ENRICO RUGGERI - THE WHEEL

Following the bitter disappointment at Sanremo, the 52-year-old Lombard singer releases his twenty-third studio effort and the lead single, presented at the Festival, is "La notte delle fate". It contains clear textual references to what was perhaps his most successful song, "Peter Pan," from 1991 and, despite the failure due to the usual, questionable voting system, remains a catchy song with lyrics that stick in your mind, once again highlighting Enrico's skill as a lyricist.

There is also talk of a possible re-recording of the track, alongside his former band, the Decibel, but for now, the original version has been included in the album.

The album itself, "The Wheel", 12 tracks straddling a commendable Italian pop-rock. The sound is thus that of a mature Rouge, that of recent years, who produced hits like "Morirò d'amore" and "Incontri" with remarkable prolificacy.

In this latest work, particular mention goes to the third track, "Vivi", which stands out as perhaps the best song on the album, as well as for its very impactful lyrics. Right from the first line, in fact, our artist shows that his craft is still that of a singer-songwriter, and not just that of a TV host:

"You can see love in many ways when life changes
And chew on pain until your fingers bleed..."

But the Rouge also proves to be able to explore different themes, as noted in other tracks, such as "Padri e figli". In fact, it alludes, like the album title, to the cyclicity of life, narrating the father-son relationship with Ruggeri assuming both roles. In "La mia religione", instead, he expresses his position regarding the Church: being a religious person means behaving in a certain way and being correct and affectionate towards others, but at the same time, he expresses more than a little skepticism regarding some religious laws, such as the one on contraception. Finally, the album closes with the very sweet "Vorrei", in which a person speaks to a woman, expressing the desire to have her by his side at the moment of death: all accompanied by a very sweet piano touch, once again setting the scene for the Ruggeri we know: an immense lyricist and singer.

Tracklist and Videos

01   La ruota (00:45)

02   La notte delle fate (03:41)

03   Vivi (03:33)

04   L'attore (03:49)

05   Il mio onore (04:22)

06   La ragazza del treno (04:02)

07   Io conosco il rock'n'roll (04:19)

08   Padri e figli (04:33)

09   La mia religione (03:55)

10   L'ordine naturale (04:11)

11   Old Girlfriends (03:28)

12   Vorrei (02:52)

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