normandy landing or a more recent "field descent" by another Milanese of much more dubious qualities.

For this reason alone, EELST deserve a Grammy, an Oscar and two David di Donatellos (which they seem to give to calves and teddy bears anyway now), but in my opinion, they earn–right with this album–the last piece missing: the references are so many that it ceases to make any sense to list them. Elio e le Storie Tese are themselves. Everything in this album is fantastic work from their wonderful, delirious and Dadaist bag. To summarize it all with a slogan: "Studentessarne uno per educarne cento".