Enrico Ruggeri
Punk prima di te

Enrico Ruggeri has finally remembered where he started, and much of the credit for this goes to his fourteen-year-old son Pico, who, judging by the suggestions he gives his father, must have an uncommon musical taste for a boy of his age. It happens that Pico, a great listener of contemporary punk, discovers an old vinyl of the first Decibel album, listens to it, and is amazed by the strength and grit that those songs still possess, and suggests to his father to make a CD with songs of that type.
Enrico, having just come out of the poetry and composure of "Gli occhi del musicista", being the intelligent person he is, immediately understands the situation, gathers his usual band in the studio and in three days manages to produce such a quantity of songs, including covers and recoveries of old tracks by Decibel and Champagne Molotov, that he could make a triple album, according to his statements. Then he refines everything and out comes this bomb of an album where the now forty-seven-year-old Milanese musician recaptures all the strength and grit from when he still wore dark glasses with white frames, which are now on the nose and ears of his son.

An album of such sonic and musical compactness that it would make many of the latecomer punk enthusiasts pale, those who know the Clash and the Sex Pistols only from their fathers' and older brothers' memories, those for whom Lou Reed is just an aging gentleman of 64 who plays the rock intellectual, and who perhaps don't even know the Stranglers. Enrico revives all these greats in one fell swoop and does so with a series of covers fantastically played by the whole group, starting with the punk icon "God save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols and continuing with a track from David Bowie's repertoire, "Jean Genie".
Finally, a worthy version of "Guns of Brixton" by the Clash (I recently heard a techno-pop rendition of this song by someone whose name I thankfully don't know).
My greatest curiosity, as a hard core loureedian, was in listening to “Sweet Jane” and I must say the piece is victorious all the way.
Even the Ramones are suitably honored with a beautiful version of "I Wanna Be Sedated", and even the Mott the Hoople of Ian Hunter are dusted off with a beautiful song like "All The Young Dudes," also born from David Bowie's pen. Then, to finish with the covers, "No More Heroes", a flagship punk track, those who know this genre know the Stranglers very well.

Now we come to the tracks by Decibel, and here lies the real surprise for those who don’t know in depth the artistic journey of this extraordinary musician. It must be said that the pieces were written around 1976-1977, and therefore the lyrics obviously reflect what the situation was then. It starts off strong with "Figli di..." a very fast-paced rocker that has nothing to envy of the songs by the aforementioned greats in terms of explosiveness. Even "LSD Flash" is a great track, with a guitar riff that immediately grabs attention, while "Superstar" is a piece about the relationship between a fan and a rock'n'roll star, a relationship so morbid that it becomes murder by the fan. Tragically, this fact would actually occur three years after this piece was written, with Mark David Chapman shooting John Lennon. "New York", another fast-paced and brisk rocker, with beautiful guitar lines (great Schiavone!), another track with a typically punk flavor, with nihilistic and dark lyrics. "Il lavaggio del cervello" is still relevant today, listen carefully to the lyrics and you'll understand if the situation isn't what we are still experiencing today, with an impressive media dominance.
Finally, the recovery of songs from Decibel's first 45 rpm, "Indigestione disko", the story of a character who works as a clerk during the week and lets loose in the disco on weekends, and "Mano armata", also a piece on a situation more than ever of today, money is never enough and you look at shop windows seething with anger for things you would like to buy and can't. The character then thinks of loading a revolver and robbing some store.

Dear Pico, why don't you insist a little more on giving these suggestions to dad? And you, dear Enrico, see that sometimes you need to listen to your children's suggestions? Well done both of you!!