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Rating: Today is an important day: today one of the most important singer-songwriters in our country is celebrating his birthday. I believe Enzo Jannacci needs no introduction, but some might only remember him for VENGOANCH'IONOTUNO (Shall I come too? Yes, you, sure? But why? Because of MD! My balls drop every time they play it), so a brief recap of his works is surely in order. Without further ado, let's delve into his discography, starting from his worst album (or least beautiful, as you prefer) to his best. Take it as you like: Jannacci's manual, a ranking of preferences, or the tribute of an idiot. That's what this is: a tribute from any random idiot, so you can take it seriously or as a joke, it doesn't really matter. Let's go because it's getting late:
18. Parlare con i limoni (1987)
Released in 1987, this record is the lowest point of Jannacci, something far from rubbish but also distant from a masterpiece. Tracks like Parlare con i limoni, Senza parole, and Poveri cantautori are the climax of an album musically plastic-like, although some lyrics match and complement the arrangements (listen to La fine della storia to believe it). Jannacci was one of the most important pens in Italy, and seeing his words tossed aside without much regard is chilling.
17. Jannacci Enzo (1972)
A small mess, with new tracks and rearranged old tracks. There is little salvageable: primarily Ragazzo padre, a poignant piece unjustly forgotten even by the author himself and chosen as the leading single, Una tristezza chiamata Maddalena, the revisiting of Faceva il palo and El purtava i scarp del tennis. The rest gets lost among songs placed just to fill the numbers (La giostra is a draft turned into a song) and lamentable reinterpretations, like Ti te se no.
16. I soliti accordi (1994)
Enzo returns once again to Sanremo, paired with Paolo Rossi, with a hilarious and satirical track like I soliti accordi, a track taken from the eponymous album. And everything works, each piece finds its place, even the reinterpretations which this time are not to be discarded at all. It also contains less interesting pieces like Parlare col liquido and others of excellent craftsmanship. Three pieces must obligatorily be mentioned: Io ero quello là, Occhi di soldato and especially L'uomo di gesso, a portrait of the modern man who has spent his whole life on knowledge and has lost his identity.
15. La Milano di Enzo Jannacci (1964)
Enzo's debut album, a massive piece of history sung entirely in Milanese. Listening to it now, in 2020, only one thing comes to mind: this album has not withstood the test of time, it sounds quite old. I'm not Milanese, I will never feel this album as my own, but it's pleasant and pieces like El purtava il scarp del tennis (leaving aside the village band's march-like arrangement) and Andava a Rogoredo drive me crazy even if I don't understand a thing.
14. Sei minuti all'alba (1966)
Compared to its predecessor, there are many differences: Milanese has almost totally disappeared, but the arrangements are on the same level. Like the 1964 album, this one has also not stood the test of time and is quite dated. There's war in Sei minuti all'alba and Soldato Nencini, disillusionment in Chissà se è vero, humor in Faceva il palo and Ho soffrito per te. Certainly, Enzo has done better, but there is little to discard even in these early works.
13. Secondo te...che gusto c’è (1977)
An album rushed to capitalize on the success of the eponymous single, perhaps for this reason less significant than other works by Enzo. Amidst amusements like Jannacci arrenditi and S.O.Selfservice and reinterpretations of pieces recorded by Enzo and others, the title track and La costruzione stand out, a fabulous Italian cover of a piece by Chico Buarque de Hollanda that can get lodged in your brain like a mosquito in amber.
12. La mia gente (1970)
It's never easy to make a record when you want to quit music, Enzo was disillusioned and wanted to leave the music world to dedicate himself to medicine. Nevertheless, he manages to create a very inspired album, oscillating between old and new songs, funny songs (El Carrete is hilarious), and melancholic songs, reaching the peak in Il Duomo di Milano and 70 people. Overlooked (unjustly) unless for Messico e nuvole which was a massive success.
11. E allora concerto (1981)
Underestimated by everyone and considered by Enzo admirers a minor album, actually this work is much more robust and complex than it appears at first listen. The invectives of the title track and Brutta gente, the nursery rhyme of Pesciolin, the sadness in Cosa importa make the work of not insignificant quality. Considering it also contains one of my favorite Enzo tracks, Bandiera Fiorentina, it goes straight to a (half) Florentine's heart like mine.
10. L'uomo a metà (2003)
Enzo is like wine: the older he gets, the more mature his music becomes, profound. The album, thanks also to the help of his son Paolo and Mauro Pagani, is more acoustic than its predecessors, calm and reflective. But it's not all, there are also moments of joy and carefreeness (Il pesciolone is the clearest example, a blend of joy). You cannot forget the immense title track: even a tear might have rolled down your face with this song, even you with a heart of stone.
9. Discogreve (1983)
Discogreve shows how pain can lead to excellent results. It is the most intimate work of Jannacci, but also the hardest and most inaccessible. Electronics dominate, Enzo's pain is shouted to the world (as in L'amico); he also takes the time to talk about our dear country, as in Pensione Italia, and also creates a slant denunciation of fashion like Obbligatorio, which I believe is one of the best songs ever crafted by Enzo. Did you know? Two tracks from the album were registered at Festivalbar, namely L'animale and O surdato innamorato (quite quirky). Did you know? Knew it!
8. O vivere o ridere (1976)
Truth truth? This is the Enzo album I've listened to the least, but it doesn't mean it isn't great. The reinterpretation of Vivere really cracks you up and if you're as sick as I am it also makes you reflect, Statu Quo is madness and criticism at the same time and Rido indeed makes you laugh. Slow pieces (Tira a campà, Quando il sipario) and jannaccianly surreal ones (Per la moto non si dà, Senza i Danè) alternate. Despite most of the pieces being rehashes and amusements (as also occurred for Secondo te...che gusto c'è), it's a highly enjoyable album and it's always a pleasure to listen to.
7. L'importante (1985)
Although modestly arranged, L'importante is one of Jannacci's most inspired albums, proposing some of Enzo's most beautiful lyrics (Oriente stands out above all, absolutely remarkable). Even more comedic tracks like Son sciopaa or L'importante è esagerare are worthy of the writing of a Jannacci who evidently has something to say. However, the gold palm for the manifesto track goes to Volatore di aquiloni, a song between surreal and nostalgic that perhaps can summarize Enzo's journey.
6. Ci vuole orecchio (1980)
In 1980, Enzo starts with a bang, with a brilliant album and a genius single that was successful. Here, we find an interesting reprise of Dritto, a Paolo Conte cover (La sporca vita), and the sharp irony that emerges in Silvano. The arrangements have aged very well, supporting the tracks excellently (only La sporca vita collapses due to too "band-like" an arrangement). Notable is Musical, a track that deserves more than one listen and prompts contemplation on the direction humanity is taking, but especially Quello che canta Onliù, another manifesto track that grips the brain and heart with its spontaneity, almost like a demo recorded without too much thought.
5. Vengo anch'io no tu no (1968)
Named after the very famous single, but it takes little from it. Entertaining mockeries (Ho visto un re which is legendary), translations from foreign artists (Pedro pedreiro and La disperazione della pietà, the latter heavy but truly beautiful), but also melancholic ballads (La sera che partì mio padre, Non finirà mai, La mia morosa va alla fonte). A medal of honor to the perhaps most successful track of Jannacci's production: Giovanni telegrafista is something unique, genius, and perhaps unrepeatable, a tragicomic story with outrageous twists.
4. Guarda la fotografia (1991)
Well, Sanremo is a fair of crap, but seeing Jannacci singing about the mafia is worth the price of the television ticket. The song is the sensational La fotografia and its container is (hence) Guarda la fotografia. Considering the themes addressed, it might be seen as a potential concept album on southern Italy, a beautiful place marred by many ills. The mafia (La fotografia, Sogno come mafia), work (Il gruista, Songo venuto), illiteracy (L'alfabeto muore). However, I'd like to focus on some points: Parliamone is THE song to dedicate to a child, moving (something Enzo hasn't done very often), La strana famiglia is so ironic it's realistic (Big Brother?) and lastly The photograph, the English version of La fotografia.
3. Come gli aereoplani (2001)
Many artists who emerged in the 60s/70s begin to lose their edge around 2000 and produce albums not always exceptional. Enzo is a wonderful exception, able to deliver an album with bitter implications. Starting with a cover of the great Faber already hits the heart, immediately followed by an epic title track which shows how angry and determined Enzo could be in that period like not seen since Discogreve. There is also rejection of racism in Sono timido, a look at the early 2000s in Lettera da lontano, and moments of sports and leisure in Varenne and Luna rossa. To tie it all together a final gem, self-analysis named I mulini dei ricordi, a connecting point between the Enzo of Vengo anch'io and the Enzo of La fotografia.
2. Quelli che... (1975)
Inspiration is like a die: unpredictable and tricky, it cannot be commanded, and one cannot decide when to be inspired. After Jannacci Enzo, made with little desire to write, three years later comes Quelli che..., suspended between the usual genius of Jannacci (Il bonzo, actually written by Fo, and L'arcobaleno) and the ruthless denunciation expressed in the harsh Il monumento and in the mythical title track. Of course, there's an exception, which is El me indiriss: a song that speaks of childhood, of a world that was once there and now is no longer, a world ruled by kids. A peculiarity of this LP is the presence of spoken parts, something that will rarely return in his albums and that are each more ironic and "sly" than the last.
1. Fotoricordo (1979)
And we've reached the end, the top position of this ranking/tribute to/from a monumental artist. The highest point belongs to Fotoricordo, labeled 1979. An album genuinely pop and not always easy, sometimes dramatic, sometimes angry. The opening Io e te (whose title should not evoke a sea of banality) starts cautiously and then gains momentum to become a punch to those with many hopes for the future. Natalia and Mario can be a part of me, you, all of us: sometimes we felt like a little girl needing heart surgery, sometimes like a man who wants to end his life with a bullet in his head, in this precarious existence where it's easy to lose balance. Jugglers of this show, we need to keep up and move forward amidst those who mock us. This album is life, it is death: it's youth, it's loneliness, it's a struggle against those who oppress the most insignificant, it's the finale everyone wants and no one will have.
Jannacci was this: a man with a big heart, who gave everything in life and whom nobody will ever praise enough for all that he did. That's it, all here
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